Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas

Merry Xmas Friends,
On this Christmas take a minute to realize how great it is to be with your friends and families. Make sure you enjoy your break from work and school, and also that you celebrate responsibly.
But also take the time to remember all those that will not be spending time with their families this holiday season because they are pointlessly wasting away in prison cells... and your tax dollars are paying for it.

And never forget the drug war victims that will NEVER see their families again.

To help bring an end to this nonsense in time for next year's holiday season, donate to SSDP right here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen to celebrating responsibly. With the accessibility and acceptability of alcohol use in our society, however, it frequently becomes difficult to know when to say no to alcohol.

Stated differently, due to the fact that alcohol use is so intimately ingrained in the fabric of our society, it is sometimes extremely difficult to ignore the many parts of our society that encourage drinking. So while the police, politicians, school and college administrators, and organizations such as MADD denounce alcohol abuse, an adult can buy as much alcohol as he or she wants. Then factor in athletes and movie stars who, by their actions, negatively influence youth by making drinking seem "cool" and even more “mixed messages” are sent out. All of these mixed messages about alcohol use and abuse in our society, it must be emphasized, make it extremely difficult for many people, especially our youth, to realistically see the destructive nature of alcohol abuse.

Unknown said...

You first paragraph suggests difficulty in distinguishing between "use" and "abuse." Alcohol, being one of the most potentially dangerous drugs, also makes a great common-sense case study into this distinction.

The great majority of alcohol consumers drink responsibly - they have a drink or two with a meal many days, and perhaps an extra at the end of the work week.

They might have a few drinks and even become pleasantly drunk on holiday occasions.

They don't, however, operate a vehicle or engage in other actions which might put others in harms way, drink in such a way that damages their body or their capacity to engage society, or drink in such a way that the lives of others are compromised financially or otherwise.

The same basic distinctions can be made with most drugs, with minor adjustments for the specific pharmacology of the drugs in question.

You are certainly correct about the "mixed messages," though, and I think we all recognize this as a problem.

Anonymous said...

I'm personally offended by this Christain-centric post. Shame on you SSDP!

Jonathan Perri said...

Ok... Happy Festivus