Pubdate: Sun, 28 Jan 2001
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2001 The Columbian Publishing Co.
Contact:  701 W 8th St, Vancouver, WA 98666
Website: http://www.columbian.com/
Forum: http://www.webforums.com/forums/trace/host/msa70.html
Author: Sandra S. Bennett
Note: Sandra S. Bennett lives in LaCenter, WA and is director of the 
Northwest Center for Health and Safety, past President (1999) of Drug Watch
International and past President of OR Federation of Parents for Drug-Free 
Youth.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n083/a03.html

WAR ON ILLEGAL DRUGS SHOULD BE ESCALATED

In his Jan. 11 opinion, "DRUG WAR'S CAUSALITIES OUTNUMBER IT'S VICTORIES." 
David Klinger of the pro-legalization Cato Institute castigated the war on 
drugs.

The view was seriously deficient in reality and simply reverberated the din 
of the pro-pot lobby.

Klinger wrote that he had never seen anyone "overdose on marijuana or 
influence anyone to do anything more violent that attack a bag of potato 
chips."  He's probably never seen anyone die of tobacco either, buy surely 
he would not claim tobacco is harmless and marijuana has far more 
carcinogens than tobacco, not to mention a host of other deleterious 
consequences that are particularly hazardous for children.

Those who use drugs commit crimes while under the influence, and the 
devastation to the rest of the family is well documented.  Drug use 
escalates when the supply is readily available and the consequences are 
either weak or nonexistent.  Any policy that reduces consequences for the 
use or makes drugs more readily available in any way can only lead to more 
tragedy for society.

As for Klinger's claim that he has never seen anyone do violence under the 
influence of pot, perhaps he is recalling the marijuana of the 1960's and 
'70's, which for the most part was nothing more than wild hemp, also known 
as ditch weed.  Ditch weed, though low in THC, the psychoactive ingredient 
in marijuana, was strong enough to get a smoker sufficiently high.

The marijuana today is extremely potent, can be life threatening if 
ingested and is a leading cause of drug-related emergency room episodes 
throughout the nation. Society has found it abhorrent that the tobacco 
industry deliberately targeted children, yet today proponents of 
legalization actively promote drugs and a drug-using lifestyle to our 
children via the Internet directly into their classrooms and into their 
homes.  Tobacco and alcohol have never been legal for children, but because 
these substances are legal for adults, they are readily available and are 
easily accessed by children. Legalizing drugs for adults would simply move 
the illicit market to the purview of younger and younger children, and drug 
trafficking and dealing would continue to flourish.

Time Served Can Heal, Too

As for the thousands whom Klinger asserts are locked in prison for minor 
possession (primarily another hallucination of the pro-pot lobby), there 
are hundreds of thousands of parents who would far rather have had their 
children incarcerated than to have them lose their lives to illicit 
drugs.  Even former President Clinton stated that his brother would be dead 
today if he had not been imprisoned and forced into treatment.

The film "Traffic" shows how futile treatment is.  While it is only humane 
to provide treatment to addicts, one does not win a war by treating the 
wounded.

There is not one affection of society that is not created or worsened by 
the use of psychoactive and addictive substances.  The scourge of drugs 
should be likened to the Bubonic Plague and treated accordingly. This 
plague was not eradicated by tending to the sick and dying.  It was 
eradicated by killing the rats that carried the deadly fleas.

What needs to be done globally to turn the tide on drug use does not take 
rocket science.  It takes common sense.

Society needs to view drug use as offensive, destructive and disguising 
behavior; to apply meaningful consequences to users, since most users 
coerce others into joining in this folly; and especially apply significant, 
unpleasant consequences to those who promote the use of illicit and 
addictive substances.

If we aren't in a war on drugs, we certainly should be.  The United States 
will spend $17.5 billion this year trying to contain a scourge that is 
costing the nation nearly $300 billion a year, not to mention the hundreds 
of thousands of lost and decimated lives.

In the interest of the welfare of our country and good economic sense, it 
is time to double or even triple our effort in the war on drugs and quit 
letting legalizer propaganda undermine prevention efforts.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager