THE STATE OF THE DRUG WAR, 2009

Several events - some national, some local - have highlighted some of
the problems of trying to perpetuate a "drug war" in the United States.

* Assessor Bill Postmus' arrest and resignation: Postmus' downfall was
highly publicized throughout the High Desert. Under investigation for
possibly misusing his office, then arrested for suspicion of meth
possession, Postmus finally resigned last week.

Rightfully, most of the attention and investigation is focused on how
Postmus used his power, not whether he was or was not on drugs,
despite the arrest. Isn't that how should it be? The issue is not
whether Postmus uses drugs any more than the issue is not whether
Postmus drinks alcohol. The issue is what Postmus does in his position
as the assessor. The drugs are not relevant. A politician doesn't even
need to be on drugs to abuse his power and break the law - we
certainly have enough examples of that.

* County defies state law on medical marijuana: A Barstow judge
ordered a Helendale man's legally obtained medical marijuana returned
last week after it was confiscated by a sheriff's deputy.

San Bernardino County, along with San Diego County, continues to
resist state law permitting use of medical marijuana by its residents,
despite losing a number of legal challenges. Their alleged "confusion"
about the conflict of state vs. federal law is a childish dodge that
doesn't seem to bother representatives of other counties. Perhaps if
President Barack Obama actually ends DEA raids on medical marijuana
facilities, the county will fall into line, but somehow we doubt it.

* Olympic champion Michael Phelps apparently smoked marijuana: The
response to the recently publicized photo of Phelps with a bong
actually shows some of our maturation as a community when it comes to
dealing with drug use. For as many irrational reactions from
prohibitionists, an equal number of people are noting the
disproportionate response to the "incident."

According to 2007 statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, nearly half of all Americans have used illegal drugs
at least once. Nearly half. Phelps' marijuana use should not come as a
surprise, and we're simply fooling ourselves if we think that he's
some sort of anomaly among top athletes.

We have reached the point in our society where our reactions to drug
use have become even more irrational and immature than the behaviors
of the drug users themselves. It's time for all of us to grow up and
quit intruding on the private lives of our citizens