[Vision2020]

[Taro Tanaka]

Just for the record: there was a time when marijuana, opium, and cocaine 
were all legal and available in the U.S.A., but the abuse of those 
substances was not a significant social problem, because the vast majority 
of people were governed by the Holy Spirit, and thus did not have a desire 
to be taken over by substances that would cause them to lose self-control. 
Substance abuse is a problem primarily for people who are not indwelled by 
the Holy Spirit. (The Bible pointedly contrasts being indwelled by the Holy 
Spirit on the one hand and being intoxicated on the other: the two are 
contradictory.)

I don't know if we should suddenly decriminalize all substances that are 
prone to be abused, because given the spiritually impoverished condition of 
our society, a lot of people would probably hurt themselves, but it is a 
fact that the preponderance of substance abuse as a social problem is 
inversely proportional to the preponderance of vital Christian faith. In a 
thoroughly Christian society, marijuana, opium and cocaine could be legal 
precisely because the tendency to abuse them would be so small.

As for making alcohol a part of our children's lives, I'm all for making it 
part of *my* children's lives. In fact one of my kids is quite the little 
zymurgist, producing delicious ethanol for consumption around our dinner 
table, and even the little tykes partake of it. Outside the home is a 
different matter, of course, as we recognize that we are in a different 
culture. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The Carrie Nations around town 
need not worry that I ply my kids with "demon rum," as I am the only one in 
our family who likes rum.

-- Princess Sushitushi

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