Pubdate: Wed, 29 Oct 2003
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2003 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  http://amarillonet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13
Author: Daniel Sheard

Opinion

POLICIES AID ENEMIES

Sometimes people who are the most passionate about their beliefs create the 
most negative effects.

The extreme environmentalists of the political left are one example. Their 
environmental policies have interfered with private property rights. They 
also have created conditions resulting in record forest fires in several 
Western states, as well as energy shortages and dependency on foreign 
energy sources.

This has hurt our economy and national security.

The drug policies generally associated with the political right are another 
example. In the early 1900s, drugs were legal. Few people used them; the 
drug problem was negligible.

Alcohol prohibition was a disaster, but nothing like the disaster created 
by our drug policies. The United States has more people in prison per 
capita than any other country.

There has been an erosion of civil rights, especially the Fourth Amendment 
and due process. Because of immense profits, crime and corruption have 
increased greatly. Afghanistan now has greater opium production than prior 
to the conflict there.

Daniel Sheard

Amarill
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman