Welcome to reality II: The photographic evidence

I understand that there are still some people out there who remain convinced that re-legalizing drugs will cause havoc, bad hair days, chaos, human sacrifice, a new Back Street Boys album, the waking of Cthulhu from his ageless slumber in the heart of R'lyeh, anarchy, ragnarök, post-nasal drip and other horrific events sure to bring America to her knees.

"Dang right!  If we...uh, waitaminnit...'RE-legalizing?'"

Yep, that's what I said.  Observe Ye Olde Marketing Ploys from the days of yore:

I shall give you a moment to pick your jaw up off the floor before someone uses it as a dustpan.

You're reading that right:  At the turn of the last century, you could buy heroin, cocaine, opium or anything you had a mind to, at any local druggist or mercantile store.  Not only did you not need a prescription, you didn't even need ID.  That's right--you could send your seven-year-old down the block to pick you up some heroin cough drops, a fifth of Jack, a box of 12-gauge slugs and a pack of cigs.

And yet, not only did America somehow survive, but she continued to produce some of the smartest, toughest, most independent and charitable human beings ever to set foot on planet Earth.

There's this theory out there that says that if you give people responsibility, true responsibility...that most of them will live up to it, and the ones that don't, wouldn't have anyway.  I think the theory has been proven, in both the responsible behavior of our ancestors and the childish behavior of our descendants, who have been kept far too long in the nursery.

Just sayin.'