ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130190
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE ABBOTT
PRESIDENT Clinton has declared that nicotine is a drug and that all tobacco products are mere "drug delivery devices." By definition, that made every tobacco grower, warehouseman and wholesaler in America a drug dealer, and every smoker a drug user.
I have news for you, Mr. President. I am not a drug dealer, nor is anyone else in the tobacco community in the Southeast. In fact, there are probably fewer drug users among all tobacco growers than there are on the White House staff.
For years, I have believed that the assault on tobacco was driven by political motives, not health concerns. Advocates of an ever-increasing government have decided that they want to control another segment of the economy and of people's personal lives.
This latest declaration confirms my view. Clinton was in political trouble because of a recent report about staggering increases in illegal drug use by America's children over the past four years. Instead of tackling the real problem - use of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana - Clinton decided to deflect criticism by labeling the 40 million adult Americans who use a legal product as "drug users."
The dramatic growth in illegal drug use in America can be laid directly at Clinton's feet: His cavalier attitude toward "inhaling"; his gutting of the Office of Drug Enforcement; his tolerance of recent drug users on the White House staff; and his lack of a high-profile, public strategy similar to the "Just Say No" programs of the 1980s, all of these have laid the foundation for a dramatic increase in illegal drug use by America's children.
Rather than accepting responsibility for this problem, the president decided to create a crisis somewhere else.
The labeling of tobacco as a drug (or as addictive) defies common sense. News reports indicate that 50 million people have quit smoking over the past decades, and more than 90 percent have done it on their own, with no help from counselors or outsiders. If tobacco or nicotine were truly addictive, could that many people have quit? Of course not. And if tobacco was truly a "gateway" drug that leads to other, harder drugs, then we should have had an entire nation of drug addicts back in the 1950s and '60s, when a majority of American adults smoked.
But it didn't work that way, of course. Americans have always realized that there's a distinct difference between legal, culturally accepted products like tobacco and destructive, mind-altering drugs like cocaine or heroin. Too bad Clinton lacks the ability to see the difference.
The argument that this is aimed solely at children is a nonstarter. No one in the tobacco community wants children to smoke. It is an adult decision that should be made by adults.
What are the practical effects of President Clinton's announcement? No one knows for sure. Does my tobacco farm now come under the authority of the Drug Enforcement Administration? Will federal agents seize my crop, as they do cocaine shipments? Will convenience-store owners be accused of being drug dealers for selling cigarettes? Is Prohibition II right around the corner?
One thing is for sure. The era of big government is not over. This federal takeover by the Clinton administration envisions the biggest expansion of federal power since his failed government-run health-care proposal. The federal government will run roughshod over an entire industry and over the laws of 50 states regarding tobacco use.
Clinton has overreached, and the political consequences of labeling 40 million-plus law-abiding American adults as "drug users" will soon be known. My guess is that he will regret it. Someone with his background, his philosophy and his casual approach to lifestyle issues has no moral right to label 40 million Americans as drug users, and we resent it strongly.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 linesby CNB