what is the ill effects of drugs on self,parents and society?

Answer 1

Co-dependency

Answer 2

III. THE EFFECTS OF DRUGS

Before attempting to relate the values I have outlined to the question of drugs (about which my opinions are, perhaps like yours, in flux) perhaps a statement of personal experience with them is in order.

As those of you who know me are aware, I need no artificial assistance in lowering my level of inhibitions. In fact, a handy dandy drug which raised them a tad might be in order. So it is not moral strength but lack of need which explains the fact that I have never in my life smoked nicotine or pot, or used alcohol beyond wine or cider with a meal.

My abhorrence of needles, if nothing else, would keep me away from injected drugs. Do you remember the scene in "Days of Wine and Roses" in which the heroine Lee Remick is escending the elevator gobbling a chocolate bar? It was a harbinger of her susceptibility to becoming addicted. If that's any indication, not to mention my ongoing affair with DQ milkshakes, it's just as well I've not been tempted.

My son Mark would have had his 45th birthday March 26, 2000. Instead of that, he died of a heart attack October 29th. The doctor warned him after his warning heart attack the February before, that the cause was his nicotine habit.

At age 19, his top of TV pot plant from which he rolled a nightly toke was discovered, resulting in a probation order. He switched to more lethal, more addictive, nicotine. Had he remained with his pot, he might still be alive as is his suite mate of that time.

Of my friends, more have suffered from muggings and robberies to pay for another's habit, than have suffered from the ill effects of drug use themselves.

The question for me is, what approach to the ill effects of drugs
would be most in accord with the values outlined earlier? There is no question in my mind that the use of drugs is not good for the user in most instances, although there is little correlation etween the harm and the legal status of the drug. The harm created by moderate recreational use is far less damaging than the legal consequences of being caught doing so.

There are exceptions of course: the terminally ill cancer patient among them. My six children have suffered far more from their use of nicotine and alcohol than their use of pot. What methods, between the legality of nicotine and illegality of pot, would best discourage their use, and best reduce the accompanying damage to society?

The argument that pot is a "gateway drug" has no validity in my view. Not only do must later coke users drink Coco-Cola first,
but the primary reason pot serves as a gateway drug is that it does not have the ill effects predicted, and users have already become accustomed to disregarding and disbelieving the law.

In terms of "sending the wrong message to youth" is concerned,
my son points out that his daughters are quite capable of understanding why they are only allowed a sip of wine, while their parents may drink a glass. He also points out that hard drugs are easier for his children to obtain in a school yard than nicotine or alcohol, because the former is outside rational regulation. The same can be said for availability in prisons.

AUTHOR:

J. McRee Elrod is a cataloguer for special libraries and a retired Unitarian minister in British Columbia, Canada. He is also a volunteer staff member for the WWCC. Learn more about him from his member profile:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/JE-WWCC.html