Minrant: Alcoholism

This country has a profound problem with addiction. We have realized that there is a genetic element. The government has added laws to control the use of addictive substances, but these laws don’t make sense, and in many cases, simply don’t work.

So I was trying to think of a solution. What do you think of this? Instead of focusing on age, let’s focus on the addiction element. Sure, you should not use drugs or drink before you are 18 because the brain is not fully developed yet. What if, when you were getting your license, you had to be screened for the genetic markers of addiction. If you had the genetic predisposition, there would be an entry on the license, kind of like the organ donor system.

When you went to a liquor store they would check ALL IDs. That would help alleviate the age issues, as well as the person would see that you could be an addict and would not sell to you. While we are at it, let’s legalize marijuana, and the same rules would apply. Let’s apply this rule to cigarettes too.

I would keep highly addictive substances like MDMA and Opiates controlled and illegal the way they are now. Naturally, some people would find ways to bypass this system, but for the most part, this should help to prevent some addicts from their substance.

When the police found someone with this genetic makeup using a substance, they would be ordered into recovery.

Your thoughts?