Review
Dead Wrong on Drug Ads
To
the Editors:
While
I agree that many aspects of the Bush administrations drug
policies are both moronic and counter-intuitive, I take issue with
the Reviews (2/8/02) editorial deriding the administration
for running new ads during the Super Bowl that link drug use and
terrorism (and other acts of violence). Supposedly liberal
Americans (including many Obies) try to absolve themselves of personal
reasonability for drug related violence by shifting all the blame
for such violence to the policies of the U.S. government. However,
whatever you may think about the utility and morality of the drug
war, it is the current law of the land and when you purchase
drugs you may be subsidizing the murder of innocents. If you oppose
PLAN Columbia (as I do), then I urge you to lobby against it. However,
that does not give you free reign to financially support the drug
syndicates that have destroyed Bogotá, turning it into a
city with the second-highest murder rate in the world and hundreds
of thousands of street children addicted to basuco.
The Review was right to criticize the administration for only dedicating
one-third of federal anti-drug monies to treatment and prevention
programs. However, if linking personal drug use and acts of violence
is an example of one-sided propaganda, then I cant
imagine what kind of prevention message the Review would support.
In truth it is often the anti-drug-war advocates who are thwarting
open communication and dialogue when they refuse to
mention the role of recreational drug users in supporting the horrific
violence so often connected with drug trafficking. The Review is
correct; drugs are a serious issue in America. However, the problem
can only be dealt with if individuals begin to take personal reasonability
for their actions. That is exactly what the new ad campaign is trying
to get people to do.
Noah Heller
College senior
|