CHAPTER FORTY, HAIRY RISK TAKER

Hairy asked the Freelance Thinker to do some thinking about the drug problem. The Thinker had some ideas that he shared with Hairy. He said the war against drugs will never be won, just like the war against poverty will never be won. The two wars have been going on for a long time and are likely to continue forever in the future. The best we can hope for is to keep the problems from getting worse.  The most pertinent question to ask is why do some people want to escape from reality into an altered state created by legal or illegal substances?  The cause has to be addressed in order for lasting changes to occur and the cause is an intrinsic part of human nature that is not going to change.

Many human beings never feel satisfied with life. They are not confident in themselves and don’t have hope in their life. Thus, they use drugs and intoxicants to escape from life. Criminals take advantage of this human condition. The problem can be controlled but never eliminated. Education and support for addicts can help but even if you decriminalize all the current illegal drugs, there will be new drugs invented and pushed by criminal dealers for money. The problem cannot be eliminated but it can be reduced by radical retribution measures taken against criminals who distribute the drugs. Hairy thanked the thinker for his insight. He decided to leave the education and support work to the social workers and he would implement the retribution against the dealers.

To be continued…