Pubdate: Sun, 19 Oct 2003
Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
Copyright: 2003 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Note: apparent 150 word limit on LTEs
Author: Robert Scheer

Rush Limbaugh

ADDICT SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED AS HE PREACHED

Credit Limbaugh for riling up the public and politicians to imprison many 
addicts whose behavior was no worse than what he has admitted to.

Sorry to betray such a low level of lust for revenge, but as a 
card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, I am duty-bound 
to defend the rights of even those I loathe. Not that Rush Limbaugh, the 
talk-show bully, has been charged with a crime or sentenced to jail time. 
However, as an admitted addict who allegedly purchased drugs illegally, his 
freedom, were he an ordinary guy on the street, would be very much in 
jeopardy. In Florida, where Limbaugh allegedly committed his felony, the 
crime of purchasing large amounts of powerful narcotics without a 
prescription can get you a five-year sentence if prosecutors are in a mood 
to be the tough anti-drug warriors that the Limbaughs of this world have 
long applauded.

Credit Limbaugh for riling up the public and politicians to imprison many 
addicts whose behavior was no worse than what he has admitted to.

Limbaugh was an equal-opportunity drug warrior who, in response to the 
charge that drug laws singled out blacks, said in an interview in 1995: 
"Too many whites are getting away with drug use. ... The answer is to go 
out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send 
them up the river, too."

Three years later, he is alleged to have begun his own white man's odyssey 
into a life of addiction and crime.

Let me be on record as being strongly opposed to sending Limbaugh up the 
river, even though that is the penalty he wished to inflict on others. Just 
chalk me up as one of those bleeding-heart liberals who believe that drug 
addiction should be treated as a medical rather than a criminal matter.

If convicted and imprisoned, Limbaugh could come back a hardened criminal, 
most likely having learned only how to get away with convenience store 
stickups to support his habit. Although in prison he might also be educated 
by fellow inmates to drop the OxyContin that he allegedly was hooked on for 
heroin, which has a similar high but may be less damaging to the body. We 
don't know why he didn't turn to pot for relief, but I suspect that 
prescription drug abuse is just more acceptable in right-wing circles.

But those are his choices, and I support his right as an adult to pick his 
own poison. I don't endorse the tough-love hard line that because Limbaugh 
has failed in his two previous attempts to end his addiction by voluntarily 
checking into a medical program, he shouldn't be given a third chance. He 
should get as many more as he needs. As one who has had bouts of addiction 
with truly dangerous drugs - good red wines and only the most aged of 
Scotch - I don't want them throwing me into jail just because I fall off 
the wagon.

Although Limbaugh is obviously a hypocrite, that is no reason to compound 
the madness of our drug problem by punishing him in what seems to have been 
a victimless crime - unless he pressured his housekeeper/supplier into the 
Florida narco-underworld, which would make him far more culpable. But we 
liberals believe in innocent until proved guilty.

Limbaugh's experience is the best argument against the demonization of all 
junkies - this one throughout his addiction held a big job and presumably 
paid a lot in taxes. The considerable harm he inflicts daily on the larger 
society can hardly be blamed on his addiction. The drugs may have even 
tempered his verbal brutishness. In any case, there is no evidence that the 
drugs caused him to daily savage others - he was equally offensive before 
and during his drug abuse. To put it another way, his drug use, if it has 
caused pain to others, is the least of his crimes.

But why be mean about it and wallow in the suffering of another?

Let's hope Limbaugh emerges from this experience more tolerant of the 
weaknesses of others. Perhaps he could then prevail upon his buddy, 
Attorney General John Ashcroft, to end his vicious crackdown on cancer and 
AIDS patients attempting to use marijuana to manage their pain without 
running afoul of the law.

Contact Scheer, a Los Angeles Times columnist, at 202 W. First St., Los 
Angeles, CA 90012.
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