PoxI was watching an interview with Peter Zuckerman last night. He is the young reporter who published a series of articles called "Scouts' Honor," in the Idaho Falls Post Register. It documented the cover-up of child molestation in the Boy Scouts by the organization itself and the LDS church. He also happens to be gay, and so his powerful enemies (Pedophile apologists?) outed him and tried to make the case that as a gay man, he just had it out for the Boy Scouts and LDS church.

This got me thinking about the gay rights movement. The gay community never accepted the psychiatric community's contention that they were crazy or diseased. But thanks to the the Cult of 12 Steps, drug users embrace their enemies. This is not the way forward.

Homosexuality was removed from the DSM in 1973 (or 1974). But it wasn't really removed. The psychiatrists then created "ego-dystonic homosexuality." I don't really understand what this was supposed to be—something like proto-homosexuality—like being gay was normal but being bi-curious was not? It was finally removed in 1986. The point is that there never was a disease. Psychiatrists, like all people, have their prejudices. And these prejudices show up in their "science."

It is no different with drugs. When I was addicted to opioids, the only change in my life was that I had to feed the beast. It would not have been any different (had my drugs been legally available) than it is now with the two to three cups of tea I require every day. But addiction is not the the issue. Or to put it more technically, dependence is not the issue.

Control is the issue. For those who are inclined to do a drug habitually, the drug is pleasant. People take the drug because it makes them feel good. And it is good to have control over one's mood. This is not a controversial statement! This is what the cocktail hour is about. This is what the after-sex cigarette is about. This is what the morning cup of coffee is about.

There are many in society who do not accept that individuals should have control over their own bodies. These people have their own very dangerous addiction: to power and control. These are the addictions we should worry about. These are the addictions that keep our country in a constant state of war. And they have made our society very sick indeed.

But you drug users, you are not sick. It is true that being dependent upon an illegal substance is painful. But you are not to blame; they are. Stop defining yourselves as diseased and see where the disease exists in our society. Do it before this festering pox destroys us all.