Sandra S. Bennett
The Columbian (WA)
January 28, 2001


In his Jan. 11 opinion, "Drug War's Casualties Outnumber Its Victories." David Klinger of the pro-legalization Cato Institute castigated the war on drugs.

The view was seriously deficient in reality and simply reverberated the din of the pro-pot lobby.

Klinger wrote that he had never seen anyone "overdose on marijuana or influence anyone to do anything more violent that attack a bag of potato chips."

He's probably never seen anyone die of tobacco either, buy surely he would not claim tobacco is harmless and marijuana has far more carcinogens than tobacco, not to mention a host of other deleterious consequences that are particularly hazardous for children.

Those who use drugs commit crimes while under the influence, and the devastation to the rest of the family is well documented. Drug use escalates when the supply is readily available and the consequences are either weak or nonexistent. Any policy that reduces consequences for the use or makes drugs more readily available in any way can only lead to more tragedy for society.

As for Klinger's claim that he has never seen anyone do violence under the influence of pot, perhaps he is recalling the marijuana of the 1960's and '70's, which for the most part was nothing more than wild hemp, also known as ditch weed. Ditch weed, though low in THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, was strong enough to get a smoker sufficiently high.

The marijuana today is extremely potent, can be life threatening if ingested and is a leading cause of drug-related emergency room episodes throughout the nation. Society has found it abhorrent that the tobacco industry deliberately targeted children, yet today proponents of legalization actively promote drugs and a drug-using lifestyle to our children via the Internet directly into their classrooms and into their homes. Tobacco and alcohol have never been legal for children, but because these substances are legal for adults, they are readily available and are easily accessed by children. Legalizing drugs for adults would simply move the illicit market to the purview of younger and younger children, and drug trafficking and dealing would continue to flourish.

Time Served Can Heal, Too:

As for the thousands whom Klinger asserts are locked in prison for minor possession (primarily another hallucination of the pro-pot lobby), there are hundreds of thousands of parents who would far rather have had their children incarcerated than to have them lose their lives to illicit drugs. Even former President Clinton stated that his brother would be dead today if he had not been imprisoned and forced into treatment.

The film "Traffic" shows how futile treatment is. While it is only humane to provide treatment to addicts, one does not win a war by treating the wounded.

There is not one affection of society that is not created or worsened by the use of psychoactive and addictive substances. The scourge of drugs should be likened to the Bubonic Plague and treated accordingly. This plague was not eradicated by tending to the sick and dying. It was eradicated by killing the rats that carried the deadly fleas.

What needs to be done globally to turn the tide on drug use does not take rocket science. It takes common sense.

Society needs to view drug use as offensive, destructive and disguising behavior; to apply meaningful consequences to users, since most users coerce others into joining in this folly; and especially apply significant, unpleasant consequences to those who promote the use of illicit and addictive substances.

If we aren't in a war on drugs, we certainly should be. The United States will spend $17.5 billion this year trying to contain a scourge that is costing the nation nearly $300 billion a year, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of lost and decimated lives.

In the interest of the welfare of our country and good economic sense, it is time to double or even triple our effort in the war on drugs and quit letting legalizer propaganda undermine prevention efforts.

Note: Sandra S. Bennett lives in LaCenter, WA and is director of the Northwest Center for Health and safety, past President (1999) of Drug Watch International and past President of OR Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth.

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