Cultural Survival Skills

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The following is a reblog from 2016, with some up-dated information from 2022.

Drug Abuse Contagion in America #I

The word contagion in this title best describes the spread of something within a population. It could be changes in health or genetic make-up (biological); it could be  cognitive, emotional, or behavioral changes in individuals (psychological); or  changes in the quality of social interactions among individuals,  groups of people, agencies or organizations (social/psychological).

It is also important to understand that drug abuse contagion can negatively impact (contage) other individuals who have contact with the drug user (physical or psychological abuse, neglect, job loss, multiple addictions, etc., can lead to legal problems and divorce). All of these outcomes are bad for everyone, and especially children who are involved. Such outcomes are also very bad for America.

Many changes can be good for individuals, populations, and societies.  Some changes could increase the likelihood of health, happiness and even the very survival of individuals, populations and societies. Of course there are many changes that could reduce the probability of all of these bad outcomes, and change them to good outcomes.

Considering the realm of drug abuse contagion within our society there are a great many factors that can increase this form of bad contagion. They are too numerous to catalogue here, and some may not yet be identified.

The following are only some of the factors that stimulate bad behavioral contagion in the form of recreational drug abuse and addiction:

• America’s technological advancements have created the availability of  an increasing number of drugs to citizens. There are many, and will be more, drugs that are both consciousness altering and addicting.
• Political open-border polices have created a flood of illegal drugs into America.
• Among many millions of  illegal immigrants are those who make a living illegally marketing these drugs to new populations. They are joined in this activity by criminal resident citizens in the U.S..
• Recreational drug use has been portrayed as a “cool thing to do” in many sectors of our media.
• America’s decrease in religious teachings and religious public social influences weakens individual’s resistance to traditionally “evil” self-and-other damaging behaviors, formally labeled as “vices”.
• Children who grow-up in poverty are more exposed to drug trafficking and drug consumption opportunities.
• Children who grow-up in privileged homes have a greater financial ability to purchase illegal drugs.
• Drug using peers apply social pressure to other children, teens and youths to try illegal drugs. This is likely to occur among adults, as well.
• Our high divorce rates and single parent families make it difficult to supervise children as closely as in times past and this provides opportunities for our youth to engage in drug-related behaviors undetected.
• School failure and increased drop-out rates among students add to the problem of unsupervised youth.
• A decrease in school truancy surveillance, and apprehension with our youth compounds the problems with adult supervision of children and teens.
• Increasing rates of psychological problems such as depression and anxiety in citizens of all ages provide increased motivation to self-medicate.
• Well-known psychological principles of modeling and imitation influences increase the odds of drug or alcohol use with children raised by parents who abuse alcohol, recreational or prescription drugs.
• Last in my partial list, and perhaps most damaging, are the accelerating effects of the suspension of governmentally enforced laws and punishments for the recreational use of illegal drugs in an increasing number of states.

This last matter showcases a dramatic change by America’s increasingly liberal/progressive federal, state, and local government’s rules for citizen’s recreational drug consumption in America.

The recreational use of marijuana has now been legalized in seven states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington. . ( Note: as of 4/29/22, an additional 28 states have fully, partially, or decriminalized marijuana).

Marijuana has also been legalized for medical applications in 27 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington

I will soon deal with the medical use of marijuana in a second blog on that topic. For now, I will simply note that the increased in availability and use of any drug, with pleasurable conscious-altering effects, is likely to  lead to even more increased use, legally prescribed or not.

Among all of the reasons for the increases our population’s use of marijuana I have listed above, are the effects of all levels of America’s government starved and desperate for increased revenues.

Beginning in the 1960’s, America’s Governments have successively legalized population behaviors that were once outlawed as vices. These activities are ones that were, and still are, are commonly understood to addict, kill, or produce other behavioral, emotional, or physical  problems in large numbers of citizens who engage in them. These activities are ones that attract the involvement of criminal elements of society.

As a result, America’s increasingly progressive governments and their puppet entertainment and main-stream news media have used the language of individual rights and freedoms to propagandistically justify these culturally transforming legalization’s of formerly prohibited vices.

Disguised by this avalanche of propaganda, the driving force of this bad behavioral contagion is America’s government’s dire quest for economic survival.

America’s Gross Federal Debt is expected to stand a near 20 trillion dollars at the start of 2017. America’s governments are going bankrupt due to socialistic mismanagement. (note: as of 4/29/22 our national debt stands at 30 trillion +).

Our governments have taxed citizens to the breaking point and so they have cleverly legalized pornography, gambling and now recreational marijuana use so they can win new sources of tax revenue. I expect that prostitution will be the next target for more wide-spread legalization.

Our governments are now desperately foraging for new revenues and are focused upon further pleasuring and economically predating its citizens.

Can you perceive the faint historical echo’s from the Roman Colosseum in all of this?

Please view the following two articles about the known effects of marijuana on users. Here you will learn some of the reasons why the recreational use of marijuana was formerly made illegal.

Please note that these articles are from authoritative sources.

America is killing itself in so many ways…and the legalization of drugs is just another one of them.

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/marijuana-use-and-its-effects?page=2

V. Thomas Mawhinney Ph.D., 11/12/16

Professor Emeritus of Psychology

Indiana Health Services Provider in Psychology