The Ministry of Truth Drug Information Site

A Brief History of Drug Use and Why Drug Use Should be Compulsory; A Tongue in Cheek Approach to Drug Policy

Today version 15 of the government’s paper "Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain" was presented to Parliament. The focus of the paper was a proposal to make the use of drugs compulsory for all by the age of 21 years. This call comes 75 years after the use of drugs became legal. Prior to this advancement doctors were unable to use their discretion in prescribing to people the drug of their choice. Many of the drugs we take for granted today were not even available on prescription to people with illnesses and a medical requirement for such drugs as cannabis in the treatment of MS or alongside chemotherapy. Fortunately, today doctors are able to prescribe any drug to anybody who chooses to use drugs provided that such persons can provide evidence to prove that their drug use does not make them any less useful to society. Suitable evidence includes the following stipulations;
A) If unemployed;
1) 90% attendance at job restart interviews
2) Attendance at 3 monthly meetings to review job searching techniques
3) Evidence of actual job applications
B) If employed;
1) Continued productivity at work evidenced by support from the person’s employer
2) Minimum 80% attendance (to be confirmed by yearly assessment)

These regulations, as we are all aware, have been working perfectly well for the last 75 years. Since the legalisation of all drugs the incidence of drug related crime is lower than it has ever been before, now accounting for less than 1% of all recorded crime. Compared with the 2005 figure of 94% the benefits of legalisation have proved to be astounding. Further, in 2005 the cost of drug use in the UK alone was estimated at £3.56 billion. Today, supplying people with the drugs of their choice costs the government a paltry £2.6 million and the money saved is now dedicated to such things as the NHS funds, research, building regeneration projects, etc. The national debt was paid off 15 years ago. In fact, Britain has never been more productive or prosperous.

Curiously, it is not only the incidence of drug related crime that has reduced; arrests resulting from aggression, burglary, theft and fraud are also at an all time low and prisons in the UK are less than a quarter full. Police manpower is now directed towards crimes that really matter and, above all else, drug users are no longer criminalised for their choice to use drugs.

Nowadays, it is difficult to believe that government strategies for tackling drug use in the 1980s were centred around "Just Say No" campaigns and took the stand that all drug use is drug misuse and should be avoided at all costs. Although there were several groups around at the time advocating safer drug use rather than complete abstention (which history has shown could never have been achieved) they were more or less ignored and drug laws and policies became increasingly intolerant.

In the latter decades of the 21st century, with The Party in power operating a "zero tolerance" approach to drug use, the Drug Crusades and the extermination of all drug users had begun. This mass genocide continued until the year 2202 until three quarters of Party members were identified by their own Hit Squad as being drug users. This was enough to make others start to question the viability of exterminating drug users and the quest was abandoned with the death toll exceeding 9.5 million. Finally, the voices of the harm reductionists and drug policy reformer groups were being heard and by 2210 the use of all drugs was made legal.

Today, the benefits of legal drug use are clear to all and, in attempt to enhance these benefits, The Party 14 is seeking to make drug use compulsory. In the paper laid down today it was proposed that from the age of 18 years youths should be encouraged (forced if necessary) to experiment, under medical supervision of course, with as wide a range of drugs as possible. By the age of 21 years people will be legally obliged to have decided on their "lifetime drug" and drug use will be monitored using the regulations already in place.

The proposal was met with unequivocal support. Indeed, Charles Brown, the Minister for Education, went one step further to suggest that cannabis should be added to the water supply. Anti-depressants have been successfully added for the last five years. Early indications from public opinion polls suggest that 92% of people are in agreement with the proposal.

As always there is opposition, mainly from right-wing extremists who claim that this is just another government strategy for controlling the masses. They argue it to be a case of dope us up, keep us happy and we’ll all be beautifully compliant. Billy Tripp, from The Advancement of Human Velocity and Psyche Development Group, responded with;
"Who cares? Does it really matter what the routes to eternal bliss are as long as we get there in the end? Bring on the drugs!".

In today’s political climate, and especially with new research being put forward every day to support drug use, is it even worth considering the idea that drug use will not become compulsory? We here at the Ministry of Truth certainly hope that this will not be the case.

Alustriel Zita