Page "Thomas Szasz" Paragraph 27

Szasz also drawn analogies between the persecution of the drug using minority and the persecution of Jewish and homosexual minorities. The Nazis spoke of having a " Jewish problem.

" We now speak of having a drug-abuse problem.

Actually, “ Jewish problem ” was the name the Germans gave to their persecution of the Jews ; “ drug-abuse problem ” is the name we give to the persecution of people who use certain drugs. Szasz cites Rep. James M. Hanley referring to drug users as " vermin ," using " the same metaphor for condemning persons who use or sell illegal drugs that the Nazis used to justify murdering Jews by poison gas -- namely, that the persecuted persons are not human beings, but ' vermin.

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