C.J. is the author of seven suspense novels including The End of Marking Time and Sin and Vengeance, which was optioned into development for film by Beantown Productions, LLC (screenplay by Marla Cukor). C.J. blogs at www.cjwestkills.wordpress.com. You can also find him at www.22wb.com or at www.facebook.com/cjwestfans
Are We Heading
for a Zombie Apocalypse?
The title of
this blog post may have you thinking about the recent cannibalism events in the
United States. And you may love The
Walking Dead on television or even the movie Zombieland and you may be conjuring Hollywood’s version of
flesh-eating zombies. I’m personally a fan of the movie and the television
series, but I’m not writing about infected, mindless people roaming the
streets.
What I’m
really talking about is something I heard over and over from the real life hero
in my Lorado
Martin Mystery Series. He often talks about the Zombie Apocalypse as
a metaphor for a rising tide of drug abuse and crime.
Lorado works
with recovering addicts and sees firsthand the toll drug abuse takes on people.
Families are splintered apart as trust between spouses, brothers, even children
and parents is shattered by lies and deceit. Many of these relationships can
never be truly mended. Users rack up criminal records so long they can never
hold a position of responsibility. Many lose their right to vote. When they
finally get clean, many recovering addicts are resigned to life as second-class
citizens. Portraying their struggles in Dinner At Deadman’s was
heartrending work.
Why this
happens and why the Zombie Apocalypse tag is so fitting is because some people
are so powerless to hard drugs they have no choice but to feed their addiction
at all costs. They mindlessly wander in search of money for their next fix,
like the walkers in The Walking Dead,
scouring the world for their next meal.
Lorado says
that movie makers have been using zombies as a metaphor for drug users for
years and that the population at large has yet to catch on. Whether you believe
him or not, the push to legalize addictive drugs is more scary than any zombie
movie.
Thirteen of
50 states have decriminalized marijuana. Politicians as disparate as Ron
Paul and Rev. Jesse Jackson are calling to end the war on drugs. Senator Paul
sees the drug war as an infringement on individual liberty, while politicians
from the Congressional Black Caucus like Rep John Conyers see the war on drugs
disproportionately targeting people of color. Actor Brad
Pitt calls the war on drugs a charade.
With so many
voices calling to legalize drugs, we have to wonder what would happen to our
young people if they could go to a liquor store and buy heroin when they turn
21. Would a cheaper, regulated source of heroin be any less
devastating? Or would we be cultivating a crop of zombies that will roam the
earth searching for their next fix?
Polls show
about 50% of people favor legalization of marijuana and a smaller
group favor legalization of heroin. Which side are you on? And what do you
think would happen if we opened the floodgates and allowed anyone to go out and
buy drugs?
