"Why do people claim pharmakeia is 'drug abuse?'
.. people who disliked some aspect of others, searched the Bible for any hint to condemn them or trap them, and finding nothing, they turned to older texts with foreign words which have multiple meanings."
The choice as they saw and presented it was
total prohibition or total access to the hated drugs.
It was not that other methods
of controlling use did not exist or would not work; it was the
idea that
all usage was sinful
and must be stopped.
Like an ongoing morality play, this same issue gets played
out-repeatedly today with a new cast of characters.
As bills are introduced to lower criminal penalties for various illicit
drugs, one can anticipate any number of legislators standing to
attack reduced penalties as
an invitation for use
and
first step toward legalization of drug X.
Total Prohibition.
Public hanging, Iran, 2001.
woman put to death for "drug trafficking".
Total Prohibition.
Public shooting, China, 2007.
woman put to death for "drug trafficking".
