April 25, 2006
Tuesday

First I would like to thank Jerry Cegelske for taking the time to write such a passionate letter. He brings up many scenarios in which peoples lives were ruined by their inability to control their drug use, or by being irresponsible.

There is no way to find out if someone can be responsible in their drug use before they begin using, which seems a good enough reason to just stay away from drugs altogether.

In the case of the little girl, her father's smoking didn't hurt her or her family, it was his death. While his death can be linked to his smoking, 59 is not an unusual age to die at of natural causes.

Let us not forget that cancer is not a smoker's only disease, cancer happens to people who never touch drugs, ciggerettes included. There are also people who smoke everyday for nearly their whole life and live past their 70's, which is longer than the average life expectancy.

Bringing up the point of the family and friends being crushed by losing a loved one is a sad one, but not unique to illegal drug use. Even now our war in Iraq is leaving wives without husbands, children without fathers and parents without sons. Though it is known that they signed up for the military. They knew dying was a risk of signing up for it. Just like cancer is a risk of smoking.

Yes Jim morrison was an irresponsible drug user, as were all of the mentioned celebrities.

It's possible to be responsible in all facets of ones life and still be an irresponsible drug user.

I admit drugs cause a lot of problems, but making them illegal is not the answer and only causes more problems than the drugs ever did.

Making something legal does not mean condoning it, or "wanting it for your children." It's legal to drink, and to smoke and just from previous letters one can tell that these are not things parents want their kids to indulge themselves with.

It's legal to listen to music of any genre, with any message, to read any book. I know that there are many parents who don't want their children reading KKK newsletters.

Does this mean we should make all of these things illegal? I think not.

"I don't know how that deputy with the Cass County, Missouri, Sheriff's Department could have lied to me about drugs last year. He told me drugs were a major problem in many people's lives- doesn't he know it's like going to the spa? The pictures I saw didn't look like the people involved were having a great time in the back yard sipping martinis. Sores on the skin due to trying to get rid of the meth bugs. I'm sure the four people mentioned above used drugs to get away from the stress and problems of everyday life. Some trip to the spa!"- (Twilight Zone By Jerry Cegelske)

There is a difference between going to the spa once in a blue moon, and going everyday until you run out of money.

I suppose it would be good to clarify what I mean by "A man using drugs violates neither moral obligations or hurts someone else."

I am well aware that drugs can cause monetary problems (though this is almost entirely caused by drugs being illegal), health problems and even death in some cases. They can end up causing people to lose their homes, and loved ones.

However one can not blame the drugs for all of this. Does one not have any responsibilty for their actions? Is it alcohol that kills so many people, or is it the people who choose to drive while they are intoxicated?

Do we blame alcohol exclusivly for a child born with FAS? Doesn't the majority of the blame fall on the mother who chose to drink while pregnant?

In case your still thinking about it, allow me to answer for you. Yes, It is the driver's fault, and it is the mother's fault. It's sad, but it's also true.

Alcohol, Methamphetamine, THC, LSD and any other chemical name you can come up with are just that, chemicals. This rings of the old saying, "guns don't kill people, people kill people."

I know there are a lot of people who get very passionate about keeping and possessing firearms legal.

But of course, almost all of this is irrelevant to me. One should have the right to ingest what ever chemical they want to. Whether their reasons be escape, recreation or religious, are of little consequence to anyone else. As long as they are legally responsible for themselves, they should be able to put what ever they want into their bodies.

Catlin Rettke
Cat_rett_98[AT]hotmail.com
Ketchikan, AK - USA

About: Catlin Rettke is a 19 year old male resident of Ketchikan Alaska.

Related Viewpoint:

"Twilight Zone" By Jerry Cegelske - Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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