Pubdate: Tuesday, August 31,1999
Source: New York Post (NY)
Copyright: 1999, N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc.
Contact:  http://nypostonline.com/
Author: Carl T. Rowan

THE HYPOCRISY OF THE WAR ON DRUGS

The folly of Texas Gov. George W. Bush has made us see that a host of
powerful politicians, many of whom aspire to be president, have committed
drug felonies but have never spent a day in jail. This, while our prisons
and jails are overflowing with two bit users, patsy mules" and other ghetto
haulers, and penny ante peddlers of pittances of outlawed substances. I
hasten to say that I am not trying to disqualify Bush for the Oval Office,
which most Republicans seem to want to give him. Even though Americans
cannot get White House jobs these days without saying whether they have used
an illicit drug since their 18th birthday, which Bush refuses to do, I'm
willing to give him a pass based on his assertion that he once was young and
irresponsible."

But it galls the hell out of me that Bush has been out front among the
craven politicians who have provoked the incarceration, the life wrecking,
of tens of thousands of young and irresponsible Texans and other Americans
because they possessed a few grams of dope—but were less privileged and
protected than he was.

Presidential candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley admit that they once used
marijuana; New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson admits he once used both
marijuana and cocaine; Lincoln Chafee, running to replace his father, John
H. Chafee, as senator from Rhode Island, admits he used cocaine "several
times." And we knew, of course, that President Bill Clinton had once used
marijuana "but didn't inhale."

For readers who are now asking, the answer is no—I have never used, owned or
sold any illegal drug. In fact, I take some blame for the ferocity and
ultimate stupidity of the war on drugs, because I stirred up a lot of anti
drug passion several years ago by producing a prize winning TV special
called "Drug Abuse: America's $64 Billion Curse."

I just never imagined then that we would wind up spending $20,000 a year to
keep in prison some kid caught with a couple of ounces of marijuana. No, I
sure didn't want to make jailbirds and parolees out of the “little
Americans," the folks who can't hire fancy lawyers. Not while Bush and
Clinton and their class could be young and irresponsible" junkies with
impunity! Thanks to the campaign demagoguery of politicians like Bush, the
small fries have almost no chance of getting out of prison early so they can
try to build decent lives. The U.S. prison release rate has declined, with
the average inmate now locked up for at least 27 months, compared with just
22 months in 1990. That reflects the magnitude of pretended hatred of drugs
by the ruling class.

No political leader, Democrat or Republican, has had the guts to admit that
the "war on drugs" has been twisted into an abomination of injustice and
hypocrisy. No one wanted to admit that it was largely a war of class and
race. But the nation now knows the ugly truth, thanks largely to Bush's
graceless evasions.

Let's see if anyone now has the guts to remedy this orgy of mass injustice.

Carl T. Rowan

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