Marijuana 'war' is no laughing matter
I was sitting in a movie theatre in San Francisco, California in 1974 howling with laughter as I watched the insane movie "Reefer Madness", which was about the "horrors" of smoking marijuana.
I never laughed so hard in my life.
Today, over 35 years later, the "war on drugs" is still a joke. But it's no longer funny.
It's not funny when over 2,500 people - many who were not even connected to drugs - were murdered in extrajudicial killings during Thaksin's demented "drug war".
It's not funny when a young man in America was sent to jail for possession of marijuana and then gang raped. While the madmen who run the drug war believe marijuana will destroy a young man, getting gang raped and possibly getting Aids is [seemingly] no big deal.
It's not funny that over US$1 trillion has been wasted on a drug war that has accomplished absolutely nothing, when that money could have been used to build drug rehabilitation centres, schools, hospitals, and homes for the poor - which could have shown young people that they have better options than buying or selling drugs.
It's not funny that anti-drug lunatics would deprive people in excruciating pain of their medical marijuana.
It's not funny that health authorities would rather see thousands (indirectly, hundred of thousands) of people die of Aids than give junkies their own needles.
No, dear readers, I am no longer laughing. In fact I am nearly crying because this is another example of how humans can be horribly cruel as well as incredibly stupid.
Eric Bahrt
Pattaya
