I'm not saying doctor knows best about absolutely everything. Or about *anything* EXCEPT---you know the saying about a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client?
Well, when it comes to psychoactive drugs, nobody can do a good job of self-medication because you can't tell from the inside when you're normal or screwed up.
I don't have a problem with people who aren't dangerous refusing medication because of side-effects.
I certainly don't have a problem with getting second opinions. Getting second opinions is smart, because even among licensed doctors, sometimes you get a quack.
If you're sane and stable and the medication is not psychoactive, then by all means second guess your doctor if you feel you need to.
But sane people taking drugs to make themselves crazy, or crazy people self-medicating, or crazy people going off their medication if that's going to make them dangerous----that's a whole different order of magnitude.
I'm not talking about the occasional drink, smoke, or toke. Responsible use of light recreational drugs is a different kettle of fish. *I* can't--other than the very rare drink---because it would really screw *me* up. But most mentally normal people are not going to be screwed up by light use when they're not going to be operating heavy machinery or responsible for small children.
But light use by sane people isn't self-medicating, either---they aren't doing much more to themselves than making themselves a bit uncoordinated and a bit less competent for a little while. As long as they do that in a safe place, who cares?
That's a little different from PCP or heroin, eh?
Being a street cop, witnessing the tragedy firsthand, I've become
convinced that drug prohibition -- not drugs themselves -- are driving the HIV epidemic and the systemic crime that has swamped our criminal justice systems.
--Vancouver Police Const. Gil Puder
