Illegal States of Consciousness

Paternalism, is defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as, “the interference of a state or an individual with another person, against their will, and defended or motivated by a claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm”. These are the grounds on which the United States government has felt morally obligated to pursue a ‘War on Drugs,’ since 1973. Boiled down to its simplest reality, this is a war on various states of consciousness. Its grip ripples through all aspects of human society, forever distorting life on a macro and microcosmic level. It engulfs and demonizes entire cultures indiscriminately, as if there inherent evils were all too obvious. Without hesitation, or remorse it devastates individual lives. Glorifying their downfall as if it were the ultimate act of justice, carried out by some universal forces of good. In their smug self righteousness, the purveyors of this war point at one substance, or the other, and say ‘this is surly evil’.

If one were to read this, and suspect me of embellishment, or being overly dramatic, they must not be aware of the full situation. Just read the DEA’s list of schedule one drugs. Which includes, the deadly, cannabis! If one is unfamiliar with how the schedule works, it ranks them in order of usefulness. Substances in schedule one are considered to have no medical benefits and the highest likelihood for abuse. As I said before, cannabis is on this list. If anyone knows anything about cannabis, they would know this list is the last place it should be.