Deroy Murdock
Uncle Sam's Wacky War on Drugs
Sat Oct 25 11:19:46 2003
67.1.148.42

http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17024
Uncle Sam's Wacky War on Drugs

By Deroy Murdock, AlterNet
October 24, 2003

Comedian Tommy Chong began a nine-month federal prison sentence on
October 7 for operating a glass-blowing shop that sold pipes to
marijuana smokers. Prosecutors were not impressed that his Nice Dreams
Enterprises marketed a morally neutral product. Chong's pipes, after
all, could be used with loose-leaf tobacco, just as any stoner in an
Armani suit can smoke pot in a lawful Dunhill meerschaum.


In fact, as the Los Angeles Times reported October 10, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mary Houghton's court pleadings sought Chong's harsh punishment
because he got rich "glamorizing the illegal distribution and use of
marijuana" in films that "trivialize law enforcement efforts to combat
drug trafficking and use."


Chong must have wondered when such activities became criminal. Perhaps
the FBI now will arrest Sean Penn for hilariously smoking grass in "Fast
Times at Ridgemont High." Then they can handcuff Denzel Washington for
portraying a crooked narcotics officer in "Training Day."


At last, the homeland is secure from Chong, a 65-year-old comic whose
merchandise spared potheads from fumbling with rolling papers. Could
there be any greater triumph for public safety than that? And in this
peaceful world and placid nation, taxpayers can rest assured that
officials are using their hard-earned cash as wisely as possible. Recall
that Chong and 54 others were busted in Operation Pipe Dreams, a
February 24 crackdown on the drug paraphernalia industry. That project
involved 1,200 local, state and federal authorities, the Drug
Enforcement Administration estimates. These professional sleuths could
have pursued al-Qaeda instead, but what would that have accomplished?


All seriousness aside, as funnyman Steve Allen often said, federal drug
warriors keep embarrassing themselves by enforcing pointless, oppressive
policies that merely ignite tax dollars as if with a Zippo lighter. Like
every White House since Nixon's, the Bush Administration continues the
collective, bipartisan hallucination that Uncle Sam's heavy hand can
crush the desire of millions of Americans to alter their states of
consciousness. Fortunately, some judges, states and cities have soured
on the costly and cruel War on Drugs as it grinds through its 30th
futile year.


It is neither compassionate nor conservative for the Bush Administration
to use government force to stop cancer and AIDS sufferers, among others,
from smoking marijuana to make their final days on Earth less
excruciating. The U.S. Supreme Court evidently agrees. On October 14,
the Supremes let stand a Ninth Circuit Court decision blocking federal
efforts to yank the prescription-writing licenses of doctors who
recommend medical marijuana to patients. This was a huge victory for the
First Amendment, medical privacy and the freedom of diseased Americans
to ease their pain.


Seattle voters on September 16 approved Initiative 75 by 57.8 to 42.2
percent. I-75 instructs local police and prosecutors to make adult
marijuana possession their lowest priority. Seattle's citizens decided
to focus their limited resources on legitimate public needs, such as
catching murderers, foiling rapists and preventing terrorists from, say,
toppling the landmark Space Needle.


A recent Drug Policy Alliance study found that between 1996 and 2000,
voters endorsed 17 of 19 statewide ballot measures to approve medical
marijuana, protect civil liberties, treat rather than imprison
non-violent addicts and limit civil-asset forfeiture. From 1996 to 2002,
46 states passed some 150 such enlightened, fiscally responsible
drug-law reforms.


"The War on Drugs may well be the most wasteful use of government
resources today," said Don Murphy, a DPA spokesman and former Republican
Maryland delegate. "As a taxpayer, it's nice to know that Maryland is
not alone in embracing more pragmatic approaches."


Even Drug Czar John Walters may see this issue slipping from his iron
fist. While campaigning against I-75 on September 10, Seattle Weekly
reported, Walters could have preached zero tolerance. Instead, he said,
"The real issue is should we legalize marijuana." He added, "Let's have
a debate about that."


In a September 17 letter to Walters, Robert Kampia, executive director
of the Marijuana Policy Project, wrote: "It's time to have that debate,
so I am pleased to accept your invitation."


An honest, national debate on the War on Drugs in general - and its
uniquely idiotic marijuana phobia in particular - - would be a welcome
development in the sad history of this national fiasco.


New York commentator Deroy Murdock is a columnist with the Scripps
Howard News Service.


--
"All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream."
- Edgar Allan Poe

• Nice article. — apostle Moe aka fast Eddie, Sat Oct 25 20:10
• Anti-Marijuana Law — Corrie MacLaggan, Sat Oct 25 13:07
• Speaking of : OXYMORONS — Lenni Brenner, Sat Oct 25 13:20