the shrewdness of apes

with all the real war in the world right now, not much has been said about the totally crap "war on drugs" that's been going on for over 20 years now. in fact, i don't think drugs or crime came up once during the election cycle. but the following paragraphs from a recent Black Table piece are all it takes to realize why some feel good "say no" campaigns and a bunch of draconian zero-tolerance, mandatory minimum shite completely miss the point:

It's been two years since I last did heroin, but I know if someone were to walk in with works and a bag, I would have that needle in my arm before you could say HIV. I miss it. Sometimes I wonder how I have gone this long without even dosing once. And I look forward to a time when I can dose again. I even know when that day is, and I am counting down. It's not until April though, so I have a while to wait. You might ask, "Why would you quit for two years only to take another shot?"

I'm not going to pretend that heroin is okay -- most people who develop a real addiction to heroin never quit. I don't know the exact statistic, but I know this previous statement is true. I am lucky to have been born with the willpower I have, and as stated previously, I only know of one other functional addict. I'm lucky to remember what I wanted before heroin. And what I want from life is much bigger and better than one small moment of heroin bullshit. But that one small moment of bullshit is something that I can't get out of my head.

as Bill Hicks said: "George Bush says 'we are losing the war on drugs'. Well you know what that implies? There's a war going on, and people on drugs are winning it! Well what does that tell you about drugs? Some smart, creative motherfuckers on that side." But hey, I guess building more prisons is good for the economy.