False Dichotomy and Witch Hunt Tactics in Practice

Okay, this is sick.  This one North Jersey District is wanting to implement random drug testing, which is hugely opposed by the majority of students and no small number of parents.  Now studies have shown routinely that drug testing does not discourage drug use among either students or workers in the workplace and, in fact, increases hard drug use, but for some  reason those facts elude a number of the fucking liars who stood up to support this violation of the kids.

BTW, the only reason schools are trying to push drug testing across the board is to try and acclimate students to violations from future employers and, in my own opinion, to make some desperate prohibitionist last-stand.  I think they are trying to force this issue because in some part of their tiny authoritarian minds they think "if we can stop marijuana users from using, they will immediately become prohibitionists and we can turn the vote that is inevitably going to destroy the failed Drug War and all our profits!"  It won't work, but it's not like authoritarians are smart or anything.

Anyway, the prohibitionists who favor the a priori criminalization of all citizens because of some completely baseless and unscientific intuitive "knowledge" that drug testing will "dissuade" drug use despite all reliable studies showing that it will definitely not dissuade drug use, are sinking to some incredible lows.  They are exaggerating statistics when they aren't outright lying about them, for example.  But what I want to talk about is this practice of False Dichotomy and the Witch Hunt, both favorites of the pro-drug testing Drug Warriors.

You will notice the dirty underhanded ad hominems being thrown in the way of any parents who dare to oppose drug testing by calling them "parents who smoke pot with their kids" and telling people around town that opponents of drug testing "support and encourage teen drug use".  Now neither one is true.  The opponents of drug testing are opposing it because it is an unacceptably invasive violation of basic civil rights in the name of a failed authoritarian cause, the Drug War.  They oppose it because it does not fix the problem at all and studies have shown that it actually exacerbates the problem.  They oppose it because it usurps their authority over their own children and pre-criminalizes their children, putting them in an early mindset that they are all, as citizens of the United States, guilty until "proven" innocent by an inaccurate and unreliable method of criminal investigation and physical violation, and that no matter how many tests they pass they will always at any moment be required to "prove" themselves again and will never be exonerated for these crimes they did not commit and of which they were a priori convicted.

But notice what the drug testing liars are doing:  they are pushing a false dichotomy, the same one on which drug testing first took off, namely, "If you are not with me, you are against me."  They are pushing the idea that anyone who opposes drug testing could only be opposing it because they are, themselves, drug users and want to promote drug use.   They are pushing the idea that there is absolutely no other possible reason someone could oppose drug testing, and pretending that the position of "no, I'm not in favor of drug addiction but this method is not only ineffective but counter-productive and there are better methods that are also not humiliating, insulting, and criminalizing".

Personally, I think everyone who supports drug testing with these arguments should be charged with slander, because that is what it is.  But what is more is that it is a method for creating fear in the minds of people who oppose them.  They are trying to make opponents of drug testing afraid to speak out for fear of being branded as users themselves, much as the witch hunters of old made people afraid to speak out against their methods for fear of finding themselves on the rack, and much as the Communist witch-hunters made people afraid to speak out against the extreme persecution of the Red Scare for fear of being called a Communist themselves and being wrung out to dry.

The False Dichotomy can exist on its own, but no Witch Hunt can really exist without this fallacy of logic and thought.  The False Dichotomy is one of the most important weapons in the bags of angry authoritarian cowards everywhere, particularly the ones who are liars like these pro-drug testing parents are.  You will notice that no one on the side of legalization and the side of opposing drug testing has to resort to these underhanded tactics to get their point across....because we have the facts on our side, both the scientific, the logical, and the ethical.  The pro-drug testing side has nothing but lies and fear, and when push comes to shove they push the False Dichotomy even harder than before.  Because in the end, it's all they know how to do.  When your position is based on fear and lies and was so from day one, you eventually find the ground crumbles under your feet and leaves you with nothing to stand on.  They could possibly grab the rope we throw, the rope being all the facts, and admit they were wrong and be pulled to safety, but no.  They will spew their hateful fearmongering lies and their slander of their opponents right to their death, because authoritarian idiots are nothing if not terminally proud.

I say let 'em die.  The world would be a better place without them.  And it will be.  I'd like to send all those pro-drug testing parents a pack of adult diapers with a note encouraging them to save them for use on that day when marijuana is fully legalized, the federal enforcement (both the DEA and the schedule) disintegrate, and the country is finally on a reason and science-based drug policy focused on the public health issue it really is, and these parents and their ilk will no longer have the opportunity to stuff their metaphoric finger up the urethras of other people in the name of some cowardly ill-formed authoritarian notion of "safety" and "security".  Because when that day comes, I imagine these stupid putrid cowards will be pissing themselves with fear--even as the statistics for drug use actually plummet like they did in Portugal.

For example, this excerpt is promising:

The Northern Valley school board meeting on Sept. 23 drew more than 70 students and parents. Only a small number publicly supported testing, and more than a dozen spoke against it, to applause and cheers. A proponent of testing, Julie Gleason, said she thought other supporters mostly kept mum because they did not want to be condemned.

“Believe me, it’s not that easy to speak when you have 20 people behind you glaring at you,” she said.

 POOR Julie Gleason, you lying little monster.  Wah-freaking-wah.  You know that is not true.  The only people who have been forced to keep mum for forty years are the people on our side of the equation.  Now that people are seeing the truth behind your precious failed Drug War and its myriad failed methods like drug testing, you pretend that your numbers are greater than they are.

Oh, you don't like speaking when people are glaring at you?  Try being an opponent of drug testing like me for the last thirty years and see what it's like having people assume you are a drug addict or that you must be a dealer who supports drug use, having people treat you literally like an outcast, having to fear speaking out because you might be targeted by your employer as a drug user and lose your fucking job.  Try having an entire nation think that is perfectly sane and fair that your employer targets you, that it "makes sense" that only a drug user would ever oppose drug testing.  Try having an entire nation of people ready to murder you for not supporting drug testing and believing you don't deserve to work or eat if you don't support drug testing.  I would take "20 people behind you glaring at you" at a PTA meeting in a heartbeat.  You don't know how good you have it, and that's because your kind has controlled this discussion for forty years, suppressed information that showed you are wrong, and demonized anyone who spoke out.

Your day is going to come to an end.  Enjoy your tantrum.  It won't do you any good.

And may I say to Jason Baretz and his family:  You guys are heroes, and keep on fighting the good fight.  Don't let the liars like Schettino and Fable discourage you.  They are losing and they know it.  They are doubling down on the only methods they have ever had on their side: fear, lies, and demonization, and it's not working anymore like it did for them in the eighties.  Like the prohibitionists who tried to forcibly prevent the legalization groups from advertising publicly about the legalization issue in Portland, Maine, they will be shot down.  Our momentum is rising, and they know they cannot stand against it.  Keep going and always remember you are real American heroes.