THE PRINCIPAL OF THE THING

Margaret Loder-Healy was the principal of Memorial Elementary School in
Newton, New Hampshire. She was noted for her part in making that small
town's school into New Hampshire's best.

She resigned her position in November of 1999. It seems she had a small
problem. She had been a heroin addict for years -- years during which she
substantially improved the school she was in charge of.

To my way of thinking, her problem wasn't so much the heroin. Obviously, the
use of that drug did not interfere with her ability to do her job and do it
well. No, the problem was the present scheme of drug prohibition laws. They,
not the heroin, caused her downfall.

What if Loder-.Healy had been an alcoholic, not a heroin user? Suppose she
was one of those millions of alcoholics we are surrounded by every day, in
every walk of life (including politicians, prosecutors, judges, and the
police), and hardly notice -- the ones who "nip" from the bottle all day
long and go home to several stiff drinks in the evening.

Could Margaret still have done as good a job as school principal then? I'm
not sure. Perhaps. Or, perhaps not. Different drugs affect different people
in different ways. But here is the important question: Would you choose a
good principal who was known to have a alcohol problem over an excellent
principal who was addicted to heroin -- assuming there were no laws in place
to criminalize either drug choice?

What I am sure of, is that Margaret would not have been arrested for federal
alcohol possession charges, stemming from a police investigation into an
alcohol ring.