Oh please!! - Save Us From Scientists Playing With the Pleasure Centers of Our Brains

Last night on For the Record the topic was substance abuse and treatment. Tim's two guests are Dr. Jim Alford who treats physicians addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs. He also claims to have a 95% success rate which is almost impossible to believe (What does he do lobotomize them?). The other guest is Jimmy Rogers who works for the Council on Substance Abuse. I am glad that the guests weren't two jerks from the DA's office and the local police force. Overall the entire show is an argument for legalization and an admission that current policy is not working. Tim Lennox was a pro, as usual, giving just enough rope to allow his guests to hang themselves.
Great job Tim!!

WATCH IT HERE

I managed to get a call in around the 14:00 minute mark and neither guest really answered my question. No surprise there. Mr. Rogers agreed that legalization and regulation would be one way to deal with the crime rate, disease and other negative things caused by prohibition. He also said the usual line "What about the children?"
I say that prohibition has not protected our children and everything they say in this show validates the argument for legalization.

Dr. Alford went off on a tangent about the elderly becoming addicted to their pain medications and children selling ADD/ADHD medications at school.

That has nothing to do with prohibition of certain drugs. Legal drugs obtained by prescription are the responsibility of the person receiving the prescription. If this person is a minor then it is a PARENTS responsibility to ensure that medications are taken in the manner prescribed. Locking me up for smoking a joint will have ZERO effect on a kid selling their speed at school or Maw-Maw selling a few xanax to supplement her lousy fixed income.

I'd also like to point out that Dr. Alford is dead wrong on the issue of which method of ingestion is quickest. He claims anything smoked enters the system and brain faster than an IV injection. You'd really expect a physician to know better than that. His claims about marijuana are absolutely bogus and obviously fabricated by the government. I smoke pot and I am sharp as a tack. No short term memory loss, amotivational syndrome, lack of ability to hold a job or any of the other 'side effects' he claims as scientifically proven are present in me. And even if he were telling the truth would those side effects be a reason to imprison an otherwise law abiding citizen?

The show ends with Dr. Alford and Tim discussing drugs being produced to block the pleasure centers in our brain from reacting to the effects of drugs.

Oh please!! - Save Us From Scientists Playing With the Pleasure Centers of Our Brains

Anyone ever thought that humans alter their state of consciousness BECAUSE WE ARE SUPPOSSED TO? Could it possibly be a NATURAL PART OF BEING HUMAN? For more information of the history of human drug use click here.

I also want to comment about a segment of the show before the discussion begins where Tim informs us that no matter who wins the election they are going to be rich. Gov. Riley, Lt. Gov. Baxley, Jim Folsom Jr. and Luther Strange already have way more money than the average Alabamian, live in better houses and a whole host of other things. He goes on to say that a political scientist says this makes sense because people who live from paycheck to paycheck cannot afford the time, money and effort it takes to run a campaign. Too bad they didn't call me for this survey. I am a regular Alabama citizen living paycheck to paycheck and I have managed to find the time and recources (although very limited) to run a campaign for the highest office in the state. I think the real truth is most people have no desire to be public servants and many probably think that people who do hold public office are in some way superior to them. So there you have it....the rich rule the poor and the system is set up so that it shall almost certainly always remain so.