DRUG PROHIBITION DAMAGES SOCIETY

The slack-jawed acceptance of drug prohibition and support for
invasive drug tests indicates a cessation of intellectual activity
among the editorial staff of The Log Cabin Democrat. The least bit of
research into the history and results of drug prohibition demonstrates
the utter insanity of our drug crusade.

To begin with, no one was robbing, whoring and murdering over drugs
when addicts could buy all of the heroin, cocaine, morphine, opium and
anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy.
When drugs were legal addicts held regular employment, raised decent
families and were indistinguishable from their teetotaling neighbors.
Overdoses were virtually unheard of when addicts used cheap pure Bayer
heroin instead of the expensive toxic potions prohibition puts on the
streets.

Where drug crime was unheard, of we now have prisons overflowing with
drug users. Where addicts lived normal lives, we have hundreds of
thousands of shattered families. Where overdoses were extremely rare
we have tens of thousands of drug deaths every year. The addiction
rate is five times greater than when we had no laws at all, and
19-year-olds are the fastest growing group of heroin users. Our
problem is bad policy, not bad drugs.

Punishing and excluding students who experiment with drugs is the most
counterproductive policy imaginable. Drug-using students should be
encouraged to participate in wholesome extracurricular activities
instead of driving them even further away from the cultural notions
the Conway School District seeks to instill.

Getting kicked out of school causes more damage than smoking marijuana
and it's just plain brain-dead to pretend otherwise.