U.S. DAMAGED BY OFFICIAL DISHONESTY

Thanks to reporter Doug Stanley for his remarkably frank piece "Another
trooper affidavit exposed" (Nation/World, Dec. 21), about deceit in the
drug war. While no one should be surprised that lying has become an
accepted police tactic in the war on drugs, a broader look at the issue
shows drug prohibition as a force for spreading dishonesty throughout society.

Our political leaders routinely distribute misinformation about their drug
use (think of Bill Clinton not inhaling or George W. Bush's refusal to talk
about his own drug experience). In order to justify drug prohibition,
appointed officials such as federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey tell
bald-faced ties. Just last year McCaffrey said the murder rate in the
Netherlands, where marijuana use has been decriminalized, is much higher
than it is in the United States. Of course, the opposite is true - the
murder rate is much higher in the United States - but McCaffrey used this
lie to suggest that lenient Dutch attitudes were responsible for his faulty
statistics. McCaffrey never retracted his statements.

DARE and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America frequently exaggerate the
dangers of drugs such as marijuana, supposedly in an effort to scare kids
away from drugs. Our children, however, are not stupid.

They know when they are being lied to and, far from avoiding marijuana,
some kids seem to feel that DARE and PDFA are also lying about the risks of
more dangerous drugs, such as heroin.

Increased reports of teen heroin use throughout this decade show the
dangers of trying to mislead our young people.

Adolf Hitler said people won't believe several little lies, but they will
believe a big lie. Our modern experience shows he was half right.

The big lie of the drug war is supported by all the little lies of police,
politicians, government officials and propaganda machines like the PDFA.

Citizens need to stand up and demand honesty now, before the falsehoods get
us sucked deeper into the quagmire.