SWEET LIBERTY?

Sheep in the flock wouldn't have noticed, but human beings should have - we
are approaching a society in which everything not mandatory is prohibited.
How many prisons will we need then?

How many prisons - given that we already have a larger percentage of our
population in prison than any other nation in the world. "Sweet Land of
Liberty," eh? Yeah, right.

With Idaho's prisons bursting, even the new ones; with the courts clogged,
Judge Randy Smith says it's time to try something new. Only problem is,
well, there are no drug treatment programs in place, just prisons. A few
years ago, Judge Smith was quoted by the Journal as saying, when
pronouncing judgment at a drug trial, "Where do people get the idea they
can do what they want with their lives?" Where, indeed, "Sweet Land of
Liberty?"

The so-called drug war is the worst thing that has happened to America
since the Vietnam War. In fact, the two are closely related. America
finally gave up trying to run the lives of the Vietnamese, and focused on
running the lives of its own citizens instead. Anti-war folks had a
penchant for marijuana, it might be recalled.

Time having gone by, the cost and the casualties of our government's war
against, not drugs, but its own citizens has been far greater than was
generated by the sickness of the war in Southeast Asia.

Just last week, Clinton signed an "emergency spending bill" which included
$1.3 billion to supply Colombia with 40 helicopters and the requisite
equipment and training. This, to a country which is engaged in what amounts
to a civil war. Sound familiar? Yeah. Been there. Done that. Gimmie a joint.

Lives destroyed, not by drugs, but the drug war; billions and billions down
the drain. That's not been the greatest cost. The greatest cost,
potentially for every one of us, has been the damage done to the First,
Second, Fourth and Ninth Amendments to the Constitution.

Now, with the government recently announcing it will attempt to manipulate
Hollywood into inserting anti-drug messages in movies (already having done
that to TV), the Journal editorialized we should all be spying on our
neighbors for potential drug use. "Sweet Land of Liberty!"

When I was a kid, I was taught, in government schools, that the worst thing
about Russia was neighbors informing on their neighbors, and children
informing on their parents (anybody notice what the DARE program encourages?)

All's fair in war, they say. Well, that might be true, but if the
government is not willing to use nuclear weapons on its own citizens, the
"Drug War" is as doomed as was the one in Vietnam.

As with Prohibition, most of us will recognize later than sooner, that the
cost exceeds our willingness to pay.

Liberty is the answer. We said that once. It's time to say it again. No
space to explain, but if you're inclined to agree, check out
http://www.1p-idaho.org/campaigns/bramwell/index.htm.

Larry Fullmer,
Pocatello