AMERICANS AREN'T PARTICULARLY INTERESTED

Americans aren't particularly interested in the specifics of Gov.
George W. Bush's past drug use or non-use. His dissembling regarding
trash-mouth politics is an attempt to avoid discussing the real issue.

Why do politicians feel justified in claiming irrelevance of past
mistakes with drugs while hundreds of thousands of Americans --
equally guilty of such "irrelevant youthful indiscretions" -- must
live daily with destroyed lives, jobs and families, thanks in large
part to laws created by those same politicians.

They remain oblivious to the blatant hypocrisy of having escaped
arrest for past crimes while their fellow Americans must suffer harsh
legal consequences.

Justice Department statistics bear out that at least 600,000 Americans
are arrested every year for marijuana offenses alone.

Honest politicians would acknowledge that our domestic war on drugs
has not improved the nation's drug problems in the least, is
inherently unjust and undermines faith in law enforcement and the
Constitution.

Bush might find his nagging-question problem disappearing if he would
be courageous enough to face the truth, but the drug war seems too
valuable a political tool for him to abandon it now.

David Carter,
Houston