It seems that every day we read in the newspapers about a "major drug bust" or read long lists of people dragged through the "justice" system because they made the mistake of drinking 2 beers before going to the grocery store.
While there are some illegal drugs which can cause a great deal of damage when overused, and while some of those convicted of DUIs are, in fact, drunk, the vast majority of this sort of "criminal activity" is endangering no one. It just happens to be the latest American fad, an unfortunate remnant of the Reagan years.
In the worst-case scenario, those abusing illegal (and legal) drugs are causing harm to no one but themselves. Furthermore, there has been virtually no mention of the cause(s) of substance abuse. All you hear is the nonsensical idea that people become addicts, or abusers, of various drugs because all of their friends are doing it.
It seems to have escaped public attention that there is always a reason why people feel the need to escape from reality. That's not really surprising, when you consider that society itself is in large part responsible for this desire for escape. And God forbid that society should accept the blame for anything, let alone change anything about its own structure.
We come now to the problem of the widespread incidence of sexual abuse in this country. I should have said problems, because there are so many facets to this.
The most conservative estimates I've seen claim that 1 in 5 women, and 1 in 6 men have been sexually abused at some point in their lives. Most studies report a somewhat higher incidence, and they ALL agree that a great many cases go unreported. I'm not a great believer in statistics, but any way you look at it, it's a major problem.
And what is done about those incidents which are reported? Usually nothing. It seems that the law enforcement personnel are too busy keeping the streets safe from pot smokers. And what excuse do you get when you ask about this? Usually something like "I'm only doing my job"...
If that's truly the case, then they need a new job!
I addressed this question via the Southeast Kansas area media, after a particularly brutal rape and murder of a college student in this area, and to date I've yet to receive so much as a rebuttal, much less a justification, from anyone. Not surprising, since there IS no justification.
The person(???) responsible for this crime had been released on probation, after serving 15 years of a 30 year sentence for the same crime!
Feelings of vengeance aside, this man should have been locked away from society permanently, to insure that he couldn't harm anyone again. And it wasn't even a matter of local law enforcement not knowing, they'd been called, by the victim, after she'd been harassed by this man.
The same old story, repeated all over the country. But the great "War on Drugs" continues to make headlines. I might add that I am NOT in favor of people destroying themselves with drugs of any kind, legal or illegal. I'm an alcoholic, and am well aware of the devastation caused by indiscriminate use of mind altering substances. But when are we going to get our priorities straight?