The dealers and the pushers
You know I’ve smoked a lot of grass
O’ Lord, I’ve popped a lot of pills
But I never touched nothin’
That my spirit could kill
You know, I’ve seen a lot of people walkin’ ’round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don’t care
Ah, if you live or if you die
The late singer/songwriter Hoyt Axton wrote the original lyrics to The Pusher for use in a California anti-drug public service campaign after a friend overdosed on drugs, but singer John Kay asked him to expand the lyrics into a full song which Kay’s band "Steppenwolf," turned into a hit in 1968.
Axton, who fought his own battles with booze and drugs, wrote many songs about drugs, including Snowblind Friend, which Steppenwolf also recorded, and The No No Song, which Ringo Star turned into a minor hit.
When he wrote The Pusher, Axton felt there was a difference between a "dealer," who provided marijuana and LSD, and a "pusher," who sold hard drugs like cocaine and heroin:
You know the dealer, the dealer is a man
With the love grass in his hand
Oh but the pusher is a monster
Good God, he’s not a natural man
The dealer for a nickel
Lord, will sell you lots of sweet dreams
Ah, but the pusher ruin your body
Lord, he’ll leave your, he’ll leave your mind to scream
But Axton later said he was wrong. In 1997, two years before his death, he told Musician magazine:
If I had it all to do over again, I’d never touch booze, grass or any drug. All of it rots your brain, man, and it destroys your soul. Drugs eat away at our society. They are the devil’s toys and the devil is laughing every time someone gets high. There ain’t no difference between a dealer and a pusher.
Here in Floyd County, we’ve got dealers and we’ve got pushers. We’ve got growers and tweekers and cookers and cutters. We’ve got those who sell it and those who give it away. We’ve got grass, coke, crack, meth and still some moonshine.
Hoyt Axton was right. There ain’t no difference. They all push poison that rots your brain.
He summed it up best in The Pusher:
God damn The Pusher
Gad damn The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man
(Lyrics from The Pusher © Irving Music Inc. (BMI). Used with permission)
They want to smoke their dope without fear of arrest, even though smoking that dope is against the law.
They want to raise their weed without punishment even though growing the stuff is against the law.
They want to do whatever they want, whenever they want without taking responsibility for their actions.
This kind of “I wanna, I wanna” whine sounds just like my children. Of course the oldest is seven. When they grow up I trust they will have a more adult view of life.
What do you want [t]o do?
I want to make each of us think deeply about under what situations we will or will not use violence against each other.
I don’t want chaos. But chaos is coming, thanks to the big government experiments of the 20th century. Central control failed in the Soviet Union, it failed in the Axis powers, it failed in South Africa, it failed in Eastern Europe, it failed in Rome, and it will fail in North America. Turn on a television news channel if you want to witness it.
The only way I know to avoid chaos is if each of us develops the ethical backbone to stand up to authority and just say NO when we are ordered to use violence.
Floyd is one of the most peaceful places on earth I have seen. It’s not because there is a policeman at every household telling us what we can or cannot do. It is because, more than most other communities, we have respect for each other’s life, liberty and property.
"Government kills more people than drugs." So what is your point? Governments kill more people than rapists. Should we legalize rape and not punish those who abuse women? Governments kill more people than pedophiles. Should we legalize pedophilia and not punish those who abuse children? Governments kill more people than serial killers. Should we allow serial killings based on such a statistic? The problems that face a civilized society cannot be solved by endless spouting of anti-government screeds Mr. Thomas. After reading your comments over the weekend it appears you have a Libertarian view that says government should not do anything to deal with the ills of society. What do you want to do? Abolish all laws? Dismantle all police departments? Let people do whatever they want in the name of liberty? It appears you want chaos Mr. Thomas. Count me out. I voted for Stephanie Murray Shortt because I wanted a tough prosecutor enforcing the laws in Floyd County. Thats what we have now and I for one am happy she is keeping her campaign promises. I am not entirely happy with the government’s war on drugs but until something better comes along I cannot see walking away from it. Doing nothing is not an answer.
It really is a shame that a simple and easy issue about whether or not a drug manufacturer should be punished was diverted into a meaningless discussion about government encroachment of freedoms and liberties.
The issue here has nothing, I say again nothing, to do with violating anyone’s freedom. It has nothing to do with infringement of anyone’s rights.
In Virginia, manufacturing marijuana at a certain level is a felony that brings a jail sentence and forfeiture of property under specific conditions. The person in question manufactured marijuana and admitted to police that he distributed it to others. He entered a guilty plea in court under the “Alford” exception which is nonetheless an admission of guilt under the law.
From what I understand, this is not this person’s first brush with the law so he knows that committing a crime can result in punishment. He freely chose to commit that crime. He got caught.
Those who rise to his defense act like he is somehow being railroaded for his crime, that the Commonwealth’s Attorney is somehow guilty of “violence” against him because he committed a crime, got caught, pleaded guilty and now faces punishment and possible loss of property.
Characterizing this as an infringement of freedom or an assault on civil rights requires such convoluted thinking that one would need a GPS to find his way out.
This is not a failed war on drugs by the feds. It is not a Constitutional issue. It won’t even become a footnote in a law journal. It is nothing more than a state law being implemented by a local prosecutor to punish a small town lawbreaker.
Heck, it wouldn’t even make a good “Law & Order” episode.
Who are the pushers for government?
Punishing a drug manufacturer for his crime has nothing to do with liberty sir. A citizen of Floyd County broke the law. The person responsible for prosecuting the law is seeing that he is punished. That is not violence, sir. That is justice. We Floyd Countians want justice. We want our laws enforced. We elect people like Mrs. Shortt because she enforces those laws and we will re-elect her in the next election because she upholds the law.
How about the “pushers” at the convenience store who sell alcohol? Everyone who has been around someone who is drunk and someone who is high knows that the drunk person is far more dangerous to society.
It’s drunk drivers that kill people on the roads, not marijuana smokers.
It’s drunks that beat their wives, not pot smokers.
I have still not heard a single rational argument made by anyone, ever, as to why marijuana should be illegal if alcohol isn’t.
To be clear I am certainly not for alcohol being illegal. I’m for more freedoms, not less.
It’s just preposterous to act like someone growing marijuana is bringing more harm to people than those selling alcohol & cigarettes. If you are going to judge people based on the harm they cause others then please be consistent.
It’s cigarettes that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. Should they be illegal?
Alcohol use leads to numerous health problems and directly leads to thousands of drunk driving accidents every year. Should it be illegal? (Remember we already tried that in the 1920s with no success.)
Puritanism is not the answer. Selective “justice” is not the answer.
Freedom is the answer.
Mr. Jackson, I believe you said this just yesterday:
Yet here you are again today. Looks like you have an addiction to this blog. Maybe we should start a 12-step program to help you become a man of your word.
“It’s hard to say that using marijuana will ruin your life when the last three American presidents are admitted marijuana users” This quote was taken from a very encouraging story on marijuana legalization debate in California, I set it as my homepage if you want to read more about it click on my name.
Also, almost every Democratic candidate for President in 2008 admitted to using marijuana during their life. The Republicans were not as quick to admit it (although I’m sure many of them have) due to the fact that they have to appeal to “social conservatives.” Social conservative is another word for someone who wants to tell other people how to live their private life of course. They are as anti-America as you can get because they don’t believe in freedom.
The fact is, marijuana is not a particularly dangerous drug. It is obviously far less dangerous than alcohol & cigarettes. Marijuana does not lead to serious health issues. According to many doctors it is actually a positive in many health situations. Meanwhile cigarettes & alcohol regularly KILL people. It’s really not even close. There’s no comparison as far as the danger of these drugs. Why is it that the far less dangerous drug is illegal while the more dangerous ones are not?
Many of the people commenting in favor of stealing a man’s property and putting him in jail because he grows and smokes marijuana drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes in their own lives. How do you square that circle? What reasoning can you give? Does it all come back to blind obedience to authority for you folks?
All in the name of authority. Authority has often been wrong. Laws have often been wrong. This is one of those times. It is wrong to blindly follow laws. It is wrong to self righteously cheer when your neighbor is put in jail for doing something that is less harmful than what you do in your own life. It is more than wrong, it is the height of hypocrisy.
This is a case of “selective justice.” There’s no reason for marijuana to be illegal while alcohol is not.
It reminds me of another selective justice situation: Those convicted of crack related crimes get about 10X as much prison time as those convicted of cocaine related crimes. What’s the main difference here? Rich white people use cocaine. Poor black people use crack.
It’s so sad to me that many people fail to question the “conventional wisdom” because it often anything but wise. It’s sad that so many people choose to think in a reactionary manner rather than to actually use their minds and to think about things rationally.
If America is to move forward we must move past this sort of thoughtlessness.
The War on Drugs does not work. It has been just as much of a failure as alcohol prohibition was in the 1920s.
If you want to learn about the effects of legalizing drugs look at this story about Portugal where all drugs were legalized in 2001: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
In the 8 years since drugs were legalized, drug use has actually fallen.
Did you know that despite (or maybe even partly because) of our extremist anti-drug laws in America that we have some of the highest drug use rates in the world?
Did you know that we have 25% of the world’s prisoner population despite having 5% of the world’s total population?
Think.
I agree with you on that one Carolyn. It’s not a productive use of my time.
Perhaps we should make this blog illegal since it’s so addictive?
It’s not a productive use of anyone’s time to wade through our bullshit Mr. Jackson (pardon my French). You repeat yourself and take things out of context.
For example, you talk about American Presidents who used marijuana and say their lives were not ruined. Mr. Thompson wrote about those who abused drugs, including marijuana. He was not talking about those who experimented with the drug in their youth (as many of us did).
If you want to read nonsense Mr. Jackson go back and review what you have written here in the past few days. Then prove to be a man of your word and leave the debate to rational Floyd Countians who trust the law and those we elected to enforce it.
Oh I see, the old “youthful indiscretion” line. I love that one. So it’s OK to use marijuana as long as you only use a little bit of it when you are a certain age? Who draws the line on that? What age does it stop being a youthful indiscretion and become a crime? It’s shocking how ridiculous the arguments made against marijuana legalization are.
Ah the sweet smell of hypocrisy!
The issue all along has been drug abuse but that seems to a concept that is beyond your comprehension. You’ve been caught in so many contradictions, hypocrisies and lies that you can’t even keep up with yourself.
Count me in as one Floyd County native who appreciates your work to expose the hypocrisy of our “drug culture.”
Those who defend a lawbreaker and call enforcement of the law an infringement of freedom obviously feel that breaking the law is government intrusion when it involves their friends or a law they dislike.
The law should apply equally to everyone and not be selective to excuse a pot grower because he’s someone’s friend. According to The Floyd Press, Patrick Warren Fenn, on April 21, entered a guilty plea to manufacturing marijuana and will be sentenced on July 21.
If Mr. Fenn is an innocent victim of a callous government why did he plead guilty and not choose to fight to prove his innocence in a court of law? Why didn’t the alternative life-stylers who are so upset not raise a defense fund to allow him to fight for his day in court? Perhaps they met to consider a defense fund but got stoned first and forgot why they were meeting.
Mr. Fenn knew the possible consequences when he chose to break the law. That was his choice in a free society. His right to freedom ends, however, when he chooses to break the law and gets caught. That is our right as the society that depends on our justice system to uphold the law.
Mr. Fenn gets no sympathy from our household. He broke the law and he should face the consequences for doing so.
BEWARE: Harmful Gateway Drug!!
(oops just a plant!)…., couldn’t resist a little levity here, sounds like all y’all could use a little toke?
I’ve avoided stepping into this piss-fest since seeing where it was headed a couple of days ago. Now that it’s turned into a series of fact-starved drive-bys I’d like to offer a couple of points (hopefully Sam/Darlene/et al could try doing the same instead of acting like monkeys at a doo-fling?)
First things first, this guy got popped growing weed. We all know the penalty for getting popped growing weed. He plead guilty, he will pay the price. Trying to mitigate that reality is pointless at this stage of the game, frankly the man is screwed. There’s really nothing that can be done for him. He made his bed….
That gave rise to a brief discussion about whether or not people should ignore laws on the basis that one might find that law unacceptable and therefore shouldn’t apply to them. That seems to be when the apples started getting mixed with the oranges and it turned into a discussion on exercising individual liberty in general and legalizing marijuana in particular.
Traffic laws, (remember what we were originally talking about?) are put in place, hopefully, to make driving a safer/saner experience for everyone using the roads.…in short these laws incentivise cooperation and set standards that allow folks from all walks of life the ability to travel safely/sensibly on our roads. A lot of times people will ignore these laws and cause an accident, that’s a fact of life. People don’t generally view these laws as an infringement on their rights.
Marijuana laws, on the other hand, restrict the use of a plant. Like it or not many people think that marijuana laws are a direct infringement on the sovereignty of the individual. I count myself among them.
Individual liberty on our public roadways means that you can choose the make/model of the car (or motorcycle?) that you wish to drive and that’s about it. To drive on our roads you have to keep it “between the lines” in just about every conceivable action you engage in, including parking. It’s been that way as long as people have been driving and it will stay that way as long as we do.
Individual liberty in regard to marijuana laws couldn’t be more different, and as such are quite likely to change over time.
JJ and MarkT both make good and valid points about why they feel these laws should be changed. JJ goes one further by providing an EASY TO READ article outlining a country’s experience with legalizing all drugs. In response to their opinions they get grunts and squeals from a few folks who don’t have much to offer unless name-calling gets extra points?
MarkT is dead on when he says that we need to stick up for each other and not allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking that BigBrother has our best interests at heart. As a non-smoker standing up for smokers I’d say he’s walking the walk and we could all learn from his example.
JJ is shooting with silver bullets, he represents the thinking of the future. The only thing he can do is stick to the facts and brace himself for more of the same kind of foolishness he’s encountered on here.
Doug, a man is entitled his opinion. I respect your opinion even if I can’t fathom the reasoning you’ve provided over the course of this discussion. If I understand you correctly, marijuana should be illegal because it’s illegal and shouldn’t be legalized because it’s a crime and it’s that simple. At one point you even say something to the effect of that’s the way it is, that’s the way it will always be.
I hope you don’t think I’m trying to be smart-alecky here, that’s my take on all that you’ve said. I’m certainly not trying to get you to change your way of thinking about marijuana laws, that’d be a waste of time.
I do, however, think that these laws will eventually change as more people like MarkT and JJ stand their ground and weather the belittlement (stoner community?) associated with taking a principled stand, which BOTH of these gentlemen have done thus far.
My argument against the legalization of marijuana is based on increasing medical research that shows harmful effects from its use. THC is found to cause dependency, cause brain damage and damage to organs.
I believe Jonny lost any chance at credibility when he advocated legalizing heroin and other hard drugs.
NORML and other pro-marijuana organizations have predicted the legalization of grass for more than 30 years. Hasn’t happened and I doubt seriously it will happen in the future.
It has been my experience when working with drug addicts (including those with a strong dependence on marijuana) that the last thing this nation needs is another harmful substance legalized. The argument that allowing the government to regulate and set standards for grass doesn’t wash. The government sets standards for alcohol and alcoholism is at an all-time high.
In my opinion, Jonny is as guilty of drive-by harassment as the attackers he attracted. He came in here with an attitude, used insulting language and set himself up for the attacks.
It was Jonny who brought "hippies" into the discussion. His claims that "thousands of people in Floyd County" smoke grass or that the hippie vote put Stephanie Shortt into office and can vote her out are as devoid of fact as those you belittle.
In my opinion, Jonny Jackson got what he deserved. Mark Thomas argued his points passionately and without rancor. I don’t agree with him either but I respect his approach to the issue. Mr. Jackson deserves neither respect or further consideration and he will find none here.
A man who advocates making heroin and such drugs legal is a fool and those who follow him are on a fool’s mission.
My argument for the legalization of marijuana is based on the fact that too many good people are sitting in jail for no good reason. It, in my humble opinion, is that it is a far greater crime to take away a man’s freedom than it is to smoke weed.
I guess I have more faith in people’s good sense than to think that we need laws (criminal laws!?) to dictate which drugs are ok and which one’s aren’t.
I didn’t realize you’d let “Jonny” get under your craw like that, I’ve always gotten a kick out of the use of hyperbole in civil discourse and assumed that you’d recognize it for what it was likely meant to be??
In my personal experience the withdrawals from weed are NOTHING compared to the withdrawals from caffeine and cigarettes. (Friends have told me that DT’s are ALOT worse)..People can pick their own poison as far as I’m concerned, the fact that they can be imprisoned is wrong.
And while we’re talkin’ potential harmful effects…Is being crabby a possible side effect of getting too high on life?!…just wonderin.
So does lunacy. There have been a lot of strange, off-the-wall comments posted to this web site over the years but promoting the legalization of heroin is, in my opinion, the most idiotic, lunatic-fringe comment that has ever appeared here. It makes my blood boil to think that anyone is stupid enough to suggest such a thing.
I guess I’d attack him too if this was my sandbox…or perhaps I’d use it as an opportunity to reveal the fallibility of “idiotic lunatic fringe” thinking?
You’ve written, quite eloquently, about a number of local issues and this site gives us good reading, excellent photography and an interesting perspective on life in these parts. That said, your most powerful writing centers around racism, I feel that it’s safe to say that’s another topic that makes your “blood boil.” I, for one, am grateful that you didn’t cut and run from that one.
Heroin is a scourge, it’s not a friendly herb, equating the 2 does more harm than good…secrecy and/or condemnation do nothing but feed demand for this drug.
The best thing for people, especially young people, is to see the truth revealed and there is no truth as ugly as a strung-out junkie. I’ve encountered all kindsa people in my life, and I’ve learned that there’s little reason to pity somebody who decides to knowingly jump off a cliff without a parachute.
If it were up to me, I’d debate “Jonny” (maybe consider filtering out the grunts and squeals?) and demonstrate the “lunacy” of his ideas, that’d be more satisfying than cutting him off and calling him names …but this is your sandbox and it’s not for me to tell you how to play.
…Jonny has chosen not to respond. Probably just as well.