Pubdate: Sun, 09 Jul 2000 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: 414-224-8280 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi Author: Dave Michon WAR ON DRUGS RUINING COUNTRY The June 18 Journal Sentinel editorial "Talk to your kids, it really does work" represents some of the more considered rhetoric in our war on drugs. It doesn't call for more and harsher drug laws, more prisons or the death penalty for dealers. Communication is good. But what are we to tell the youngsters? Are we to tell them the truth? We all know that anything but the truth is useless, especially with teens. If so, then we must tell them how the war on drugs is ruining this country. What do we tell them when they ask why alcohol and tobacco are legal, but safe drugs such as marijuana can destroy their lives - not by the actions of the drug itself, no death has ever been documented - but by arrest, imprisonment, forfeiture and job dismissal? Are these actions sensible? Are they "fair," a concept that teens apply constantly? What do we tell them of this country's former worship of freedom and the Constitution? And what of the addicts? We know instinctively that addiction happens to good people and that it happens with alcohol and tobacco many times more than with, say, heroin. But how do we treat these victims of drugs? Prison. I don't know about your kid, but mine thinks that's "stupid and mean." Treatment? Even here the war is confusing: Some treatments, abstinence-based, are "good," while others, such as methadone, needle exchange and medicinal marijuana, are "bad." True to form, the "bad" treatments do the most good, if anyone cares to check. I don't know what to tell my kid on that one. And what of the drug war and prohibition in general? Why can't we even discuss alternatives? Why do people of color do most of the prison time for drugs when whites do most of the drugs? Why do our schools teach that alcohol prohibition was wrong, but drug prohibition is right? Why do we allow our government to confiscate property after all we fought for in the Revolutionary War? Kids aren't stupid when it comes to drugs. Adults are. And I have no explanation for that. Dave Michon Spooner - --- MAP posted-by: greg