*Note: This “In Retrospect….” chapter is a relevant interjection containing thought provoking retrospective analysis on the science of human behavior, psychology, and politics. If this chapter adversely disengages the reader from the flow of the story, it can be skipped or read later.
Hospitals are abound with patients that have problems caused by obesity. Most of the patients in hospitals are stricken with complications due to overeating. Just like recreational drugs, food triggers a D.O.S.E. (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphin) response. Foods with more energy, higher in fats and sugars, trigger a more intense D.O.S.E. response, which causes them to be addictive. Drugs and sugary or fatty foods are addictive through the same mechanisms. I have been dealing with addiction problems since I was fifteen years old. I get it. What does not make sense is the disparity in the methodology with which the government handles these two addictive and harmful substances.
Approximately 10,000 people die each year due to complications from cocaine. Approximately 14,000 people die each year due to complications from heroin. Anabolic steroids have only been directly linked to 3 deaths in the history of steroid use, running about six decades. I am not naïve to the fact that anabolic steroid abuse may exacerbate adverse health conditions, however, it certainly does not cause the problems and death that myth, stigma, and the government would lead people to believe. In moderation, anabolic steroids, testosterone being the main one, help millions upon millions of men in positive life changing ways.
Now, let’s take a look at some legal addictive substances. Alcohol kills approximately 90,000 people annually, more than four times the amount of deaths caused by cocaine and heroin combined. Tobacco is the deadliest drug on the planet, killing 425,000 people per year, and more than every other drug combined. The number one cause of preventable death in the United States, by far, is congestive heart failure due to the excessive intake of fats and sugars. So, why aren’t cheeseburgers and soda illegal? In 2013, when the Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg attempted to ban the sale of large sodas, he was nearly laughed out of office. This was an attempt to mitigate harm and save lives, yet it was met with disdain and rebuke. I am not actually suggesting that we make fats and sugars illegal. I am illuminating the fact that people see how silly it is to ban something addictive like sugar, but people can’t see that banning drugs, a substance that is addictive through the same mechanisms as sugar, is just as silly.
While most of the patients in hospitals are admitted due to complications from obesity, far fewer are hospitalized due to drug overdose. Most morbidly obese patients are funded through Medicaid or government funded Medicare programs, and are a massive drain on the economic budget. Drugs are a drain on the economic budget only because the government pays to police their use and fill prisons, which causes oppression and violence. Alcohol is a drug with the same addictive mechanisms as any other recreational drug. If we treated drugs like we do alcohol, as we are beginning to do with marijuana, instead of draining the economic budget by policing and filling prisons, we would create millions of jobs and generate billions in tax revenue. We should deal with drugs the same way we deal with alcohol, educate and warn people about the dangers of its use, but allow its market to stimulate the economy.
What is important to understand is that we are not looking for a perfect solution, because there are no perfect solutions. But we should strive for something better than the current modality. Using alcohol as a simulacrum, or template, on how to implement drug policies would unequivocally be better.
Next >> Episode 10 (Adumbrations)
Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin (Table of Contents)
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Ryan’s Root’s real-life autobiographical story is a must-read account of his rise and fall as one of the largest anabolic steroid dealers on the Internet.
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