houseman said:
What I find funny...
Listening to the pro steroid community bitch about the Gov't taking away their right to use steroids is about the as funny as listneing to the rec. drug users bitch about the Gov't taking away their right to use rec. drugs.
I hear the SAME argument from both sides.
If we don't want to be thought of drug users and let's face it, steroids or rec. drugs, steroid ARE drugs, then we need to calm the **** down and fight the fight on a scientific level. This bitching, whining and moaning does nothing but propel the myth that those who use steroids are noting but drug users who will do any say anything to justify their actions.
Be smart guys
I'm loving this thread, some good points raised.
For one, we gain nothing by saying people should be more concerned about their kids taking marajuana or cocaine or heroin. Bottom line is non of these drugs are anywhere near as dangerous as the government claims and we have more to gain by banding together with those people than trying to shift attention on to them. The more regular people see users of illegal drugs of whatever stripe as nonthreatening, normal productive citizens, the more likely they are to accept the idea that we should be left alone.
The problem of social acceptance is a valid one, and it's true. Most banned recreational substances have their banned status deeply rooted in one time racial stereotypes. Blacks and cocaine, Orientals and opiates, Mexicans and marajuana. Look to the severely yellow journalism of the time and you'll see all kinds of blatant racism surrounding these drugs. The best ways to achieve social acceptance, which is the cornerstone of getting the government off our backs are a three prong approach.
One, instead of shifting attention to other drug users as more of a threat, band together with them and collectively put the threat where it belongs, on the black market. No person can honestly look at the crapstorm of government lies and stupidity about steroids and think it's otherwise regarding other drugs. Steroid users are not a special case, we're getting screwed in the same exact way. You think you're bettering your life? People who use recreational drugs to blow off steam or party every now and then also think they are bettering their lives, and your choice is no more valid than their's in the end because it's a subjective judgement about how one prefers to spend their time and money. You have more muscle? What is a person doesn't want more muscle? What if what they want is a little goofiness brought on by weed? It's their choice.
Two, geezers. The more geezers on HRT the better. The more data gathered on them the better. The more of them taking this stuff, the more people are going to realize it doesn't turn people into devils, that there is such a thing as responsible use and that no one should be going to prison over possession or use. The elderly and their use of steroids for HRT, and use by people who suffer from illnesses that lead to wasting are our best hope for gaining social acceptance.
There's a guy who ran a website, it might still be there, called marijuananews.com. Go there and read if you want some perspective on how another population of users are getting railed for no good reason. Research that issue a bit and you find out the government is misrepresenting evidence in the same exact way as with steroids to get people to believe that both forms of drug are evil. And to paraphrase that page's author, one of the main reasons for prohibition of marijuana and any drug for that matter is bad journalism. That's the third prong, some common sense needs to be injected into the debate of steroids from (what most people consider) reputable sources, the press.
When you research journalism and the drug war you see some disturbing things. The biggest and most obvious is the way press releases are handled. Any other body issuing a press release to the papers can expect to have it butchered, fact checked and often not even given any space or airtime in the case of tv and radio. When it comes to government press releases concerning drugs, very often they go through with little more than an editorial look for grammar and spelling. Journalists like most others have been caught up in the frenzy of the drug war. Any release of information to the public that somehow implies that drugs might not be so dangerous is treated as nonsense, any release from the government or pseudo governmental health organizations, no matter how fatally flawed or nonsensical the 'information' might be is treated as gospel truth. Until this is changed and a channel is opened for some factual information to actually make it to the public, changing people's views will be much, much harder.
We can learn a lot from the gay community. There's no evidence I'm aware of that there are more gay people these days than there used to be. One can just as easily argue that they're just more open about it now that it's considered acceptable by most people. The gay community advanced its cause through unity and in your face politics, the remnants of which are still around today. People still parade through the streets of the most gay accepting cities in this country yelling, "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" It's these remnants which give gay politics it's 'down your throat' aspect when most people, including gays consider it a relative nonissue. Yes there are still fights I'm sure they want to win and others want them to lose, but the basic lifestyle is here to stay and accepted by most people.
Now imagine what would happen if every user of illicit substances, any and all illicit substances, got together and started peacefully parading for their rights to be respected, and funding organizations on a national level to lobby for their cause. But that's not going to happen so long as the pot head thinks he should be left alone, but steroid users belong in prison, and the steroid user thinks he should be left alone but potheads and cocaine users are a menace to society.
