Miller
Continued from Page 10
have more fun than thy neighbor,”
as it distracts from larger problems
of deforestation, AIDS and eco
nomic decline. The image of the
user as a shiftless deadbeat without
drive or focus is largely a stereo
type.
The direction marijuana politics
lakes today will be decisive. If the
Bush administration continues in
power, there seems little hope of
constraints loosening.
Bush needs the drug war as a
scapegoat and a rationalization for
gross anti-drug expenditures which,
if the sociological data is consid
ered, have proven almost com
pletely unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, glaucoma and che
motherapy patients are refused the
most effective treatment known,
and users are fired from their jobs
and imprisoned.
Even if the user is not busted,
that person will be regarded with
suspicion and condescension by
media-informed non-users. So us
ers are frightened into submission.
They hide and feel ashamed of
their drug preferences, or a re pushed
the other way and develop self
detrimental extremist attitudes,
which further feed the conceptual
stereotype of the user as cultural
zombie.
Legalization of marijuana in the
immediate future seems eminently
t ' ‘» or ..
unlikely. HEMP, NORMLand simi
lar groups need user and non-user
support to raise awareness of the
alternate uses of the plant and to
spread information to friends about
the facts concerning its recreational
use.
The propaganda war is a real
one, designed to harm a significanl
minority of Americans (approxi
mately 20 million users).
UNLNORML/HEMPmeets6p.m.
Thursdays in the Nebraska Union.
Matt Miller is a senior English major and
a Diversions contributor.
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Funhouse
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each individuals’ active 8 percent,
and alongside everyone’s potential
to do violence is everyone’s poten
tial addiction.
Addiction is simply the result of
human unfulfillment, so much so
that it invades our genes.
It is a sad and violent response to
our crying, needing, infant selves.
Just saying no is a cartoon band
aid on the whole of human misery.
It lets a lot of the gaping wounded
fall between the cracks.
Certain external conditions are
necessary for the practice of addic
tion. Somalian children know this..
The unfulfilled seek agents'to
kill pain:
The wealthy have prescriptions,
conspicuous consumption and ac
cessto Fiberglas-free cocaine. They
also have many ways to hide their
addictions.
The not so wealthy have home
grown Old Mil by the warm case
and a nasty, chalky cocaine substi
tute cut with grou nd-u p pop bottles
called “crank.”
The destitute, who have nothing
to lose, have Thunderbird, second
hand Camel non-filters and crack.
Housewives have Dove bars and
credit cards.
Co-eds have two fingers in the
back of their throats.
George Bush has a militia.
It is not, and has never been, the
drug or the substance. It is the
hollow empty space within that we
must fill.
The extent of our emotional in
juries determines what we use to fill
it. The beginning of the end of
addiction is personal responsibil
ity.
Wheajwe overcome our addic
tions, we are empowered. We learn
that we are capable of changing our
lives. We are less likely to fear the
unknown, and more likely to leave
or repair unhappy situations.
Healthy fulfillment comes through
self-improvement and growth.
No chemically induced eupho
ria compares to the security of per
sonal achievement.
If the passion is dancing but the
majoris business because the voices
say business is practical, then em ply
spaceremainswherepassion needs
to be.
If the space is not eventually
filled with drugs, alcohol or choco
late cake, it may simply be a place
of darkness, echoing wiLh defeat--. _
ism — a festering womb for the
perpetuation of “can’t."
Deborah D. McAdams is a sophomore
journalism major and Diversions con
tributor.
WERE FIGHTING FOR VOUR LIFE
American Heart Associationc | Jt
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