DRUG WAR NEGLECTED . . . OR MISDIRECTED?

The deli at one end of my block in Manhattan sells Budweiser, Guinness and
23 other brands of beer. It also offers three varieties of cigars and 30
brands of cigarettes. Adults legally can buy these mind-altering items.

A pharmacy fills the other corner. I recently asked its druggist how many
psychoactive substances she sells. She handed me product information
leaflets for 27 pharmaceuticals. Xanax helps people "feeling keyed up or
on edge." Wellbutrin eases "feelings of guilt or worthlessness." Ritalin
wrestles hyperactivity despite the difficulty, she says, that kids suffer
getting off of it. This pharmacy even carries morphine, a potent opiate
sedative. With a doctor's blessing, these items could be legally yours.

And yet, geographically bracketed by Molson and morphine, any resident of
my apartment building who merely possessed a marijuana cigarette would be a
criminal subject to arrest.

This is absurd. Ethan Nadelman of the Lindesmith Center - Drug Policy
Foundation (www.lindesmith.org) calls this government discrimination among
substances "the War on Some Drugs."

Mr. Nadelman last week addressed Altered States of Consciousness, a New
School University conference on alternatives to today's disastrous drug
policy. Participating scholars and analysts recognized that, since
antiquity, humans have used fluids, herbs and powders to expand their
minds, for everything from sacrament to amusement.

"Some people use drugs for serious reasons," says Lester Grinspoon, a
Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor. "People see marijuana as an
enhancer of creativity, as an enhancer of sexual activity and even eating.
It's not just for fun." And yet as Viagra sales boom, cops bust those who
use marijuana or ecstasy as aphrodisiacs.

Beloved and distinguished artists have used drugs to boost expressiveness.
Among many things, jazz legend Louis Armstrong is remembered for smoking
marijuana almost daily throughout his influential career. Marijuana and
LSD filled the Beatles' skies with diamonds. Several huge hits they
produced while so inspired appear on their album, "1," currently Earth's
top-selling title.

Many cannot handle their drugs, of course. Addiction killed guitar
virtuoso Jerry Garcia and be-bop innovator Charlie Parker, among others.

Nonetheless, other potentially lethal activities remain perfectly legal.

NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt, Sr. last month fatally plowed into a concrete
wall at 180 mph, widowing his wife and aggrieving his four children and
millions of racing fans. The lawbreakers in this tragedy, however, were
those who saw the crash on TV while stoned.

Three other NASCAR drivers died competing last year. Non-professional
athletes have expired, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control,
parachuting killed 38 Americans in 1998, while diving into pools caused 57
deaths. That year, 142 bicyclists died in non-traffic-related mishaps.
Pleasure boating accidents took 729 lives in 1999. How dare government
permit such carnage?

Though less dramatic, there were 19,515 non-traffic, alcohol-related,
fatalities in 1998, even as Alcoholics Anonymous treated roughly 2 million
problem drinks. Meanwhile, the brewing industry alone legally sold $60
billion worth of beer that year. Tobacco-related diseases lawfully kill
some 430,000 Americans annually.

What about illegal drugs? Opiate abuse killed 3,141 in 1998, CDC reports.
Psychostimulants ended 166 lives, while hallucinogens caused three deaths.

Mortality aside, America legally encourages other addictive activities.
Thirty-seven state governments operate lotteries while Gamblers' Anonymous
helps 25,000 Americans beat compulsive betting, Overeaters Anonymous and
Debtors Anonymous assist people who cannot stop dining and spending. Why
no War on Wendy's? Why no debt czar to cut up maxed-out credit cards?

"The reasons people use drugs are as varied as there are individuals," says
the Lindesmith Center's Deborah Small. "Some do it for
self-medication. Some for enlightenment and others because they want to
have fun."

A new, Davis, Calif.-based group called the Alchemind Society
(www.alchemind.org) advocates "cognitive liberty" and argues that "the
government should not continue a War on Drugs that has torched $146 billion
since 1990 while rolling and smoking the Bill of Rights.

America needs a wholesale attitude adjustment on this matter. Light a
cigar, pop a Prozac and think about it.