From: IN%"blancw@accessone.com" "blanc" 10-JUL-1996 06:04:36.86
As Tim said, the selective application of drugs or persecution = regarding their use points to a great hypocrisy (and deterioration of = character), and the more widespread the acceptance of hypocritical = double-standards, the higher the rate-o-meter goes up in favor of = statism. At the very least, all the confusion surrounding drug use will = create "disrespect for Authority" (which in turn will inspire statists = to propose further crack-downs, pardon the pun, on "criminals").
Actually, my Ritalin was one of the things that led me to come to the conclusion that drug laws were nonsense. It's a Schedule II drug that I never felt _any_ addiction to; I was off it on evenings, weekends, and during holidays. So at least in my case it had a pro-libertarian effect.
It makes me think of those Communist countries (remember them?) where = political dissenters were been labelled insane - the protesters were the = ones identified as having the problems, not the State. The imprisoned = troublemakers were then drugged, thus taking care of their "irrational" = behavior and lack of appreciation.
The matter is that Ritalin isn't acting as a mind control pill, or whatever the hysterics are claiming. Indeed, I nominate it as one of the more transhumanist drugs I know of (for adults with ADHD and children), and I've done somewhat of a study of the subject. -Allen