Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 1997
Source: Skagit Valley Herald (WA)
Author: Clark Battle

It worked so well in the past
I salute Lt. Gov. Brad Owen's efforts to keep the National Guard
well-funded for imprisoning drug users. Indeed, the current budget may
not be enough to achieve a drug-free nation. The prevalence of
drug use inside of maximum-security prisons proves that even armed
guards, barbed wire, checkpoints, and random searches are not enough to
keep drugs at bay.

In order to protect our children from the scourge of drugs we need to
fund and encourage our police/military to crack down on us even tougher.
Do away with cumbersome trials by compassionate juries and make
possession a capital offense, like Newt Gingrich has suggested. Although
this policy doesn't reduce drug use in Malaysia, I am confident in our
National Guard's ability to make it work in America.

I would gleefully support a police state led by Lt. Gov. Owen because I
am secure in the belief that, as a law-obedient citizen, the inevitable
abuses of police and military power will not come back to endanger me or
my loved ones. Besides, everyone knows criminal-law enforcement is the
best and only way to reduce drug abuse -- it has worked so well in the
past. Right?

Clark Battle

Secane, Pa.