Jay Honeck wrote:

If drugs were freely available (or nearly so), would the stigma of addiction
diminish? Would it become "okay" to lay around stoned all day long, as it
is in some Caribbean cultures?

I did a study for Sociology long ago for this sort of situation. When the
Harrison narcotics act was passed in the 30s, it was partially at the
instigation of the AMA. The AMA said that, based on the available evidence,
roughly 10% of the U.S. population was addicted to morphine. Their general idea
was to get this act passed and set up clinics to treat the addicts.

It turned out that over 25% of the population was addicted to morphine. The vast
majority of the addicts were fully functioning members of society -- as long as
they got their "fix". Now, heroin addicts are rarely productive members of
society -- they can't make enough money legally.

I interviewed my grandmother for this project. She said that the president of
the local bank had to leave town for treatment after the act passed. She also
said that "nobody suspected" that he was a user. Since the gossips pretty much
ran society in that town (Waynesville, NC), I believe her.

I certainly agreed with Corky at that time. The cost of crimes committed in NYC
alone to support heroin habits was astronomical in the early 70s, and I'm sure
it's worse now. I still feel that we would eliminate the traffic in this drug,
reduce crime by significant amounts, and allow many people who are criminals
today to be productive. I'm not sure the same results would be produced by
legalizing cocaine, however. Cocaine users are likely to become the
stereotypical "dope fiend with a knife" if they keep it up long enough.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.