Re: drug abuse among the homeless

Eric Johnson wrote:
> Brother Nate wrote:
> > Personally I doubt that question can be definitively
> > answered one way or the other.  We know that legal drugs
> > face less societal disapproval than illegal ones

> Do you mean to say there is still a "societal stamp of approval," on
> cigarettes?

No.  I mean what I wrote.  There is "less disapproval".  That
isn't the same thing as a "stamp of approval".

> This is the most outrageous part of the hypocrisy behind the wrong color
> weed.
>
> Smokers are a demonstrable minority, and their rights are curtailed
> severely. And they have to pay a huge tariff in the form of sin taxes.

The "sin tax" they pay doesn't even come close to defraying
the damage that their habit does.

> How does cigarette smoking enjoy greater "approval," of society than say
> marijuana smoking or XTC taking?

It doesn't have John Walters claiming that nicotine causes
smokers to go crazy, or move on to other drugs, or any of
the other melodrama that is said about MJ.

If you don't see the difference between the way tobacco is
handled vs the way that MJ and other drugs are then maybe
you aren't as perceptive as you'd like people here to
believe.

> Most who smoke pot or take XTC in the USA don't smoke.

I admit I'm curious about what research you base that claim.
Personally I've never seen any numbers that purport to
really accurately show what percentage of people use what,
or in what combinations, to the point of being able to make
any accurate claims about the other habits of people who
smoke MJ.

> My point is, there is so much disapproval of tobacco smoking and smokers
> that it should simply not be legal.

Bhutan may be on the cutting edge of your moral outrage.
They may very soon be the only country in the world where
tobacco is illegal.  Maybe you should move there next so
as to find even more foreign nationals with whom you can
share your opinions.

> EJ

--
Brother Nate               Electron Juggler
[EMAIL PROTECTED]     http://mypage.iu.edu/~nengle
"Some Assembly Required"