COSTLY SURRENDER

"I see tremendous injury done to families and society by the war on drugs.
This is a cultural war of the '60s. Let's declare the war over and get on
with it." -- Paul Twomey, lawyer, Chichester

Surrender and declare the war over.

The law office of Mark Sisti and Paul Twomey is the new home of the New
Hampshire Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a branch of a
similarly named national organization.

"I don't use pot and wouldn't use it if it were legal. I just see people's
lives ruined every day," Twomey was quoted as saying this week. "They are
forced to spend a lot of money for attorneys. When you put it (marijuana)
next to alcohol and tobacco, it is a harmless, benign substance. I
personally think adults should decide what they put in their own bodies."

Where does decriminalization end? If we read Twomey right in terms of
allowing adults to decide "what they put in their own bodies," there is an
argument that can be made to decriminalize heroin and cocaine.

Yes, Twomey makes a good point with his reference to alcohol and tobacco.
However, it is also true that society is paying a huge cost in terms of
abuse and treatment. And so we add marijuana and possibly heroin, cocaine
and a whole list of controlled drugs to the list of allowable social
problems?

It is a clear libertarian view that Twomey advances. Let people do that
which will not adversely affect others. But is drug abuse something that
affects only the user? What about the user's family? What about society as a
whole?

Declare the war over? The cost of surrender is too great.