CONSEQUENCES VARY

Profile Of A Drug Addict: White, Affluent Professional

Questions concerning whether Gov. George W. Bush ever used cocaine do
not disqualify him from the White House, but they cannot help but
raise larger questions about drug abuse in America and what the nation
should do to combat it.

The so-called war on drugs is a misnomer, since drug abuse waxes and
wanes and can never be decisively defeated. But the United States can
point to some battles won along the way. The number of Americans who
use illegal drugs with any frequency has shrunk markedly over the last
two decades, perhaps because the population has matured in years and
more fully realizes the risks to life, liberty and happiness.

Although Bush has confessed only to unstipulated "youthful
indiscretions," Americans might reasonably assume the indiscretions
were more heinous than using a fork out of sequence at supper. Use of
marijuana and cocaine was rampant in the era of Bush's youth, but as
the nation's drug czar said here recently, the consequences of
violating the drug laws vary widely throughout the population.

Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Policy,
noted that drug addiction is more widespread among whites than
minorities, particularly among doctors and other well-paid
professionals who can afford the drugs. When these people hit bottom,
they often avoid prison and get treatment.

For tens of thousands of less affluent Americans, addiction can be a
quick ride to street crime, trouble with the authorities and a stretch
in prison.

If a prison sentence is the proper response to drug abusers who get
caught for the first time, the drug laws should be enforced more
evenly throughout society, and prison inmates should more accurately
mirror the U.S. population. If serious indescretions in early
adulthood need not be a bar to acclaim and high office in later life,
then drug offenders coming out of prison deserve opportunity and a
helping hand to turn their lives around.