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January 11, 2009
Two Inconvenient American Success Stories
Such an abrupt change in title requires some explanation: this exercise, which began 21 days ago, has been written one installment at a time; consequently much of the supporting evidence was, of necessity, either updated or gathered as entries were written. Thus my own knowledge of key details of post-Nixonian cannabis culture and history has been considerably enhanced; along with my ability to search the web with Google.To shorten a long story, I’ve also become increasingly aware that I’ve really been telling two separate, but parallel, success stories. Although each is essential to any responsible analysis of drug policy, the stories themselves have been studiously ignored by major protagonists in the drug policy debate, as has their essential linkage.
Is such apparent blindness a “conspiracy?” As with most alleged conspiracies, it’s usually impossible, even years later, to be certain of the roles played by either enlightened self-interest or prior planning. Thus scholarly arguments can continue ad infinitum.
One conclusion I've been forced to accept after attempting to report my findings for over five years, is that although unique lifetime clinical data supplied by illegal drug users doesn’t support the scenarios advanced by either major protagonist in the “drug debate,” both have chosen to ignore information they have an obligation to respond to. That's a fact suggesting that our species may be troubled by a serious cognitive flaw.
Ironically, as the Inauguration of the one human offering the best hope for early recognition of that flaw draws closer, he is being progressively insulated from reality by the appalling mess his predecesor will leave behind.
Before closing, the two parallel success stories referred to in the new title are:
1. How an uninformed and destructive policy began with a false hypothesis hidden within deceptive legislation nearly a century ago has matured into a global policy of failure accepted and defended at the highest levels of planetary leadership.
2. How (and why) the criminal market for a unique herbal remedy declared harmful and illegal without credible evidence in 1937 began to thrive three decades later and has since continued to grow steadily despite sustained opposition from all world governments and most scientific organizations.
If anyone can offer a better explanation of either the world’s drug policy fiasco or the sickening unraveling of the global economy than our sustained inability, as humans, to analyze our own problems without crippling bias, I’d certainly be interested.
BTW, the reference to Al Gore in the new title is intended; i plan to explain it in the next entry.
Doctor Tom
Posted by tjeffo at January 11, 2009 06:57 PM