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Dec. 8, 2004 Don’t like pot smokers? Coke snorters, pill poppers, drug users of any kind? Think that drugs in America is a huge problem? Buying into the current administration’s ad campaign that drug users are funding terrorists? You’re right. Drug use in this country is out of hand and outrageous. But it’s not the pot smokers, huffers or cocaine users. It’s you, Joe Blow Blue Collar, drinking your beer, popping your Paxil, feeding Zoloft to your kids. You are the problem. Currently there are about 500,000 people in American prisons for drug-related offenses, about one-fifth of them related to marijuana. Good, you think, we’re tough on druggies. But consider that this is more than reside in prisons and jails combined in the whole of Western Europe. But that’s not the point. There are about 11 million pot smokers in the U.S., as best as anyone can quantify. On the other hand, 19 million adults, or six percent of the adult population, are given prescription medications for depression. 11 million children, or 15 percent, given prescription medication for same. If you take the Paxil-Zoloft-Prozac family of medicines and their kissing cousins, the amount of prescriptions written by the end of 2004 will be over four billion. Yes, billion. That’s 12 scripts for head meds for every man, woman and child in this country. Ethanol alcohol consumption hasn’t changed much since it was first tracked in 1850: we consume now 2.19 gallons per capita per year, as opposed to 2.1 gallons back then. We are a nation of drinkers. What does that mean to you? Well, it means that the per capita consumption of beer alone in this country is 10 gallons. And you have to figure some of the children in the population aren’t drinking, so some of us are drinking for two. Or three, or four. In numbers that mean something to you: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Costs, $(Million) US1. Alcohol Drugs Specialty alcohol and drug services 6,660 5,258 Medical consequences 15,830 6,623 Loss of Earnings - Death 34,921 16,247 Loss of Earnings - Illness 77,150 17,481 Loss of Earnings - Criminal Activity 7,231 43,821 Crashes, Fires 24,752 20,402 Total 166,543 109,832 According to this information, the only way drugs are worse than alcohol is in loss of earnings due to criminal activity. Like I wrote above, we have more people in prison here just for drug offenses than in the whole of Western Europe. Drugs are a problem, yes sir. But not pot or coke or even heroine. There just isn’t that much of it being done, compared to alcohol and anti- depressants. ------------ About the author Mark Davis: I am currently working on two books: one is a fantasy adventure, and the second is a humorous look at call centers in America. Email: teljaan@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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