THORNTON'S STANCE ON DRUGS

As an attorney specializing in mental health law, prisons and
criminal justice advocacy and lobbying, and as the parent of a
graduating high school senior, I write to applaud both Paul Bass and
Cliff Thornton for their public service.

The harm caused by drugs is only worsened by the harm caused by the
government policy of prohibition. The failure of that policy, in
terms of adolescent access to ever more powerful drugs, despite the
huge increases in the cost of law enforcement and prisons (funds
diverted from the real cure to drug abuse, treatment), is
demonstrated beyond reasonable dispute in every state, including my
own state of Massachusetts.

Bravo to Thornton for raising the issue, but special praise to Bass
for elevating this conversation to mainstream visibility. Both
Connecticut and Massachusetts mirror national politics, in that
Republicans appear to stand for noblesse oblige corruption and tax
cuts at the cost of human services, while Democrats appear to stand
for very little besides offering "kinder gentler" leadership that is
least offensive to the greatest collection of narrow interest groups.
When journalists join "RepubliDems" in narrowing politics to
terrorism and tax cuts, they ignore real issues (like prohibition and
race) that grow worse from a lack of disclosure. When writers like
Bass, however, demand attention to the real problems of real people,
they perform the high service to democracy recognized by the Bill of
Rights' special protection of press freedom, without which personal
freedom withers from RepubliDemo neglect.

Michael D. Cutler

Brookline, Mass.