Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I will protect and defend

"I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, so help me God."
That's the Oath I swore 23 years ago first at the Spokane MEPS station, then later once more to reaffirm that very Oath at bootcamp.
Until recently, I had not given that Oath alot of thought. But I am now. You see, I've come to believe that once an Oath of that magnitude is sworn, you don't just get to release yourself from it. And it's not something you only live up to when it's easy or convenient.
I've also learned that by having sworn that Oath, that I may not be able to neccessarily do what is comfortable or safe. I am putting myself potentially in harm's way. Now I understand that well, and am now living up to my Oath. In bootcamp, I was taught early on that we not only have the right to refuse a lawful order from a superior officer, but that is WAS OUR DUTY!
Now here is the thing folks. The very politicians that represent us also have to swear the exact same Oath! So why in the world are we not holding them up to the very same standards of conduct our military is held up to. The politicians certainly have far more privileges that come with their office, and thus I think they also have a great responsibility to us for those very same things. They are supposed to be there to protect our way of life, not change it. They were given power by one document and one document alone. That is the Constitution of the United States of America, most specificall the Bill of Rights. They were to be given no more power or scope than that. The individual states are supposed to take care of the rest.
Instead, we have allowed special interest groups such as ACORN to flood the government with demands for entitlements, benefits and money. That isn't what our Federal Government is supposed to be about folks. They aren't supposed to be there to give you free handouts. Do you not understand that by allowing the Federal Government to continue to fold to these people's demands, and they continue to give us more and more things. What you may not realize is there is a price to pay for all of this. And that price is the loss of your freedom and liberty. Nothing is free folks, including government entitlements and benefits. Is it worth it? Is the loss of your liberties, your very civil rights worth that money? If you say yes to that, then to me, you have sold your very soul to corruption. If you allow tyrrany to stand, wether it is from a Republican or a Democrat, then you are no better than they are. So today, I call out to my representatives, my elected officials. And that most especially means to the President of the United States. START LIVING UP TO YOUR OATH! Go back and read our Constitution folks, with an open and clear mind. Then start to think about all the power we have given our government, and ask yourself if that is the life you really want. Begin to think. And begin to stand against them.
If you are former Military or Law Enforcement, you are on notice now. You swore and Oath, and I expect you to live up to it.
This is a list of 10 Orders I will NOT obey.
1. I  will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.


2. I  will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. I will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. I will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. I will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. I will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. I will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. I will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."

9. I will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10. I will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Were you to say these things to one of our Founding Fathers, they would say "Well duh! That's what you're supposed to do!"
Today, I am an Oath Keeper. Today, I stand in the path of tyrrany and oppression. Today I take my place as a defender of our liberty. Today, should it be needed, I am prepared to stand to.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Cannabis legalization may be coming to the West Coast

What great news to hear. California has announced that the signature drive to put an initiative on the November ballot to legalize, tax and regulate cannabis for recreational use has easily gathered enough signatures to make the November ballot. It needed 433,971 signatures, and they gathered more than twice that before stopping the signature drive early. The board of elections has announced they have verified enough signatures to make the ballot. To me that's great news. But the news keeps getting better for drug law reform advocates.
In Washington State, we have initiative 1068, a bill that removes all criminal penalties for the production, sale and use of cannabis for adults over the age of 21 is gathering signatures right now. Here is the website you can visit if interested in helping to end cannabis prohibition  http://sensiblewashington.org/read-i-1068/
It enjoys solid support in the polls in our great state.
And on top of all of this, there is noise in Oregon that they may be making a push to legalize cannabis as well. Alot of this activity is due to the massive financial burden the war on drugs is placing on the tax payers, while commiting grave civil rights offenses on peaceful, law abiding citizens. The state politicians are beginning to catch up with the rest of the public on the issue of marijuana reform as well. We are starting to see politicians sponsoring more and more bills in an effort to legalize cannabis. California's State Board of Equalization estimates that legalization and taxation will produce approximately 1.4 Billion dollars in tax revenues. That's huge folks. That's a big chunk of cheddar to help close the massive budget shortfall they are having in that state. If you add to it the massive savings from the criminal justice system for legalization, and California is starting to look pretty smart folks.
All of this would also produce massive social change. Decades of the police using so much violence to suppress the very people they are sworn to protect, will start to come to an end. They have used cannabis prohibition as a tool to take our civil rights away, just a little at a time. Our Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves because our society is subject to warantless searches, harassment, and SWAT teams using "violence of action" on a regular basis on it's citizens, alot of them completely non violent, and in quite a few cases, completely innocent of any criminal behavior, even by the messed up standards of our criminal justice system.
I would also put forth we would start to see far less alcohol abuse. There are alot of people out there that abuse alcohol, a very dangerous and addictive drug, with massive social and health consequences, that would likely stop if cannabis were legal. I used to self medicate myself with alot of alcohol to try to combat the horrible chronic pain from sports and work inuries, until I found medical cannabis. Since then, I have completely stopped my alcohol consumption. I honestly do not remember the last time I had a taste of any alcohol.
I'm writing all of this while sitting here on a very bad morning. The pain I am in sometimes has me crying everyday, in fact tears are free flowing right now. I can no longer straighten up all the way. My doctors are trying to draw me off the opiates at my request, but are starting to say that I probably shouldn't be off of them, and I'm unfortunately beginning to agree with them. I am frightened of obtaining the one medicine I can get that works better than opiates, because even though I am a qualifying patient, the police in this area have a very bad track record of harassing medical cannabis patients, and will not protect us from things such as home invasion robberies, which is becoming rather popular amongst the criminal element. Medical cannabis patients rarely fight back. State law says I am allowed to possess so much cannabis, it allows the cultivation of cannabis for me, so that I can have safe access. There is no dispensary system here, which would be really nice for those that cannot grow their own medicine. By legalizing it completely, it will make it easier for patients to get, and alot more difficult for children to obtain. The drug dealer on the corner isn't checking IDs for age, but I bet that package store clerk would be if someone were buying cannabis.
It's time folks. It's time for the people to start taking back their liberties. It's time to start holding our public servants accountable for their behavior towards us. It's time to start getting the government out of our living rooms. And it's time that all citizens of this nation are truly protected, and allowed to be free so long as they harm no one else. Why should we allow violent, body armored thugs with automatic weapons to bully us, all because they have a badge? Liberty is tied closely in with things such as drug law reform. They have been one of the single largest violators of our civil rights, next to the Patriot Act in my opinion. When the so called war on drugs ends, believe me, we will all be in a much better place. Our streets would become safer, the criminal gangs would lose a massive amount of their income, and legitimate, tax paying business people would offer employment, our prisons would begin to get less crowded, and we could get to work on the true problems in society. Come on folks, let's start to think about it a little. Let's start to open our minds up, do honest research. If you don't believe me, take 2 hours out of your time and research cannabis on your own, just keep an open mind. Dont start researching already believing that there is no way you will change your mind. And most especially, don't neccessarily believe what the government and the pharmaceutical industry may be telling you, what makes you truly think they have your best interests at heart? even if you don't like the fact that I use cannabis myself, why shouldn't you support my freedom to make that choice? I support your freedom to kill yourself with cigarettes and booze. Please support my right to live with a medicine that is safe, non addictive, and has no true dangerous side effects. Yes, even the munchies don't tend to get me down, I usually crave things like salads with vinnagerette dressings, raw veggies are where it's at for this so called pot head. Let's start to take freedom back, let's start to protect our constitution, and let's start to demand the accountability that should go into any public service.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

So I've been thinking about personal liberty

What does the drug war have to do with this topic? I've really been thinking about that lately. Our nation was founded by people that believed in personaly liberty for all. As a citizen, I thank them for that, and honor them by remembering their sacrifices, and demanding that liberty once again be a topic of discussion amongst the people.
President Richard Nixon really is the one that kicked the war on drugs off in a huge way. He did it by going after cannabis and LSD, very popular drugs in the hippie culture, and people he really wanted to control. To me, the hippies got it a bit wrong in one sense, liberty cannot be neccessarily won through non violence. Our Country was founded on rebellion and war. Sometimes violence has to happen. But I maintain the only time violence is acceptable, especially by a government entity, is in the defense of the liberty and well being of the people. Yet here we have a so called war on drugs, which is in reality a war against people. There is alot of violence, especially by the government of our nation, yet no defense of liberty or well being.
I just watched some amazing videos of the Liberty movement that's starting to gain momentum in New Hampshire. They are practicing civil disobedience there every day, trying to bring attention to the politicians that have become authoritarian and very facist in their behavior towards the rest of society. Those people inspire me, they are willing to go to jail, in the hopes that their sacrifices will bring liberty back to us.
One of the videos I watched, the police were arresting the one young black man in a crowd of over 100 white people that were smoking pot in the park at 420 in protest, and the disgust and actions it brought from the crowd. One lady kept asking the police if they would put their own children in a cage, and if they were comfortable knowing they were ruining this young man's life, not to mention terrorizing him by handcuffing him and putting him in a cage. One moment he's in a park on a beautiful day smoking a harmless, non addicting, non toxic, common plant with some new friends, and the next he's being put in a squad car (he was the only person in the crowd to be arrested for marijuana btw). Where is his personal liberty? Is it not as valuable as mine is? Did he harm anybody? Some people say that people that use illicit drugs are in fact responsible for all the drug violence perpetuated by the criminal gangs running the drug trade. I would instead put forth that the drug warriors are the ones to blame here, not the drug user. Prior to prohibition of drugs, you had prohibition of alcohol, and we know how that turned out. How are drugs any different?
You do not live in a truly free society when that society has the highest per capita prison population in the world, you have police departments that are better armed than the military, and a criminal justice system that depends on low level offenses to give all those people who work within it a reason to get out of bed in the bloody morning. If people are afraid of heavily armed and armored thugs kicking their door down and terrorizing everybody in that dwelling, and incarcerating people and breaking up families, then something has got to change. I went home not too long ago to visit my brother Eric, and my mom and dad. One thing that really stuck with me on that visit was to see a police officer of the small town in nothern Idaho. This guy was driving a brand new Dodge Charger, complete with the suped up Hemi, and the guy was decked out like he was going to war. He had his side arm, an automatic weapon inside the car, a tazer, a huge vest, I half expected this guy to be wearing a helmet and carrying a riot shield. What the hell does a cop in a small town in Idaho do with all of this tactical gear? They get their new toys, and they just have to use them. How many people have watched videos of police tazering suspects at the drop of a hat? I know I've seen my share. Now I do believe that there are times when things like tasers and automatic rifles are appropriate. But are all of those things truly neccessary for a patrol officer in a small town in the middle of Idaho? Honestly, they don't have a crime rate that shows a need for that type of thing. The only thing we get out of militarizing our police is a big boot on our own necks, taking our liberties away.
So the next time you're sitting on that couch drinking your sixer of Bud after a hard day at work, and you're thinking that you don't really care that some poor schmuck was busted for having marijuana to treat a very debilitating medical condition that could kill him and is now doing 5-10 years in prision, just ask yourself who they will turn to next when they have finished taking his liberty away? It could very well be you. Now how valuable is that other person's personal liberty to you?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Please read this, and help try to do something

I'm writing this at 3:30AM while I wait for my 3AM dose of Methadone to start to work so that I can get some rest. I just read this news story, and am surprised that it hasen't been covered on local news even a little bit.
I found a news story on one of the cannabis reform sites I visit alot, and it concerns our Pierce County Police victimizing a medical cannabis patient, and allowing him to die. What was his offense you say? He was growing pot, legal here in Washington State, and was doing so within the bounds of the law. He was violently assaulted by home invaders wanting his crop, and was struck in the forhead with a crowbar. Please, I'm begging you people, if you have any compassion whatsoever for this man's family, you will try to do the right thing. This man should never have been left to die just so they could question him about how many plants he has growing. Who cares at that point how many plants he has? They callously stated the paramedics would just put a big bandage on it, only to have him die 2 days later. The news story is here, and I am going to try to start making some noise about it myself.
The fact is, the drug war claimed another innocent life, and there was no need for Michael Shane Howard to die. The link to the story is here http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2010/03/medical_pot_patient_robbed_cops_take_his_plants_wh.php
To the Pierce County Sherrif's Office, you are here to protect and serve, NOT terrorize and victimize. Stop going to war against us, start going after the people that need to be incarcerated. Why on earth, with the problems we have in Pierce County and Washington State, are we allowing our police officers to do things such as this?
Please, do the right thing, write to the governor, write to your state rep, email the sherrifs office, call them and tell them you want them to stop harassing medical cannabis patients in our State.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I think it's time to talk legalisation and regulation of Cannabis

You know, I've been talking alot lately about medical cannabis, and how it has helped me. What I really should be talking about at least every now and again, is the legalisation and regulation of cannabis in the State of Washington.
As we speak, California is set to become the first State in the Union to fully legalize and regulate cannabis for recreational use. There is a bill in the State Congress now, and an initiative drive has turned in over 200,000 more signatures than was needed to get an initiative to legalize and regulate the cannbis industry on the ballot this year. The medical marijuana initiative passed with %56 support, and according to several polls, the bid to fully legalize the green stuff also has %56 support with the people of California. So one way or another, it looks like California very well may be the first State to end the senseless war on drugs, at least where cannabis is concerned.
Estimates on the amount of money they would make from taxing it fall around 1.3-1.5 BILLION dollars a year!! That's huge folks! Then you take into account the estimated savings of 203 million dollars a year in enforcement costs (that doesn't take into account local investigations by sherrifs and local LEOs), the ability for law enforcement to shift it's focus back on crime that we really need protected from, such as theft, murder and rape, and it's starting to look pretty nice.
Then you take into account the jobs that are going to be created, the tourism from coffee house type establishments, the increase in public safety because the drug gangs will not have cannabis to sell as an illicit drug anymore, and I'm really paying attention.
The drug warriors out there will yell, "But then it will be easier for our kids to get pot!" Go ask any group of teenagers, "What is easier to get right now, beer or marijuana?", and they will tell you pot is nearly everytime. The drug dealers out there are not checking for IDs, whereas the store clerk better be, or he will get busted. And that drug dealer gives them access to far scarier drugs out there, that will really cause them harm. Want to shut him down? Make cannabis legal for people aged 21 and older, and he will not have a business anymore.
Now I've written a little about the more practical reasons why cannabis should be legalized and regulated. But I also need to write about some of the other lesser thought of plusses to regulated cannabis. It would help keep many families together. People lament about the absence of fathers in their children's lives. Well STOP putting them in jail over non-violent marijuana possession so they can have that chance! Marijuana prohibition has broken up many families, and caused massive financial hardship for them as well. The costs a person and his family soak up while he or she is being prosecuted for a marijuana offense can be staggering. The costs in court fees, potential fines, loss of job while incarcerated, and unable to get a decent job once free, can break a familie's financial back. That puts a huge stress on everyone else, as they will likely end up needing public assitance just to get by.
In countries that are much more tolerant of cannabis use and possession, such as the Netherlands, they are noticing a lower per capita use of the stuff than here in the United States, home of some of the most restrictive prohibition laws in the first world. Yes, that's right, lower. And not just among adults, but also among teenagers. Not to mention, the Netherlands is a much safer place than our nation is.
There are 3 groups of people I see that have the most to lose from the ending of cannabis prohibition.
1. The drug lords themselves. They don't want the stuff legal, then they would lose their biggest source of money. They are billionaires with armies at their disposal thanks to cannabis prohibition, and they are winning folks, make no mistake about it.
2 . Law Enforcment. Yes, I am questioning the motives of law enforcement. I do not think the police are above question, nor do I think they should be free from public scrutiny. After all, we are the ones they are sworn to protect and to serve right? We are the ones that pay their salary. That means I want to know just what they are using my hard earned tax dollars for. Unfortunatley, I am finding that they are all too often being used to fund a drug war that's really a war against the citizens. It gives them the finances to get military style equipment, so that they can kick down doors of private non violent citizens, just because they smelled marijuana smoke through an open window or something. I'm a little offended by people thinking it's the term "violence of action" is ok when used in conjunction with non violent offenders. It is most defintely not ok for law enforcement to use terror tactics on it's citizens. Where is the protection from them? The days of what amounts to paramilitary soldiers busting down your door at 5AM with a battering ram, throwing flash bangs, terrorizing your children, quite possibly shooting your dogs, even if it's a poodle, all because you maybe smoke a little weed, needs to be over.
And finally, last but not least, 3. The Health Care Industry and the politicians they employ. The Health Care industry and the Federal Government are the biggest drug dealers in the world, and they simply don't want any competition. Right now, I am in the process of being taken off of Methadone, a very powerful and dangerous opiate. It's a process that my doctor tells me could kill me if I don't do it right. And I believe her, because I started the process by trying to go cold turkey on my own, and it damned near did. They gave me a sack full of drugs meant to help me through this. Yet the side effects of some of those drugs are just as vicious as the side effects of the methadone, not to mention the cost on my liver. My healthcare team convinced me to use the methadone, because they honestly felt it was safer for me than the medical marijuana. That's a funny one, they wanted to take away a substance that has very few negative side effects, and has never killed a single person directly in the history of it's use, and works like a charm to manage my pain levels, and give me a substance that in 2005 killed more people aged 45 to 54 than car crashes in the United States. And they stated it was because they were afraid of the side efffects of the cannabis use. Funny, prior to the Delaudid and Methadone, when I was just using medical cannabis, I went to work everyday, was productive, fairly pain free, and happy. I had a great relationship with my family, my romatic life was finally squared away, and I was on the road to success. Now, I can't go to work. They don't want me to go into withdrawl symptoms while at work, which I totally understand. I'm moody, depressed, and fearful right now. Those things will change with time though.
I am a living testimony to what the drug war has done to us. It has perverted our Criminal Justice system, helped to make the public suspicious of law enforcment, and caused us more human civil rights abuses than we care to think about. It is being perpetuated by greedy people that don't want to work hard for a living. Why go after dangerous criminals that can get you killed when you can pick on some poor wheelchair bound soul for smoking some grass? That pervailing attitude needs to change. We cannot truly live in a free society when such a significant portion of it is criminalized for what is essentially no different than someone that drinks a glass or three of wine every evening. And we certainly can no longer afford to let such a huge cash crop go to the criminal gangs anymore. Legalizing it puts the benefits of the marijuana industry into our hands, not theirs. Right now, Washington State is suffering from a 1.5 Billion dollar deficit in it's budget. A significant portion of that money could easily be received by a similar thing happening here as well. There are over 630,000 marijuana users in Washington State as of 2007, with about half of them being regular users. That's alot of potential revenue going down the drain. And excise tax on the marijuana being grown, as well as a sales tax on the consumer end of it, would generate alot of revenue this state desperately needs right now. It would create jobs, from people involved in the growing of it, to the distribution side. Those jobs would allow more people to be tax paying citizens, keeping our economy growing. We would save millions of dollars every year in law enforcement costs. Who would you rather be locked up, the guy that got busted with 60 bucks worth of pot, or a serial rapist? Why are there violent, level 3 sex offenders out on the street, when we have jail beds taken by that guy with marijuana? I totally get it if you don't like pot, I myself do not care for cigarettes and alcohol all that much. I would most definetely rather be stoned than drunk. But I respect your choice to be a beer swilling, gun toting redneck, if you can respect my choice to be a stoned, peaceful, no gun having libertarian.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

My life as an opiate addict

Yes, I said it. I'm an opiate addict. Just how did I get to this place in my life? I grew up in a good family. There was physical abuse from a step father, but he didn't last that long. I have a mom that to this day is wonderful to me, she's a guide, a mentor, and a friend. I have siblings that are close with me, I am in a wonderful relationship. Just what in my life would cause me to want to go down the long, dark, and ultimately deadly road of opiate addiction?
The truth is, I don't want that, and never did. Let's get this out there early on. I have never put a needle in my arm and used heroin or anyother opiate illegally. For some reason or another, through many injuries, some of them pretty damned serious, my body has become addicted to opiates. Without them in my system, I am in more agony than a non-addicted person could possibly imagine. The physical consequences to my injuries has left me in alot of pain, and without some sort of chemical interruption in the pain cycle, the pain in my back, my knees, and my hips would be so great that I would be incapable of living life.
For 20 years now, I have been off and on with opiates. It started out with a pretty bad backache. The doctor perscribed vicodin for it. Over the years, with injuries, trips to the ER, surgeries, and pretty scattered medical care, I have graduated to Methadone. Talk about a scary thing let me tell ya. At the height of my addiction, I was taking Methadone, Delaudid, and large amounts of muscle relaxers. I am now down to just the methadone, and down to 5mgs every 8 hours like clockwork.
What happens if I take my meds late? What if that clock I was just writing about is off? What happens to me then? Well, if I am late for my methadone by even a half hour, I am doubled over in agony, vomiting, crying, with full body convulsions that I can't stop. This will last until I get some Methadone in my system, then within 45 minutes, I start to come out of it. I have had withdrawl symptoms that were so bad and painful that I sincerely wished at that time that I were dead. I have a hard time keeping food down now, so getting enough calories to fuel all of this is becoming quite an issue. I feel sometimes as if my body is so tired, so exhausted from this fight, that it is in danger of failing altogether.
The longest I have gone in the past couple of months without opiates in my system has been 2 days. I was so tired of all of it that I got it in my head that I was just going to quit them. How bad can it be right? A 5 mg tab of Methadone is about the size of a chewable aspirin. How can a little tiny pill like that be so tough to get off of, right? Wrong folks. By the time Amber found me a doctor that would actually help me, I was in danger of being hospitalized. I was soaking through shirts within minutes, you could wring my clothes out. My body was locked into a permanent spasm, I could not even get my arms to relax enough to be able to grasp onto a water bottle. And my blood sugar had become dangerously low at that point because I could not keep food in my stomach.
Through all of this, I have tried for days unsuccessfully to get into a detox clinic, where I could have medical supervision while I get through this. Needless to say, every door slammed right in my face, which I find reall odd, considering that was what they are supposed to do, and yet everyday, assuming I could get them on the phone to talk to me, I was told to call back the next day.
Prior to the Methadone, when I would go through a period of opiate use due to the pain issues, I would have some minor withdrawl symptoms, then I was fine. With the Methadone, I am simply in hell. It is by far the worst I have ever had it.
Our society has become so enamored of drugs that things like this is ok with people. It certainly is not ok with me. The one and only drug that I have used with success in all areas, from the ability to keep the pain at bay, to being able to function, to being able to eat food, to being able to be awake, that has not treated me in such a rough fashion has been the medical use of cannabis. Yet according to the government, cannabis has no medical value whatsoever. And yet, cannabis keeps the pain at bay for me, lifts my mood because the chronic pain makes me rather depressed at times, allows me to have a life with my family and loved ones, has been the medicine that works for me, gives me the ability to function in society,rather than being a drain on it. And yet the Federal goverment, specifically the DEA and the ONDCP have said that by using cannabis I am a criminal subject to imprisonment, and the stigma of being a drug abuser. But they have no problem whatsoever with seeing me stupified and non functional on high doses of very powerful opiates.
Tonight, Amber and Lici came home and immediately had to drop everything and help me. I had spent the entire day in severe withdrawl. Even with taking the meds on time, I could not stop spasming, convulsing, crying, and I had soaked completely through the clothes I had worn all day. Amber literally had to put a cannbis pipe to my lips and light it for me to get things to settle down. The doctors gave me a massive cocktail of drugs to assist with the withdrawl, but they also have pretty sever side effects that make it very hard to justify taking most of them. The Cannabis is doing for me what it takes 8 other medications to do for me, with not one single side effect the other drugs give me. The only thing it does to me that I'm slightly ashamed of is that it really gives me the munchies. But seeing as my preferred munchies are chopped raw veggies, fruit and light proteins, I guess I can live with that.

What's in my future? I haven't got a clue. But today I stuck with my recovery plan, giving me a chance at tomorrow. At least, with the help of Amber and Lici, I have a hope for tomorrow.
I am unsure as to how long I will be able to stay in recovery this time around, but that's not what matters to me. Just having the Hope that there is going to come a day that opiates are no longer ruling my life, that I am free of my chains.
Yes I'm an addict, but do I not deserve the very same freedoms and liberties that other people enjoy? My life is precious to me, even as sick as I am. It is also precious to my loved ones, they don't want to see me dead or locked up in prison.
I have been spending alot of time since the surgery researching the real story of our completely and totally failed "War on Drugs". The human rights abuses perpetrated by law enforcement and government are staggering. So many dead, so many families broken up, so many people incarcerated, so many victims, so much money spent on all of this, when it could instead be used to help people like me, who are wanting to beng recovering from my addiction, get into a rehabilitation center. That is an entirely different topic though, and one I will most certainly be sharing my views on as well.
The medical community, Big pharma, Big insurance, and Big brother may have helped to create an addict, but this addict is reclaiming his liberty, and hopes that the rest of this world will wake up one day and demand an end to the tyranny and abuses perpetrated on the sick and dying.

Choose Liberty in all aspects of your life, for once you choose to give up those liberties, even just one, the road to oppression is a short one indeed.