Laws & Wars:

I'd like to take a minute and thank our benevolent government for looking after us so well.  Out of all of the other bullshit happening in the world, I heard a comment on the "War on Drugs".  Everyone knows the war on drugs is for our protection right?  I mean, is that right?  I mean, it's what they want us to believe, right?

I found this interesting.  I thought the "War on Drugs" started during the Reagan era.  It actually began a few administrations before Reagan.  In fact, nearly every administration put their dukes up against one thing or another.  Prohibition... that worked so fucking good that liquor has been legal again for the last 80 years or so.

Before that though, you used to be able to get your opium from the old Sears and Roebucks catalog.  Congress decided to levy taxes on opium and morphine around 1890.  In 1909, one of our elected saints rallied the troops and they signed the Opium Exclusion Act.  It banned anyone from possessing, using or importing the stuff, but you could still use it if it were prescribed by a doctor.  (Are ya feeling better about things yet?)

In 1914, there was another act to further regulate and tax opiates.  The called it the Harrison Act and it decided all of these rules would now cover cocaine too.  And honestly, thank God they did! Imagine what would have happened if they wouldn't have stepped in, threw a tantrum and told us how the cow ate the cabbage!  Hell, we'd all be dead... or not, because most of us didn't use drugs then or now.

I mentioned prohibition.  In 1919, once again, our protectors stepped in to rid the plains of all evil and decided that alcohol, its manufacturing, its transportation, its sale and possession were all very much bad and we were too stupid to "just say no".  Maybe they were tired of the old west, good times, people trying to live a little.  I don't know, but that went on until the 30's and liquor has been a "gateway" drug ever since.  But, our protectors tax the shit out of it (in order to make some good money) these days and highly monitor the production, transportation and consumption (in order to make some more good money).  It's all good because Uncle Sam says so.  Helluva guy, ol' Unc!

Right after alcohol became "good" again, they got rid of weed.  Anything that looked like it, smelled like it or even sounded like it got shit canned in 1937 when the Marihuana Act (yeah, I spelled it right, according to them).  It didn't really criminalize the use or possession but there were some big ass fines if you got caught with it.  You see, you could have it, but they are going to fine you.  It was another great way for them to make some cash.  (Feeling better yet?  Yeah, me neither but hold on.)

Your boy Dick Nixon officially declared a war on drugs in 1971 or so when he said that drug abuse was "public enemy number 1".  (Seems like he left the government out of that assumption.)  Yeah, there was a Gallop poll in the late 60's that said 48% of Americans thought drugs were bad, uh-kay.
Dick came up with the DEA shortly afterwards and they were going to tackle drug importation!  Hip Hip Hooray!!!  Yeah, they had about 1500 agents and about a $75 million dollar budget which was some serious dough in those days.  Now there are over 5000 agents with a budget well over $2 billion dollars and they are flat handling business.... or not.

Well, I mean not.  The war still exists, our government has even given bad guys guns to shoot at the "good guys" on this side of the battle, people getting killed all over hell and back and heroin overdoses are at an all time high.  Yeah, they make some big ass busts keeping millions of dollars of that shit off the road but that is part of the plan for the cartels, see.  They send a certain percentage over just to get busted, because when the DEA pops a boner over there, they aren't watching whats happening over here.  It's kind of like that dumb little ball and the 3 cup trick that amuses kids so much or like the smoke and mirror bullshit they throw out for our consumption.  It's pretty cool.  (And by that I mean totally ineffective.)

Anyhow, around this time there was something else cooking.  Some guy who worked for Nixon said in a 1994 interview that the Nixon administration had 2 enemies.  "The anti-war left and black folks."  The guys name was Ehrlichman and he suggested in this interview that the "War on Drugs" had ulterior motives.  (I know.  I couldn't believe it either until I re-read my smoke and mirror comment above.)  But the thought was, if they heavily criminalized weed and herion, they could disrupt the hippies and the Black community.

1973 through 1977, things lightened up a little bit.  I think it was 11 states relaxed on some of the drug laws.  Jimmy Carter got elected on this premise and the Senate Judiciary Committee decided to decriminalize up to an ounce of weed.  Jimmy Carter?  Yup, his peanut growing ass was good with folks having a bit of weed.  Jimmy knew all you could ruin while you're high on weed was pizza and a few handfuls of peanuts and he had the market cornered on half of that shit.

Then your other boy Reagan stepped in, and with his wife, they gave CPR to nearly everything that Nixon worked so hard on to fuck up and "Just say no" became a thing.  Reagan, the DEA and who knows who else started incarcerating non-violent offenders by the hundreds.  (I'll have to research this, but isn't that about the time private for profit prisons started to become a thing?  Gotta make that money, dawg!)

This is also when "crack" became a thing.  That shit fucked up more families than Planned Parenthood.  Everybody was going to jail then.  Street violence shot up, literally, as this was the time that drive by shootings became an every day thing.  Man, people (especially black folks) were getting busted for "suspicion" of drug use and sale... no proof or anything, just a sneaky suspicion.  Doesn't that give you a Chris Matthews tickle down your leg?  Ah, me neither.

Anyhow, recently they have taken a different stance.  Probably because the government got implicated with the Fast and Furious thing.  Who knows.  The fight goes on though, and thank goodness.  I just can't imagine where we'd be if we didn't have the government telling us that drugs were bad.  Well, mom and dad told me that when I was a little kid, and they might have been right on that.  I suppose I tested that theory.  Unlike President Clinton, I did inhale and that might explain why I can't find my fucking car keys when they are in my hand...

I don't inhale anymore.  Not because the government says so.  Nope.  I've decided that I can't afford to get any dumber, so no more bong hits for Bubba.  That's a decision I made for me.  I don't care if you smoke up.  I don't think its wise but who am I to talk about wisdom with all of the other dumb shit I've done in my life.

Look.  I don't light buildings on fire.  Some folks do, but its not for me.  I don't drive my car into crowds of people, but some folks do.  I don't punch midgets... often... but I'm probably not the only person who does that.  I don't steal things.  I don't rob houses.  I don't mug little old ladies.  I don't do car jackings... well, I did that once.  It was prom.  My date actually did it and it cost me $30 extra bucks to have the tuxedo dry cleaned, but that's different.

So, I said all of that nonsense in order to get to this.  I also don't shoot guns into crowds of people.  Only .000009% of our population does that.  Why the number is that high I'll never guess, but if we are going to be real and have a discussion about this, we need to agree that it is one of the worst, most horrible, unthinkable acts that one could ever commit and that it doesn't happen very often.  That doesn't make it any better.  It's never okay when someone innocent loses their life at the hands of a maniac.

That brings me to this.  How do we legislate morality?  How do we teach someone the value of a human life?  How do we teach someone the worth of their own life?  We can tell people not to hurt or kill anyone until we can't talk, but it is not going to stop.  "So you mean we have to live with this?"  Yes, that's what I mean.  Life is ugly sometimes.  We have to understand that there are people out there who just don't give a shit and be thankful that it is not more prevalent.

On a lighter note, I'm still available for kids parties, weddings and religious revivals if anyone is interested.  Call my agent.

Love,
Bricey