New Mexican Drug Policy

Today Mexico is looking to decriminalize the possession of certain drugs. I think it's a good idea. Just like prohibition in the past, drug laws have created a black market that is riddled with violence and pollutes the quality of the drugs consumed. While some may say "who cares about the quality?" one must understand why a standardized form of the drugs available must be maintained. Imagine a heroin user, used to the diesel he's been getting that's been cut many times before he ever gets it, then one day a purer batch comes in, he measures out the amount that he's used to and WHAM!, OD. Perhaps that's the price you pay for being a drug user, but I'd prefer to think that if drug use was a more socially or legally accepted form of recreation, then those that had difficulty with said use could more easily be diagnosed and treated. The US has criminalized an entire segment of its population as around 50% of inmates are in on drug charges.

The US consumes 86% of the world's illicit drugs. Marijuana is Alabama's #1 cash crop. If we continue to have the same stance toward drug use and possession that we have today, our ever present and increasing "war on drugs" will continue to increase. Just remember that only the end of prohibition brought about the end of the violence of gangsters like the Purple Gang and others. Why don't we learn from our past? Gangs and other organized crime groups are primarily responsible for a lot of our drug and violence problems. I propose that the end of drug prohibition will see a stark decrease in both deaths from drugs and the violence associated with it. Alcoholism is rampant in the US. It is a drug that kills just like any other. Tobacco use is still steady and, although becoming less accepted, is still a socially acceptable drug to use. Tobacco use takes almost as many lives as heart attacks in the US, and I'll bet a good chunk of those can be related to cigarettes as well. Drugs that kill are all around us, and these other, illicit drugs, are no exception. So why are these drugs legal and others not? We can save more lives if we regulate how these drugs are dispersed and used. Imagine the money that could be saved by keeping petty drug users out of jail. Jail isn't going to fix their problem, only education and rehabilitation will (both of which are way cheaper).

And I'm not even going to get into the idea that these Federal drug laws are most likely unconstitutional. That's another debate.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

So, I post to my blog site, mostly because I find it easier to write here than in a journal. And I get some cool feedback from friendly folks that I'm really close to or will be related to in the near future, which is awesome. So I check my blog today to see if someone cool has left me their sweet idea or comment and I get this...

"Very nice! I found a place where you can make some nice extra cash secret shopping. Just go to the site below and put in your zip to see what's available in your area. I made over $900 last month having fun!"

What a load of crap. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm used to pop-ups and spam mail, that's why I have a crap e-mail address I give to things I sign up for, and one that I have for personal stuff. I didn't think I'd be getting spammed on my own blog! This is ridiculous!

I hate them. Them, the spammers. Boo.

No clever title today

Since I was a child, I explored the wild of my surroundings. I've preferred to be in places that were alive with things that grew, and things that flew, and things that walked and things that ran. I've camped in national forests, hiked miles down deserted stretches of shoreline, navigated rapids, drank straight from mountain springs, and come so close to an elk I could've petted it had I had the nerve. But these things were not just alive with living things, but with the feeling of one spirit that grows from things that are allowed to be in the state of their own being.

I have lived in Richmond for years and what draws me to this city, what makes me feel at home, is that same spirit. There is this feeling here that all things, though different, coexist in this cacophonic disorder that is reminiscent of those wild experiences. All the things that make us frustrated about our city, are all the things that I love about it: washboarded and pot-holed streets, crumbling brick structures, oak trees cracking the sidewalks, birds, confused by the lights, calling at all hours of the night. The general unkempt attitude of the city, that despite all of the order and cleanliness we attempt, the chaos and disorder, that wild cacophony, is still creeping and seeping into our city and our subconscious, making me feel at home.

That brings me to the West End. I've discovered why I feel lost here. There's too much attempt at order. All the trees and shrubs are well groomed. The buildings are square and plastic (if you get close enough, they smell like new GI Joes). There's no sense of life as it lives its life. Every other Saturday brown men with machines define the boundaries of each life here. That's why I was so excited to see ducks swimming in the pool this spring, it reminds me that life can exist outside of our landscape timbers and can escape through the cracks in the cement*. Though here those cracks are filled quickly, as if by peering into these cracks one could see through the facade of perfection. I don't like it here, and the only thing that makes it bearable is the knowledge that I'll not be here much longer.

*(Also, ducks crapping in a pool in the West End is just funny to me)

I would've posted sooner, but I've been sick

Easter-
O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of L. Pasche to name this holiday. Easter Island so called because it was discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday, 1722.

Most of you already realise that Christianity has usurped other religious ceremonies in an attempt to convert the pagans many years ago (So I won't harp on this much). But C'mon! It's called Easter!! They didn't even try with this one. At least with Saturnalia they changed the name to "Christmas". They could've been really unimaginative and called it "Dies Resurrectiorum" (Sorry, my Latin's rusty).

I've really got no beef with the bible. I think that it contains some very pertinent moral values that should be followed to this day. My real problem is Christians. Church attendance skyrockets on Christmas and Easter, as if to say, "if I go these days, God'll forget about the others". Not Gonna Happen. God has a long memory, and last I checked knew everything. This means he knows that you could give a crap less about him on days that aren't religious high holidays.

So do yourself a favor, sleep in every Sunday, even Christmas and Easter. You're not fooling God, and you're not fooling anyone else either.

Catching Up

Well, as you can tell, I now have a new computer. That being said, here's my newest post.

On the Saturday before last, after having spent the evening at Empire, my roommate and I got a ride home. We weren't quite tired (drunk) enough to sleep and there are these two bikes that have been chained, literally around, not to, a sign post on our block since we moved into our apartment last August. We decided to see if we could lift them off, as it turns out, no, but almost. So this is what happened. And we refuse to try it sober.

But now on to this week. Last night I went to see Leftover Crack at Nanci Raygun. It was an amazing show, and every time I see LOC I have a great time. Thanks to Wes for coming out even though you had homework to do, and Luke, I'm sorry you got dropped on your head so much. I got a chance to see people I haven't seen in forever, and it really felt like I was 16 again. But then I woke up this morning, and all those bumps and bruises that I shook off when I was 16 and going to shows a lot, felt a whole lot worse than they used to. Guess that's what happens when you start to get old.

booooo

I'm making this post from the computer lab at my school as my computer has died. My hard drive has a physical error, so until I get a new computer or fix my old one, I'll not be posting. Robin probably will not be either. So, until then.