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.