A BIT ILL AT EASE WITH DRUG USER

Dean Becker makes me a little uncomfortable.

He is working hard to bring about an end to the drug war -- writing,
talking, organizing things. But he admits to being a longtime user of
marijuana.

Over the past couple of years, I have met or corresponded via the Internet
with many anti-drug war activists, and have read the views and comments of
others.

The ones I am most comfortable with are those who do not use illegal
substances, and believe others should stay away from them, too, but believe
we shouldn't punish people who don't. I know of a governor, a judge, a
psychologist involved with the criminal-justice system and many others who
do not use drugs and who oppose the drug war. I find it easy to relate to
what they say, easy to agree with them about the damage the war is doing to
our society, our country, our world.

Yes, He Does Inhale

Al Robison, a pharmacologist and founder of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas,
said that "we have many members who are proud to say that they have never
used an illegal drug in their lives and never will."

He said one longtime member once proposed that no one who uses an illegal
substance be allowed to join. That did not become a rule. Robison recently
described Becker as "one of our most active members" and said Becker is the
only member of DPFT who has expressed a willingness "to say in public that
he smokes cannabis from time to time and benefits greatly from it."

Becker also is vice president of the Houston chapter of NORML, the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He organized a May rally for
legalizing marijuana held in conjunction with events staged in many other
cities. He recently started an online forum that features prominent guests
from the anti-drug war movement, and is found on the New York Times Web site.

Becker, 52, said that he started smoking pot when he was 18: "A buddy and I
went to Mexico to get some because that's where the newspaper said it was."

He said he was introduced to speed and downers in the Air Force, where he
was busted for 0.023 grams of pot. ("They scraped an empty matchbox.")

"I next got busted when I picked up two friends of mine that were
hitchhiking with two suitcases. Two minutes later I was pulled over, the
suitcases were full of prescription drugs they had stolen from Eckerd the
night before. I spent 28 days in Harris County, went to trial and got two
years' probation. ... In the following 10 to 15 years, I got busted various
times for minor pot possession."

Despite those arrests, of all the substances he has experimented with,
Becker said that alcohol caused him the most problems. He said that in 1985
he "quit drinking and hanging around idiots and I have not had any trouble
since."

But he has continued to smoke marijuana "most every day," he said. "I
perhaps use $6 or $7 worth per week." He said the grass also has a
medicinal purpose as it relieves recurring pain from an old injury much
more effectively than the Marinol prescribed by his doctor.

'I Am Not A Danger'

Becker was not surprised when I told him he made me a little uncomfortable.
He said he makes people like me uncomfortable because we think the main
reason he wants the drug war ended is so he can use without fear of getting
busted.

"I want to convince you people I am not a danger," he said. "I am a good
person. I take care of my kids."

He pointed out that he has a good job as a project analyst and has a record
as a reliable worker. He said he wants kids protected from drug dealers
and, even after the drug war is ended, judges should throw the book at
anyone who sells to kids.

Robison hosts a live hour-long show on public-access TV every other week,
Drugs, Crime and Politics, and he has invited Becker to be on the program
today (6:30 p.m. on Warner Cable channel 17).

I plan to watch to see whether he is convincing or still makes me a little
uncomfortable.