To: Oldpuppymax
This link explains why illegal drugs are illegal:
http://american_almanac.tripod.com/opium.htm
The destructive nature of opium was well known at the time of the Opium Wars. Opium is highly addictive, and induces passivity into the smoker. Addicts seldom lived past age fifty; heavy smokers had a life expectancy of only five years.
The drug was widely used in Britain itself, even by the Royal Family, as shown by revelations that Queen Victoria's court frequently ordered opium from the royal apothecary at Balmoral. In England, where opium was legal, the cause of the exceptionally high infant mortality rate in one Lancashire town was discovered to be a concoction, called ``Godfrey's Cordial,'' a cough syrup containing opium which was given to babies, often in lethal doses.
While a prosperous Chinese official could afford opium addiction, a Chinese worker would spend two-thirds of his wages, neglecting his family. Many Chinese saw opium as a poison introduced by foreign enemies. In 1729, the Emperor banned the import of opium, except for a small amount, licensed as medicine. In 1799 a stronger Imperial decree was issued prohibiting both the smoking of opium and its importation. This decree stated:
``Foreigners obviously derive the most solid profits and advantages ... but that our countrymen should pursue this destructive and ensnaring vice ... is indeed odious and deplorable.''
Confucianism strongly condemned the use of drugs like opium. Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716), the great German mathematician, physicist and philosopher, who wrote extensively on China, recognized that Confucianism contained many of the most positive features of Christianity. Leibniz worked for an ecumenical alliance between Confucianism and Christianity. In Confucianism, a man had a duty and debt to his ancestors. His body was given to him by his ancestors as their link to his descendants. Therefore, for a man to destroy his own body was a great offense against filial piety.
I guess the numbskulls in this country need a refresher course from time to time.
To: Up Yours Marxists
Yes, I forgot about the well recorded history of the united states being nation of drug crazed zombies up until the 2nd decade of the 20th century. Oh, wait....
28 posted on
08/25/2013 9:24:08 AM PDT by
Orangedog
(An optimist is someone who tells you to 'cheer up' when things are going his way)
To: Up Yours Marxists
Opium use has been going on for thousands of years. Opium poppys have been found buried with Egyptian mummies.
Your police state tactics aren't going to change thousands of years of human behavior.
/johnny
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