drugs

Drug laws have been off the radar a little bit lately. There appears to be no debate in the mainstream media about what drugs should be legal/illegal etc.

The main drug in the news these days seems to be ice or crystal methamphetamine. We are told how dangerous it is and how instantly addictive it is. What we are not told is that it's the same drug that is prescribed to children for ADHD. It's also given to military pilots to keep them awake and alert during long missions. If it's so dangerous why is it given to children and people operating dangerous machinery? The answer, of course, is that it's nowhere near as dangerous as the press would have us believe. In large doses it can cause psychosis but this requires a huge dose that no sane person would take. Read more about it on Wikipedia.

So why is it illegal? In Australia even doctors cannot prescribe it unless they are psychiatrists or pediatricians. The answer I suspect is that police forces are given huge budgets for the "war on drugs". If it is not illegal they lose their budget. Therefore it is worth them mounting campaigns to keep it illegal. The major drug companies don't care because the patent ran out years ago. Therefore there is no money in it for them. Meanwhile, the public pays millions of dollars for unnecessary law enforcement, those who use the drug get no meaningful medical treatment and those who could benefit medically from the drug are denied it.