Pubdate: Monday, October 4, 1999
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 1999 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  http://amarillonet.com/
Forum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action4

When will we learn?

I would like to respond to your Sept. 28 editorial, "U.S. drug legalization
an unnecessary surrender."

It seemed one of the writer's main arguments was that "drug abuse" causes
unnecessary harm, not only to individuals, but also to their families.

First off, it should be pointed out that there is nothing in our penal code
which differentiates between "use" and "abuse" - and, yes, there is a
difference.

I believe that a person who is even remotely informed about a substance
like marijuana (or even harder drugs like cocaine, heroin or LSD) would
agree that five years of alcoholism is much worse for a person than a
one-or two-time experiment with such a drug.

A person can drink until his liver fails and the government can't do
anything, but the experiment with the "illegal" drug will get him arrested.

Secondly, I agree, that abuse, by definition, does cause harm. However, the
government is not our daddy.

Its role is not to protect us from ourselves.

If I wanted to poke my eyes out with a stick, that would be stupid and very
harmful to me, but I would not - and should not - be arrested for it!

Even a person who attempts suicide is not arrested; he is given psychiatric
treatment.

So, how does our government currently "help" us and our families if we
abuse drugs?

It arrests us and removes us from our families (there goes the support for
our children); it confiscates our property (even if we aren't charged with
a crime); and when it finally lets us out, we have a criminal record which
will hurt our chances for future employment (again, hurting our children).

During Prohibition, the use and abuse of alcohol increased dramatically
(especially for children) and crime went through the roof.

When Prohibition was repealed and alcohol was regulated, these problems
declined drastically.

History is now repeating itself, and we are too headstrong to admit it to
ourselves.

CHRIS KNESTRICK, Blacksburg, Va.

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