Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jan 2000
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2000 St. Petersburg Times
Contact:  http://www.sptimes.com/
Forum: http://www.sptimes.com/Interact.html
Author: Stephen Heath, Largo
Note: Way to Go, Steve, one of our hard working volunteer editors at MAP, 
and an active member of the Drug Policy Forum of Florida discussion list - 
which also has nice webpages at http://www.drugsense.org/dpffl/

DRUG CZAR FANTASIES

Re: For a price, anti-drug message on TV, Jan. 14.

It is not so surprising to read that the office of the drug czar in 
Washington has been bribing to gain influence on the scripts of popular 
television shows.

Network television programming is often delivered in doses of fiction or 
fantasy stories.

In the world of the drug czar, any and all use of currently illicit drugs 
is considered abuse. In the czar's world, two young people smoking a joint 
together is a sure ticket down an inexorable road of doom and degradation.

Barry McCaffrey's Office of National Drug Control Policy is desperate that 
we not find out the truth, which is that millions of adult Americans use 
illicit substances daily and function quite nicely, thank you. Such a 
revelation might lead Americans to question why the drug czar's latest 
strategy is to no longer war on the American public, but instead to "treat" 
them for their "illness."

Most notably, in McCaffery's fantasy world, unlike that of true life, all 
marijuana use is a sign of an illness, which can be "cured" by government 
approved facilities.

It is curious why your paper and others are not more openly challenging of 
the fantasy approaches of one of Washington's most powerful agency heads. 
Fantasies like a "drug free" America, which we may assume will still openly 
deal in alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceuticals.

I would hope that the print media has not been compromised in a similar 
fashion by drug office advertising.

Stephen Heath
Largo
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake