This article repeatedly refers to drug "addicts." However, from everything I have read or heard, neither LSD nor Viagra is addictive. Thus, this article strikes me as more ignorant "war on drugs" scare talk, i.e., propaganda. The drug usage the article describes more accurately refers to "recreational drug users," and (tho' many try to deny it) that includes all folks who consume even one serving of wine, beer, or any other form of an ethanol (alcohol) delivery system.
There is a huge difference between addiction and recreational drug use. Ask any alcoholic, or any other unfortunate soul who has become addicted to whatever drug. Our cultural (and legal) refusal to make this important distinction is irrational and ignorant, and has produced untold costs in human suffering (and wasted taxpayer dollars).
Recreational drug use does not imply addiction.
This is true and you make a good point. I think what is a recreational drug for one can be an addiction for another. It depends so much on the individual's brain chemistry and the drug involved. I did my share of drugs when I was younger although I never did acid. I did cocaine a few times and thought it was no fun whatsoever. I don't see the glory of staying awake for days on end. Life is hard enough who wants to stay awake for more of it than they have to. Of the group I ran with I was the only one who did not develop a cocaine addiction. It was not that I was so good I simply did not like the stuff. Those people went though hell trying to get off it in later years.
My drug of choice was tranquilizers. When I took my first one the big question I asked was "Where can I get more" That was a good hint that I could easily get addicted to that substance. I remember a few years back reading an article about the rise of heroin use among yuppies. There were many who said they were recreational heroin users. To me that smelled like trouble simply due to the strongly addictive nature of the drug. That would be a substance I would not even be willing to play with. I have a feeling that if I started I would not be able to stop.
What really drives me nuts is all this crap about gateway drugs. When they came out with the study that cigarettes were a gateway drug to harder substances I almost gaged. I mean good God the same thing can be said of coffee! Does that mean that everyone who drinks coffee runs the risk of dieing with a needle in their arm? Give me a break!
I agree with you that our drug education programs are lacking. However, some drugs are much more strongly addictive than others and there is no way to know who will end up with a problem and who will not. Kids can see though the lies they are told about say marijuana and its dire outcome. Sadly since they have been lied to once they assume that everything else they are told is a lie also. That is not always the case.
I don't think the difference is as huge as purported. Both addiction and recreational drug use reference a psychological need for something that takes a mind off reality. It's the amount of use that makes it problematic.
I've personally had to endure sessions of Alcoholics Anonymous for having been caught driving over a 0.08% BAC, and many of the speakers exaggerated their use of alcohol to gain acceptance among the group. It was almost laughable how some thought their intake was worthy of being considered an alcoholic, but I thought the program was better than a session with a psychiatrist. I just don't think it's a bad idea for a person who thinks themselves as a drunk to go to fellow drunks who've stopped, and believe in a "higher" power such as God.
In any case, I truly believe any mind altering activity or "drug" can be considered "addictive". The problems arise when the compulsive or excessive activity results in real life problems. Such things may be resolved by psychiatrists, but ultimately, they need to be addressed by the individual.
Ultimately, I do not think those who support the legalization of drugs (even those requiring a prescription from a doctor) are not taking into account the increased social costs of allowing everyone from our truck drivers to our physicians to freely take drugs that could result in very dire circumstances.
Does a responsible society think it acceptable for a surgeon to take a tab of LSD before surgery? Does a responsible society think it acceptable for a truck driver to get blasted drunk before driving? Granted, such drug intake could be deferred before such important tasks, but wouldn't the legalization of "drugs" result in even more limitations based on professions?