Your Pusherman

Before my current writing life, there was The Hilltop, Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form.

From The Hilltop Archives

Originally published in The Hilltop, Howard University — February 27th, 2004

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Your Pusherman

I'm your mama, I'm your daddy, I'm that brotha in the lab.I'myour doctor when you need. THG? To build your speed. You know me, I'm your friend, Your main boy, thick and thin. I'm your pusherman...

 

Why get higher, when you can go faster and be stronger? These dealers ain't pushing cocaine or heroine. Matter of fact, you won't find them on the corners or in the alleys. Their prescription is for instant success and fame. What disappoints me, they're undermining the spirit of athletes and giving my sport a bad name. 

Sprinters Kelli White and Chryste Gaines, hurdlers Sandra Glover, Eric Thomas and Chris Phillips, 4x400 meters relay gold medallist Calvin Harrison and hammer thrower John McEwen have tested positive for detectable banned substances, like modafinil, not to mention the countless others who remain under the radar.

Addicts, whether they reap the benefits first-hand or vicariously, experience denial; which is why Bud Seilig and Paul Tagliabue have assured us that baseball and football don't have a drug problem. We all know the first step to recovery. 

But, you gotta love this country and the beauty about the drug profession. Innovators and geniuses will find ways around The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and The Food and Drug Administration testing because this is a billion dollar business. 

It's tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) baby; a new age steroid that, up until a few months ago, was completely undetectable. Just ask Dwain Chambers, World Indoor 1,500-meter record holder Regina Jacobs and U.S. women's hammer champion Melissa Price, who were the first, definitely not the last, to test positive. 

Let's take a step back. In order to understand the steroid issue, we have to view it in a much larger scale; the trafficking industry. 

Millions, if not billions, have been allocated to stopping drug cartels for decades. If drugs support terrorism, this country can't end a problem when terrorists are in greater supply here than aboard. The Four Fathers, I am not claiming them, founded this country on illegal practices. Why stop now, it's working so well. The economy couldn't be better. Jobs are available in every sector of the market and the children are learning more than ever. 

Try this on for size: if the government is serious about getting illegal drugs off the street and ending the negativity surrounding it, try something different like legalization. 

Follow me:

Trafficking is an industry that follows the characteristics of a business, a system based on consumers, demand and supply. People purposely engage in activities because they're illegal, thus increasing the appeal and demand of narcotics. If you eliminate the demand, you eliminate the consumer.

Let's say cocaine production was regulated, distribution and taxation were controlled and the middle man (pusher man) was removed. Then the appeal and pure satisfaction of the drug, crime and corruption would decrease. 

But that's just a theory and there's no money in the cure of such an epidemic. The muse of Gustavo de Greiff, former Attorney General of Columbia, speaks through me.