OUTSPOKEN RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOULD SPEAK OUT PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #279 October 9, 2003 Syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh has yet to speak out on allegations that he illegally obtained and used huge amounts of prescription pain pills like OxyContin. Conspicuously silent on the subject now that it affects him personally, Rush has both condemned drug users and argued the libertarian case for legalization in the past. Rush Limbaugh's mixed messages on drug policy are characteristic of the right wing he vociferously defends. While bible-belt fundamentalists in the GOP would like to see more hate and intolerance in the name of Jesus, free market fundamentalists in the Republican party want to end drug prohibition entirely. So where does Rush stand? His silence epitomizes the right wing. Big government legislated morality and laissez-faire economics are inherently incompatible. Hence the silence. In an Oct. 8th column, syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page takes Rush to task for remaining silent on a subject that needs to be addressed by both Rush and the Republican party he so stridently defends. Just because Rush chooses to remain silent on an issue that affects all American taxpayers doesn't mean you have to. Write the Chicago Tribune today to let them know how you feel about the war on some drugs. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do SPECIAL REQUEST The columns of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page are syndicated in about 150 papers. Some of them include: Alameda Times-Star (CA), Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA), Baltimore Sun (MD), Beacon Journal, The (OH), Blade, The (OH), Buffalo News (NY), Charlotte Observer (NC), Daily Journal, The (IL), Dallas Morning News (TX), Dominion Post (WV), Houston Chronicle (TX), New Haven Register (CT), Newsday (NY), Oak Ridger (TN), Oakland Tribune (CA), Sacramento Bee (CA), Salt Lake Tribune (UT), San Jose Mercury News (CA), San Mateo Co Times (CA), Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO), St. Petersburg Times (FL), State Journal-Register (IL) , Stevens Point Journal (WI), The Holland Sentinel (MI), and the Washington Times (DC). Thus it is likely that the column below will be printed in newspapers in your state. Please be watching for the column, and send those newspapers letters, also. We would like to obtain a list, and MAP archive, this column from as many newspapers as possible. 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Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit. This is _Very_ Important as it is one very effective way of gauging our impact and effectiveness. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form CONTACT INFO Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: TARGET ANALYSIS The Chicago Tribune is read by nearly 2 million people every day. While our analysis indicates that the average letter published is only about 140 words in length, the Chicago Tribune appears to look more at quality and substance than length, having printed some letters that were slightly over 300 words. They also print good letters originating from writers everywhere, not just their immediate circulation area. ORIGINAL COLUMN Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2003 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: RUSHING TO A SANE DRUG POLICY Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush, we're counting on you, pal. Now that you might be feeling the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out for more enlightened treatment of non-violent drug offenders. News reports say that Limbaugh is facing an investigation by the Palm Beach County state attorney's office in Florida for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, told The Associated Press last week that his office could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way. Limbaugh issued a three-sentence statement on his Web site saying that he was "unaware of any investigations by any authorities involving me." He also promised to cooperate fully " if my assistance is required in the future." Drug addiction is a disease. It respects no particular race, gender or political leaning. If someone has an addiction problem and he or she hasn't hurt anybody with it, I think treatment will do the drug user and society a lot more good than throwing the person into the slammer. And I am not alone. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the non-profit Drug Policy Alliance, said in a news release that someone who was convicted of non-violent drug use "should not face incarceration or otherwise be punished for what he chooses to put into his own body." The alliance, it is worth noting, showed similar sympathies to former drug czar William J. Bennett when he announced in May that he will no longer gamble, following news reports that said the Republican Party's high priest of virtues had lost millions over the last decade. Bennett has always called for tough punitive measures against those convicted of drug use, even against low-level marijuana users. But, as for his own favorite addiction, Bennett pointed out rather meekly that he never said anything in public about gambling. The alliance also supported Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's call for respect and privacy regarding the arrest of his 26-year-old daughter, Noelle, for trying to buy Xanax without a prescription in 2002. Happily, Noelle completed treatment in August and a judge allowed her to go home to her parents. Unhappily, the same cannot be said for a lot of non-violent Florida drug offenders who have less money or political power. Instead, Gov. Bush has cut drug-treatment and drug-court budgets. He also flatly opposes a possible ballot initiative like the one California passed a few years ago that would divert non-violent drug offenders away from prison and into treatment programs. As for you, Rush, you deserve to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, like anyone else. However this turns out, I cannot help but hope that this experience has a chastening effect on your drug views. Your past political commentaries offer a ray of hope. Online searches of your past views reveal a Limbaugh who seems, uncharacteristically, to have wavered on the drug issue between the libertarian and authoritarian wings of the conservative movement. On Oct. 5, 1995, you insisted on your now-defunct TV show that "if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." You also said, with tongue at least partly in cheek, that the statistics that show blacks go to prison far more often than whites for the same drug offenses only show that "too many whites are getting away with drug use." "The answer to this disparity," you said, "is not to start letting people out of jail ... The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river too." Ah, yes. Those words may come back to haunt you. I guess I am doing my part. However, Newsday columnist Ellis Henican and the pro-drug reform Media Awareness Project's Web site(MAPinc.org) cite a March 1998 radio show in which you, Rush, advocated legalization of addictive drugs the way we regulate cigarettes and alcohol. "License the Cali [the drug cartel in Cali, Colombia] cartel," you reportedly said. "Make them taxpayers and then sue them. Sue them left and right and then get control of the price and generate tax revenue from it. Raise the price sky high and fund all sorts of other wonderful social programs." I remember when former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, a former drug prosecutor, advocated that very same idea after seeing how much the war against drugs had become a war against drug victims. I don't remember hearing you say much about that at the time, Rush. If ever there was a time for you to speak out more (And I never thought I would ever be saying that about you!), this could be it. SAMPLE LETTER Dear Editor, Clarence Page's Oct. 8th column was right on target. I don't think anyone is going to argue that Rush Limbaugh would benefit from a lengthy prison sentence for his addiction to OxyContin. While I can sympathize with Rush's substance abuse troubles, his past support for the drug war is hypocritical to say the least. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders cannot be justified from either a fiscal or public health perspective. Jail cells and criminal records do not cure addiction. Non-violent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job prospects due to criminal records. Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars. As long as there exists an unmet need for effective drug treatment on demand, it makes no sense to continue the "lock 'em up" approach, an approach that has done little other than give the former land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. The tax dollars wasted on incarcerating Americans with substance abuse problems would be better spent on effective drug treatment. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. Destroying the futures of citizens who make unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Sincerely, Juan Costo Please Note: This is a sample letter only. Please write your own letter focusing on issues that you see as important. Even a simple thank you for publishing the column sends a signal to a newspaper about reader interest. Published or not, it tells the editor that you think our issues are important. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts, Please See: Writer's Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: Please utilize the following URLs http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, Newshawks and letter writing activists. Prepared by: Robert Sharpe, Focus Alert Specialist

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