Letters to the Editor
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American indulgence with drugs harms other people
I wonder if those people who think using or experimenting with drugs is OK consider their role in causing havoc with other peoples' lives from the drug murders in inner cities to the destructive Plan Columbia and soon Plan Mexico? The loss of life and suffering that drug use causes ought to be considered. Would Plan Columbia (US militarization of Latin American countries) or the horrific murder rate in the inner cities continue of, here at home, drug users would get arrested and given a 10 year sentence, minimum?
Why not get high on climbing mountains, helping others, learning a skill?
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The Letter Writer hasn't gone far enough
I too have never tried drugs, and like the letter writer, I consider drug use unforgivably self-indulgent. Succumbing to peer pressure is weak-willed. We admire people who resist peer pressure to sample drugs, even if they never become addicts. Independence in the face of pressure from peers whom you might admire really is a sign of superiority and moral rectitude.
So I find the letter writer's response, which stops somewhat short of terminating all contact with his girlfriend without explanation, to be that of a wishy-washy enabler. He'd prefer to be shocked and tolerate drug use, than act to ensure he has nothing whatsoever to do with it.
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rtf100...good thing you are not "anonymous"
Guess what, my real name is not "blueturtle" and if I was to look up "rtf100" in the phone book, I don't think I'd find you.
Your points on drug use are naive and deny the demand for drugs in the US that drives the drug trade, the political causes and ramifications of drug trafficking, and the ridiculousness of alcohol and tobacco legality in comparison with recreational drugs' illegality. Addiction is bad business, but smug broadbrush criticism is not productive basis for analysis. The LW is a control freak--both of his own sheltered life and of his poor girlfriend who simply wanted to have a good time and not begin a drug-addled lifestyle. Drug use is a personal choice and one that every person has an ethical right, if not a legal one, to engage in or not.
As soon as we are ready to rid the US of alcohol and tobacco in a complete war on drugs, criticism of drug users is vitiated by double-standards and shortsightedness. Of course, by the time the US has beed successfully Talibanized in such a way, I will be living overseas where more reasonable minds are in charge of drug policy.
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@ mirdza
The loss of life that happens in Colombia and other places happens because drugs are illegal. Illegal drugs cause inflated prices, and inflated prices cause black markets, and black markets cause fierce competition without protection (just like prostitution). You should be blaming the government, not drug users. The higher the penalties for taking and dealing drugs, the more deaths there will be.
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Speaking of straw men
the silly references to "no sex" and "no caffeine" are straw men, too. If you don't snort coke or like it when others do, it doesn't mean you're not having your nipples tortured twice a night. And by the way, Mormons don't appear to be suffering from lack of sex, particularly if you look at average family size. They might not be doing it on your time table, or with benefit of poppers, cigarettes, or coffee, but they're doing it.
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I prefer gold paint
Huffing is fine. More people should do it.
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interesting...
I'd say my attitudes toward drug use are fairly close to the LW's (yes, there are people like us out there, and maybe more than one would think). However, this is really a relationship question. So, yes, you can glean things about a person's "character" or likely actions from what they did in the past, but if you want to embark on a serious relationship in the first place, you have to have a certain amount of trust. Thus if you decide to continue the relationship, you'll have to trust enough to judge based on what happens DURING the relationship, not before. If the potential girlfriend is informed of the LW's attitude toward drug use and then continues to "try" cocaine or even just thinks the LW is an uptight prig, the relationship isn't going anywhere. If the woman decides that the LW is otherwise a good match and decides to refrain from drug use while in a relationship with him, what's the problem? The LW, meanwhile, should base HIS decisions on what happens how, not a year ago or 10 years ago or before the woman was informed of his predelictions.
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Move on - she will anyway
I don't mean this in a mean or judgmental way, but you should go ahead and end this relationship. You are way too hung up on drug use, and associate too many negative things with drug use, to ever get past this with her. Maybe if you work on it and get professional help, you may eventaully be able to get past this with a future love, but there is no way you are going to be able to fix this soon enough to save this relationship. Your better bet is to just find a partner who is as uptight and judgmental about drug use as you are.
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Drugs and alcohol are for losers
I have been drunk and used pot a few times early in life. I socialized with people who did. It slowly dawned on me that the use of drugs (including alcohol) was not productive. Many of us can probably be a casual user of drugs, without succumbing to the ravages of overuse. But why? Too many of us will succumb to addiction and the relatively unaddicted users are essentially egging them on.
The LW mentioned that his girlfriend was drunk when she tried the coke. How often does she get drunk? If socializing with friends generally involves getting drunk or even fairly high, she is a loser, and he should terminate the relationship.
I have several friends who are Docs. They have told me if it were not for the aging addicts they would have no business.
A large minority of us are addicts, who will screw up everything they touch. These addicts have most of the auto accidents, gamble, drink, use drugs, and generally mess up everything in their lives. The should be avoided, even though they might appear to be fun to be around, especially when they are young. That fun will turn to misery soon enough.
It is never safe to "lose control". Car and Driver magazine used to run tests of car driving under the influence, where their editors (all skilled drivers) drove through obstacle courses while gradually getting drunk. There was noticeable loss of ability at 0.03 blood alcohol. Most of the people killed in survivable aircraft accidents had been drinking.
The need to use chemicals that cause loss of capability is self-correcting in the long term. Natural selection will do the job, but it isn't and won't be pretty.