PUNCTURE THE MYTH

To the editor:

I would like to puncture the myth among politicians, voters and
activists that supporting needle exchange programs is "political
suicide" as Tim Kuykendall was quoted as saying in your November 25
article "Crack Goes Mainline".

The electorate is ready for comprehensive drug policy reform. This
was demonstrated convincingly on election day when medical marijuana
initiatives were passed by comfortable majorities in every state where
they appeared on the ballot.

The total sweep of victories by medical marijuana surprised even the
drug policy reformers who worked hard to get these measures on the
ballots. Their polling data indicated that many of the people who
voted in favor of these initiatives were themselves surprised that
their opinions on the subject were not deviant or even a minority view.

Many nationally syndicated columnists as diverse in their opinions as
Stephen Chapman and Molly Ivins spotted the change in the political
climate in their post-election analysis. They all issued stern
warnings to politicians about the apparent disconnect between voters
and their elected officials.

The War on Drugs is causing more harm than drug abuse itself and
needle exchange prohibition is but one example of that harm.
Politicians may be content to enlist HIV/AIDS in their genocidal War
on Drugs by opposing needle exchange, but the voting public is
increasingly skeptical about the efficacy of waging this unwinnable
war of intolerance.

Larry A. Stevens


Checked-by: Rich O'Grady