DRUG CZAR BEHAVING LIKE A CZAR

The column by Mathew Miller in the Post Standard (Jan. 22,2000) was
distressing to say the least.

In it he attempts to say that Drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey, head of
the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was right in trying to
influence the media to change the content of our TV shows because he feels
the message is a good one. "Drug czar?" Journalists use the term because
no one can remember the alphabet-soup in the phrase "Director of the
ONDCP." But this week after revelations that Gen. Barry McCaffrey has been
paying the networks to inject his reefer-madness worldview into primetime
TV shows, the abbreviation is obvious: it's the Office of National Drug
Censorship and Propaganda.

We now know that those scary overdose scenes on "ER" were bought and paid
for out of McCaffrey's billion-dollar drug-war-chest. What kinds of
drug-scare themes and Drug War endorsements can we expect on TV shows in
weeks to come?

How about a Martin Luther King special that shows racial profiling and high
African-American incarceration rates in a favorable light?

Perhaps a 4th-of-July TV movie endorsing no-knock drug raids, clarifying
the logic of seizing property from legally innocent citizens, and featuring
a cameo appearance by Georgia Congressman Bob Barr to show how free/fair
elections can be cancelled for the good of all citizens.

Maybe we'll see a light-hearted "LA Law" episode on those wacky cops in the
Rampart precinct of Los Angeles. Student study guides, supplied by the
DEA, will include "Knowing when extortion should be ignored" and
"Corruption? What the heck. It's for a good cause."

For the edification of Californians and those in other states that passed
those pesky medical marijuana bills that McCaffrey hates so much, CBS will
feature the authoritative legal documentary "States-rights: Old idea, bad
idea."

And for his grand finale, to be aired nationwide on Veterans' Day, Gen.
McCaffrey can rig a heroic script for a TV mini-series depicting a
full-scale military invasion of Colombia. The "TV Guide" program synopsis:
"Watch piles of coca leaf blazing in the tropical sun while peasants scurry
into the jungle to plant corn and beans instead."

According to confidential sources, the Clinton administration, having
defended McCaffrey's payola program, is planning to use his novel approach
to aid enforcement of other laws, as well. Their priorities are
predictable. For programs to air between April 1 and April 15th,
broadcasters will be paid hefty sums by the IRS to insert subliminal
messages into prime-time shows: "I WANT TO PAY MY TAXES. I WANT TO PAY MY
TAXES."

An anonymous Clinton aide projects wide applications of McCaffrey's
approach in government. "An ounce of brainwashing is worth a pound of
enforcement," he said. American law and politics may never be the
same. Thanks, Barry!

McCaffrey's ostensible "anti-drug" messages are also pro-Drug-War messages
supporting a burgeoning federal drug-enforcement bureaucracy (at $18
billion it's 36 times the size of the inflation-adjusted 1970 drug budget).
Irrational fear of drugs leads to an irrational embracing of a Drug War
which, in its totality, is morally questionable at best, and morally
reprehensible in many respects. U.S. media should spend as much time
describing the drug prohibition problem as they do the drug addiction
problem. They are equally serious.

ABC-TV has already pulled out of their arrangement with McCaffrey saying it
was not comfortable with his demanding to review shows before they aired.

In his Drug War zeal, McCaffrey has betrayed democracy, which thrives on
the free flow of information and opinion. Government-hired speech defeats
the First Amendment as effectively as direct censorship. In a free
society, the government must follow, not shape, the will of the
people. McCaffrey should resign.

Paul Bischke & Nicolas Eyle
ReconsiDer: Forum on Drug Policy
205 Onondaga Ave.
Syracuse, NY. 13207
315.422.6231
eyle@reconsider.org