Religious, ceremonious use of drugs has existed in ancient times, perhaps as far back as 3000 B. C. in Mesopotamia [Sumer] and certainly in ancient Greece and Scyth, using opium and cannabis. In medieval Islam the popular consumption was cannabis and a particular sect known fittingly as Assassins used hashish that reportedly heightens homicidal instincts. In the New World prevalent was a pyshotropic mushroom cult in the Mayan culture. Native Americans were engaged with the Peyote Spirit, hallucinogen supposedly strengthening worship.


From this evolves in modern times, the misconceived benefits from drug use by translating euphoria and enhancement of perception as communion with divinity, much as today’s athletes on steroids convince themselves they are stronger warriors. Drug use among adults is not as serious as among youth who tend to overdose and become dysfunctional by turning within themselves or their rather closed small culture; whereas many adults are capable of controlling severe addiction and continue to contribute to society and their own edification, although not as effectively as those free of usage.


Despite organized crime or cartels, all crime is local; the cartel needs only to find a single individual in the community to handle supply, and drug dealing is set in motion. Heavy use of narcotics began in the slums where frustration reigned and therefore used as a cop-out. Fear of, or indifference to, policing these neighborhoods breeds anarchy. Currently, however, use has become widespread, crossing all areas of society, probably owing to affluence, which to some becomes boredom. Youth addiction is at first thought to be no more hazardous than smoking and drinking — those strong enough to hold it to moderation may escape the brutalizing ends. It is important to differentiate between the user and abuser, the latter is primarily on self-destruct, the former is more or less moderate, causing little more than a diminishing purse, and little cost to the state, if at all.




Notwithstanding the euphoria, abusive addiction over time blinds common sense to the effects on respiration, the spinal cord, heaviness of the limbs, sweating and flushing of skin, let alone the effects on the brain and heart. The irony is that the increasing disorientation of use drives the addict to one function: obtaining more drugs to numb the seriousness of their condition. Heavy users, however, should not be arrested, but rather rescued from the vice and placed in attractive rehabilitation centers.





Up to 9/11 it was ironic that the super power of the world was wimpish in defense of its homeland. A significant cause for the spending- cut fever was the justifiable frustration over a losing war on drugs — Gen. McCaffery to the contrary — that is directly and primarily related to escalating costs of crime. To spend three times as much on crime per capita as on education is not the mark of a healthful nation. This frustrating dilemma on the one horn is the desire to free the country of this plague; on the other is the absence of national will. The call to arms against drugs is a ploy to assuage almost 90% of the country that isn't on drugs.





The remaining 10% takes its snort, then nods in agreement with a silly grin on its collective face as it quickly wipes away the tell-tale dust from above its lip. Small wonder in ‘88, few responded to the Dukakis outrage over Noriega—to many this drug-runner was a national hero, a godsend to their addiction. Despite the relatively small population on drugs, the seriousness is that among the young and unemployed the percentages are higher, and regardless the total are in the millions. This said, the costs of a war on drugs could be drastically reduced if the emphasis is on the drug lords and their henchmen in lieu of huge expenditures in targeting the visible users.