There is a
growing libertarian tendency in the Red States as it regards mind-altering
drugs. Many have legalized marijuana in some form, and now Missouri and Oklahoma are considering
legalizing psychedelic mushrooms. This
is the kind of thing we expect from amoral Leftists (some of whose States and
cities have already decriminalized dangerous substances like these), but it is
difficult to harmonize with any kind of conservative/traditional ethos that the
Red States say they support.
The damage
to the human body and mind is appalling enough, as reports from legalized drug
utopias like Oregon, that resemble something of
a cross between a zombie apocalypse and a mafia documentary,
reveal:
On the issue of
reducing addiction and overdoses, Oregon’s decriminalization of drug use has
been a tragic failure. Overdose deaths rose by over 33 percent in Oregon in 2021,
the year after the law was passed, compared with a rise of 15 percent in the
rest of the United States. As for the claim that the law would provide a
pathway to treatment for addicts, less than 1 percent of the people eligible for treatment under
Measure 110—a paltry 136 people—ended up getting help. In fact, out of the 2,576 tickets written by police for drug possession,
only 116 people called the help hotline to get the ticket waived, with the vast
majority of the others choosing to pay the minimal fine instead. As Coelho
warned, without the threat of incarceration and the mandatory court programs
that come with an arrest, addicts seldom have any interest in getting
treatment.
The impact of
decriminalizing drugs did not stop with addiction and overdoses. Police in
Portland report that all categories of crime jumped in
reaction to Measure 110. Drug addicts need money; they got it by stealing items
and reselling them, so property crimes rose. Once a drug market opens up, drug
dealers move in to service it. As a result, the streets of Portland are awash
in guns and drugs. With drug dealers battling for turf, gun violence increased.
Portland recorded 90 homicides in 2021, shattering the old record for
annual murders in the city. “We’ve seen more guns than we’ve ever seen in our
investigations,” a Portland police supervisor bluntly stated. “Almost everybody
is armed. . . . Criminal organizations are robbing other criminal
organizations. That’s kind of our big push right now—trying to stop the gun
violence and the drug violence that goes with it, because they’re hand in hand.
It’s not one or the other. It’s not related to the pandemic, it’s not related
to Covid, it’s because we have a criminal environment that’s tolerated and
allowed to flourish here.”
But there is
a deeper danger lurking here, a danger for the human
soul, as
these psychedelic drugs open the door for demonic influences to enter the lives
of individuals and society as a whole:
. . .
The rest is at https://www.reckonin.com/walt-garlington/keep-the-ban-on-psychedelic-drugs.
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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