Pubdate: Tue, 11 Mar 2003
Source: Daily Cougar (U of Houston, TX Edu)
Copyright: 2003, Student Publications
Contact:  http://www.uh.edu/campus/cougar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1374
Author:  Dean Becker
Note: Vol 68, Issue 108, Page 1 (Not online)

U.S. DRUG LAWS AN ABOMINATION

Dean Becker guest columnist

Like a baby who feels safe and hidden from the world if his face is 
covered, perhaps Sara Follin seeks to gain comfort in hiding from U.S. drug 
policies. After reviewing her column ("Drugs impair your education," 
Opinion, Feb. 28), I realized that her initial look at these drug laws 
shows strong awareness of their inadequacies.

Her take on the USA Patriot Act considers the violation of centuries-old 
civil rights sought with this act. Most striking is her take on the Higher 
Education Act, which forbids student loans to be given to anyone caught 
smoking a joint but still allows murderers, rapists and child molesters to 
tap the government till.

Apparently, this year's onslaught of television public service 
announcements that show teenage pot smokers committing manslaughter, 
subsidizing terrorists and otherwise subverting the will of our nation have 
taken their toll on Follin. Her daddy had it right when he said: "Smoking 
weed is like skinny dipping; when you are old enough and in the right 
company it is OK to do."

Our nanny state, ruled these days by the multinational corporations that 
seek to control every aspect of our "buying experience," loves the current 
set of drug laws. Follin wants to believe in our elected officials, do the 
right thing and alert the rest of us about the potential need to acquiesce 
to the multinationals for our own good.

Follin finishes her column with the phrase: "For those who choose instead 
to 'puff, puff, pass' remember, if you get caught now, you could not only 
lose your right to enroll in college, but also your civil rights as well." 
I would submit that the loss of civil rights comes not from smoking, 
injecting or otherwise using "illegal" drugs but rather from the 
unconstitutional laws themselves.

Further, I would state that until we end the war on drugs, we will forever 
be subject to an increasing escalation of the violence, disease, 
corruption, death and destruction that comes not from drug use but from 
drug prohibition.

We can choose to hide behind a "blanket" of unconstitutional laws that 
benefit the multinationals or we can choose to stand for justice, truth and 
reality.

As the president of Houston's chapter of the National Organization for the 
Reform of Marijuana Laws, as the community liaison for the Drug Policy 
Forum of Texas and as a radio reporter, I consider all drug laws to be 
racist, bigoted and a violation of our civil rights.

I believe that the hatred of the drug warriors toward their own children 
and the trillions of dollars accrued by the multinationals constitutes, in 
effect, an 88-year-old jihad against our own people.

As Reverend of the Church of God's Evident Truth, I consider these drug 
laws to be a disgrace, a scandal and an abomination before God.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens