Posted on 05/23/2003 11:34:45 AM PDT by Drew68
I'm at a loss for words.
"Someone in his position should no better," Fjaestad said.
Writers rely way too much on their spell-checker these days!
You are not alone. I actually *paid* to see their film in the theater ("Jackass" and "Spiderman" being the only movies I saw in theaters last year and I haven't seen a film in a theater since "Jackass.")
The first scene in the shopping cart played to "Carmina Burana" had me crying tears of laughter!
My fave was the fireworks waking up Bam's parents.
This is a NO-SCROTUM-STAPLING zone!
...the experience of Sweden, to which virtually no attention has been paid, dramatically shows how it is possible to get on top of the drugs menace by adopting a far more tough-minded approach than anything seen here.Compared with Britain, their drug problem is miniscule. Around 11 per cent, of schoolchildren there have tried drugs, compared to around 45 per cent in Britain.
But the rate is rising in Sweden just like everywhere else; a decade ago, it was nearer to three per cent. The Swedes are very troubled by this increase, which they think is partly due to the great tide of youth drug culture and associated libertine values washing through Europe.
Nevertheless, Sweden’s rates of drug use are still far lower than other countries. And both the Swedish government and public are overwhelmingly committed to continuing their tough drugs policy, whose aim is nothing less than achieving a drug-free society.
Central to this policy is the understanding that if a society is to control drugs, their use must be viewed as utterly beyond the pale. Once you realise how Sweden translates that view into practice, you begin to understand why the essence of the British problem is that drugs here are not actually viewed as unacceptable, and that such ambivalence makes effective control all but impossible.
The Swedes deliver an utterly unambiguous message: all drugs do harm that society will not tolerate. Unlike Britain, they don’t talk about drug ‘abuse’ as if this is different from use. To the Swedes, all drug use is abuse.
[snip]
Cannabis, for example, is seen as a menace in itself, with the Swedish health ministry emphasising the risks it poses of mental illness and social withdrawal.
Second, they do not make the distinction made in Britain between users and dealers. Concentrating effort on drug dealers – as we do – is fruitless. The supply of drugs is not only unlimited, but is driven by demand. So while the dealers should not be ignored, an effective drugs policy has to concentrate on damping down demand.
That depends on delivering a consistent message that drug use simply will not be tolerated. It is illogical and counter-productive, say the Swedes, to throw the book at drug dealers while regarding users as victims. It is vital instead to see drug users as people who are breaking the law and violating moral and social norms. So in Sweden, not just possession but drug use itself is a criminal offence.
This does not mean everyone smoking a joint gets thrown into jail. Criminal sanctions are mainly used against the dealers. What it does mean is that law enforcement, treatment and education all sing from the same hymn sheet and make the drug user the focus of firm attention.
Because drug use is illegal, the police can request blood or urine samples to test for drugs where they suspect they are being used.
[snip]
Information about them is then passed onto welfare agencies, who deal with the users’ needs through appropriate treatment. A lot of money is spent on detoxification and treatment programmes; drug withdrawal treatment in prison is compulsory...
Enough to give you the general idea. This information is, of course, completely unknown by your average jackass or your average liberal -- but I repeat myself ...
Grown men who staple-gun their scrotums to their inner thighs on national TV. Where were these role models when I was a kid?
Have you ever seen "Jackass"?
This is the same dude who snorted a worm-sized line of wasabi!
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