Excerpted from:

"The Moral Basis of a Free Society"
by Steve Forbes

[quote]

Drug Legalization.

Finally, there is the issue of illegal drugs, which are still destroying
many young people. This, too, is an issue where life supersedes liberty.
Illegal drugs imprison drug takers within sometimes violent and murderous
obsessions. They are designed to alter our moral sensibilities, to dull our
sense of duty and integrity. Addictive drugs are wrong because they enslave
and eventually destroy the body. They take away free choicethe hallmark
of human dignity. When the world of adults winks at rampant drug abuse, we
abandon children to emotional and moral chaos, thus threatening their very
lives.

We must not be misled by state initiatives that claim only to legalize
drugs for medicinal purposes. Relieving pain and legalization are separate
and distinct issues. America must not be made safe for Colombianstyle drug
cartels. Americans overwhelmingly reject the notion that someones "freedom"
to grow, sell, and use deadly drugs overrides societys right to protect
lives. If an illegal drug contains a property that helps people in pain,
that property can be extracted, or synthetically manufactured, and given to
patients under proper medical supervision. The drug Marinol, for example,
treats cancer and AIDS patients with a synthetic form of an active
ingredient found in marijuana. But it is safe and available legally by
prescription, without exposing users to more than 400 other toxic chemicals
found in smokable "pot."

Parents must repeatedly emphasize to their children how dangerous drugs can
be. But society also has a right to protect itself from mindaltering,
lifethreatening drugs by the rule of law and its effective enforcement.
Government must not use the fight against drug distribution and abuse as a
license to deny individuals their constitutional rights. That said,
however, the vast majority of Americans want a vigorous, effective fight
against drugs. Yet they are not getting it. In his first year, Bill Clinton
reduced the staff at the office of the "drug czar" by 83 percent. He has
never delivered an Oval Office address on the drug issue. In the first two
years of his administration, he gave more than 3,300 presidential
statements, interviews, and addresses, yet illegal drugs were only
mentioned 24 times. He is now proposing to reduce prison sentences for
possession of crack cocaine.

At the Democratic National Convention in 1992, Governor Bill Clinton told
the nation that George Bush "hasnt fought a real war on crime and drugs. I
will." But as president, Bill Clinton is not keeping his commitment on one
of the greatest causes of crime and human destruction.

[unquote]