DRUG TRAGEDIES AFFECT ALL SOCIAL LEVELS

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The news of Larry Wilder's guilty plea and admission of years of drug
use struck me as truly tragic. Though not his close friend, I did have
occasion to meet him in law school and through our overlapping
careers. I always found him personable, intelligent, and charismatic.
That someone of his great gifts and stature would allow himself to
fall into drug use is further testament (as if any were needed) to the
destructive force of drugs in our society.

I could not help but recall the 1989 gubernatorial campaign between
Larry's father, Doug Wilder, and Marshall Coleman. On September 21,
1989, I was one of hundreds in attendance at a debate between the two
candidates sponsored by the Richmond Bar Association.

Coleman had made getting tough on drugs the centerpiece of his
campaign. What differentiated him from other candidates of the time
was his emphasis on attacking drug users to reduce the demand for
drugs instead of merely focusing on the dealers who supplied them.
During his remarks to the RBA, Coleman argued that drugs had become so
pervasive that there no doubt were several lawyers in the audience
that day who were themselves drug users, or who were turning a blind
eye to drug use by close associates.

In rebuttal, Wilder took offense. He was an RBA member, he said, and
he did not believe there were drug users among his esteemed
colleagues. Wilder apparently thought Coleman had insulted the
audience, and that he would rise to the members' defense. But he
misread the crowd. As Wilder spoke, heads shook, for the truth of
Coleman's words were well known.

Today I wonder if Wilder looks back on those times and the years in
office that followed, and regrets that he did not recognize just how
deeply drugs had penetrated even the most advantaged segments of
society. Surely drug use is more prevalent among some groups than
others. But just as surely it exists everywhere, a lure and a threat
to everyone's children -- even the successful, grown children of
nationally acclaimed governors.

Brad Marrs,
Richmond