So there is some good news today: you can safely use the designer drug bath salts without having to worry about becoming a face-eating madman. Apparently, Ruby Eugene, the so-called Causeway Cannibal, was not under the influence of anything besides marijuana and unless you believe some outdated propaganda from the 1930s, you know that this drug wasn’t responsible for it. It also turns out that Ruby Eugene wasn’t even a real cannibal in that no pieces of Ronald Poppo’s face were found in Ruby Eugene’s stomach.
The whole bath salts scare was started by police union officials who claimed that there has been bizarre behavior surrounding the new drug. And while I have no problem with speculation, I think the police union officials purposely did this in order to scare the public as a whole. And why not? After all, the more scared the populace is, the more likely they are to give them more money and power. A huge part of maintaining a needlessly huge law enforcement system is fear-mongering. Think of it as marketing for police forces.
Here it comes. Good ol’ swifty is attacking the cops and he must hate cops (go fuck yourself Og). No, I am saying that our law enforcement is, in many ways, overfunded by taxpayer dollars and the continued prohibition of illicit substances. The War on Drugs has done more to enrich police departments across the nation than any system of taxation could ever do. Where do you think all the confiscated cash, property, and drugs go to? Some evidence locker? Sure, it will be there for a year or two, but once the case is long forgotten, more than likely the police will take the cash and hand out a bonus to their officers or buy a brand new spy drone. Hell, in areas where there are few crimes to speak of, the police are trying to get armored transports for SWAT teams. And while I am all in favor of men with awesome toys (and armored vehicles are definitely fun man-toys), I do not approve of professional law enforcement getting resources they do not need using my money that they stole from my paycheck (yes, federal funds go to armored vehicles for local law enforcement).
This latest report about bath salts will probably go largely unnoticed in the mainstream media, especially considering the whole ObamaRomneyCare Supreme Court decision, so people will continue to think that bath salts cause cannibalism. The truth is, Ruby Eugene may have had some kind of brain infection that cause his bizarre behavior. He may have also been schizophrenic, but we will probably never get a proper diagnosis since he was killed at the scene of his meal.
The fact is, drugs do not alter your behavior, it merely brings out what was suppressed by either you conscious mind or your inhibitions. How often do people get drunk and do or say things they normally would not have done when sober? Most of the people who use illegal drugs, especially the “hard” ones like PCP, are generally people who have little regard for the respect and well-being of others. It should come as no surprise when such people end up doing horrible things when under the influence of such substances. Without any inhibition, no moral compass, you will feel powerful and will be willing to do things you would not normally do. Think how Dr. Jekyll felt when he first transformed into Mr. Hyde and how he loved the prospect of roaming around without any inhibitions or sense of moral duty. Or, as a more modern example, Big Lurch.
The fact is, the police were clearly trying to use a horrific incident to make the general public more amiable to their agenda. And believe me, it probably will continue to work because most are too stupid to realize that human beings are innately evil and that only through our own self-control and discipline do we keep those evil impulses in check. Furthermore, when it comes to drugs, such mechanisms often get overridden and we end up exposing our darker desires. Because we have been conditioned to believe otherwise through secular education, many people will continue to think that everyone is a good person until X happened where X is some kind of horrific trauma or substance abuse.
I know it is a seemingly cynical observation to make, that all people are evil, but given the sum total of human history, what other conclusion could you come to? Whether big or small, everyone has the capacity and desire to commit an evil act. And until we can stop blaming external things like drugs, guns, demons, or anything else and just take a hard look in the mirror and blame ourselves for evil, then I don’t think that our society or our world will get any better anytime soon. Because denial of our innate desires to do evil means we will excuse it when it does happen and then the moral fabric of a society breaks down (too late).