I hate guns. I wish they didn't exist. But they do. In the wake of the Connecticut shootings this mass knee-jerk call to impose strict firearm laws is an understandable reaction. Unfortunately it isn't the right one.

Resistance to harm reduction initiatives, and to legalisation or decriminalisation of drug use, stems from many impulses. Here I will discuss just one: an expectation placed upon the addicted.

When we finally get past this whole thing - war on drugs, hitting bottom, abstinence only - future generations will perceive it all much as we, today, perceive monstrosities like the persecution of witches and the Inquisition.

Often, dependence of any kind is presumed - without reflection - to be a problem that must be solved. For the record, every human being depends on air, food and water - are we all sick, or defective, for this reason?

If you think that something like a "war on drugs" was a good idea to begin with, and also that it can be won, then by all means keep it up. I advise you to watch many episodes of the Three Stooges, and to learn all that you can from your mentor, Curly.