Recreational Drugs vs Prescription Drugs

I told you we had our ducks in a row to let rush off. Ben Shapiro takes up the task today.

"Unlike recreational drug addiction, prescription painkiller addiction belongs squarely in the medical arena. Recreational drug addiction is just that -- recreational. A junkie first picks up marijuana, cocaine or heroin in order to have a good time. No one prescribes heroin for back pain. But for many who become addicted to prescription painkillers, the dealer who gets them hooked is their family doctor."

Ben comments on a family member who got hooked on painkillers, and how the awful struggles she went through to get off them. He then comments, "It is despicable how the media have equated prescription painkiller addiction with recreational drug addiction. There is a moral difference between the two types of addicts. All drug addicts deserve sympathy, but prescription painkiller addicts clearly deserve more sympathy than recreational users. "

I don't want to mock Shapiro's family experience, but two points need to be made. Firstly, illegal use of prescription drugs is illegal the same as recreational drugs. They are both crimes, and conservatives have, for quite a while, pushed a law and order agenda when it comes to drugs.

Second, I hope I don't need to remind everybody who many of our citizens, particularly those of the lower class, have no access to prescription drugs or to doctors to prescribe them. Prescription drug abuse is largely a problem of the middle or upper class, and, again, we are a lot more comfortable with drug abusers if they come from the upper or middle class.