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Quote by Thomas Stephen Szasz

“There is probably one thing, and one thing only, on which the leaders of all modern states agree; on which Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Mohammedans, and atheists agree; on which Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Communists, Liberals, and Conservatives agree; on which medical and scientific authorities throughout the world agree; and on which the views, as expressed through opinion polls and voting records, of the large majority of individuals in all civilized countries agree. That thing is the “scientific fact” that certain substances which people like to ingest or inject are “dangerous” both to those who use them and to others; and that the use of such substances constitutes “drug abuse” or “drug addiction”— a disease whose control and eradication are the duty of the combined forces of the medical profession and the state); However, there is little agreement—from people to people, country to country, even decade to decade—on which substances are acceptable and their use therefore considered a popular pastime, and which substances are unacceptable and their use therefore considered “drug abuse” and “drug addiction.” (Preface to Ceremonial Chemistry)”

Quote by Thomas Stephen Szasz

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Thomas Stephen Szasz

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“According to Terry Nichols, that winter of 1995, in Junction City, Timothy McVeigh accidentally let slip his FBI handler’s name: “Larry Potts.” Potts, the demoted former FBI deputy director, would surely have outraged McVeigh for his prominent roles in the FBI sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Potts had set the rules of engagement that led to the horrendous sniper killing of Vicki Weaver on her cabin porch in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as she held her newborn baby in her arms. Then at Waco, Potts had toured the scene late in the FBI’s long siege and recommended the attorney general approve the deadly tear gas raid that ended the Texas standoff with scores of deaths. “McVeigh said he believed Potts was manipulating him and forcing him to go off script, which I understood meant to change the target of the bombing,” Nichols said. “That was the only time I ever heard McVeigh refer to Larry Potts in that context.”