Pubdate: Sun, 23 Nov 2003
Source: Town Talk, The  (Alexandria, LA)
Copyright: 2003 The Town Talk
Contact:  http://www.thetowntalk.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1027
Author: Eugene Sutherland, Staff Reporter

PROF SUGGESTS SOLUTION TO DRUGS: LEGALIZATION

The war on drugs is a failure, so why not legalize them, asks a 
criminal-justice professor.

It is not the sentiment one might expect from a Louisiana College associate 
professor. However, that is just what Bill W. Shaw recently asked fellow 
Libertarian Party members.

There was no shock and awe over Shaw's verbal attack on the war launched 
during President Ronald Reagan's administration. After all, the party has 
long held an antiprohibition stance on drugs.

"Clinton said, 'I didn't inhale.' George W. won't really tell us the drugs 
he took, but says 'I can pass an FBI test because I haven't used after age 
28'," Shaw said. "There's a whole bunch of people who use drugs and are 
functioning members of society.

"What the war on drugs has done is to create a culture of systemic crime, a 
race war and international enemies for the United States."

Shaw believes lifting prohibition would lead to the end of a black-market 
system responsible for lost lives, jobs and morale.

He pointed to the high number of prisoners for nonviolent crimes in 
overcrowded prisons and the relatively low number of homicidal incidents 
directly related to drug use.

"Poor addicts do not make up the majority of drug buyers," Shaw said. "It's 
young, upwardly mobile people. You see guys on street corners handing out 
bags to people in BMWs on Friday nights.

"And there's the health factor. Let's give people a choice. Let's educate 
people on the dangers of drugs. If drugs are illegal, we can't control the 
quality. If they're decriminalized, we can control that."

State social worker Brooke Crouse is a Lone Pine resident and a Libertarian 
Party member who agrees with Shaw's words.

"People are dying for drugs all the time," Crouse said. "Our prisons are 
completely full by people who are nonviolent. It's not a victimless crime, 
but it's a choice you should have the right to make. You shouldn't be 
arrested for it. They should be more concerned with the rape and murder 
that's going on."

Shaw also mentioned popular drug use myths, such as LSD causes cranial 
damage and drugs automatically make the user "crazy" or "schizophrenic." 
While he said he is not "100 percent sure" legalization here would have the 
same successful impact it has had in the Netherlands, where drugs have been 
legal for years, the current effects of prohibition here are worse than any 
legalization alternative.

Not so, says Rapides Parish Juvenile Probation Director Larry Spottsville, 
who is not Libertarian and did not attend the event in which Shaw detailed 
his beliefs.

Drug legalization will erode the moral fiber of the community, Spottsville 
said.

"There's got to be another solution," Spottsville said. "The fabric of 
society would be further deteriorated. It's like saying, 'OK, go on, and do 
your thing. We don't care.' (Libertarians) aren't looking at this as a 
moral issue. There's nothing good about drugs, unless they are prescribed. 
You're talking about something ... that would bring down the community."

Brent Sanders is a 25-year-old Louisiana College senior sociology major who 
studies constitutional law. Sanders, who heads LC's Libertarian student 
organization, ran for and lost a bid for the 38th District House of 
Representatives seat.

"Lots of people are afraid that if you legalize drugs, everyone's just 
going to go out and get high," Sanders said. "I ask them, 'If they legalize 
heroine tomorrow, will you go out tomorrow and get some'? The answer is 'No.'

Brent considers to be hypocritical TV advertisements furnished by the 
federal government that convey the message that buying drugs helps 
financially support terrorists.

"The Libertarian Party ran some of our own that said, 'Fight Terrorism - 
Grow Pot,'" he said.

Though he has not received any threatening verbal attacks for his stance, 
he has noticed the disapproving stares of students who do not share his 
view. He also realizes that chances are, their antilegalization stance 
probably will win out over his prolegalization stance.

But he'll continue to get his points across.

"My first guess is, no, there's not a chance this will ever happen," Shaw 
said. "Those who are for prohibition, I tell them, 'Relax. Don't get 
nervous. It ain't going to happen.'"

For more information, visit www.la.lp.org or www.snopes.com. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake