THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KENNETH EDWARD HOLLAND
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: Medium
True to the color of every hard-core drug warrior, Mr. Feder seems incensed at the very thought of allowing any debate on the subject, characterizing the Harvard conference as ``more monologue than dialogue,'' because some two-thirds of the participants were pro-legalization. What a curious thing to say in light of the chronic, one-sided brainwashing of America by such agencies as the Drug Enforcement Agency. It is time we let someone else get a word in edgewise.
{REST} While bemoaning the use of the ``lost war analogy,'' which he says is ``repeated with depressing regularity'' by legalization advocates, Mr. Feder goes on to beat the same sorry drums of hypocrisy, exaggeration, prejudice and misrepresentation that have always been the cornerstones of prohibitionist propaganda.
For example, he boldly states that ``pot is toxic,'' yet refrains from revealing the natural fact that ``pot'' (properly: cannabis), has the lowest toxicity of all known medicinal drugs and has never killed a single soul. This means that the ``legal'' drug alcohol - medically classified as a narcotic poison - to which he apparently does not object, is more than 100,000 times more toxic by comparison. In addition, he cites crime and other statistics which, according to authoritative research that I have reviewed, are questionable at best.
The major fallacy embraced by the writer is the stereotypical argument that ``drugs make people do bad things.'' How absurd! Are patients in every major hospital in the world who are receiving narcotics as medicine lying in their beds dreaming of the many crimes they could be committing were it not for their medical condition?
In effect, Mr. Feder's logic works like this: 98 percent of all murderers were found to be wearing underwear at the time of the offense; therefore, the wearing of underwear must lead to homicide. Such a statement sounds ridiculous, but this is exactly how the innocent victims of oppressive government policy are characterized as common criminals.
This ``drug war'' of ours is nothing new. Those unfamiliar with its history may well be surprised to know that in America warring against drugs has been going strong for more than 80 years, and elsewhere in the world for centuries.
But not since human slavery has a more blatant un-American policy been legitimized by our government or the people. Here is where medicine is called poison, where recreation is seen as depravity, where sickness is a felony. Guilt by association runs rampant.
The simple fact is that prohibition creates more crime than it prevents and robs us of resources that would be better utilized in other ways. It erodes our civil liberties and puts innocent people at risk.
This issue certainly cannot be resolved by a single editorial or in a single reader's response, yet the lessons of history should be clearly apparent to anyone of average intelligence who cares to examine the problem with an open mind. What shines through it all can be summed up in a single phrase: Prohibition is brain-free.
by CNB