GIVING VOICE TO DRUG POLICY

I was so pleased to see drug policy mentioned in Lisa Kaiser's article
on the ACLU's impending TV series ("Documenting Civil Liberties,"
Sept. 1). It is unusual to see even that much about the subject of our
society's most vicious discrimination, the chemically dependent. As a
drug policy activist of several years' standing, my experience in
getting our plaints before the public has been one of encountering
stolid disdain and deliberate bigotry.

Users of recreational drugs include mere partiers who are harming no
one and those whose drug consumption has become obsessive or diseased.
The war on drugs is therefore waged on the harmless and the helpless.
People with other medical disorders are granted sympathy, treatment
and insurance. Chemical dependence is the sole sickness that we
collectively medicate with hatred and cruelty. Even though I have been
in complete remission for 16 years I am subjected to this regimen
continually. Even so, I will not make a secret of my ailment or
apologize for it. Thank you for mentioning our struggle. It is an
occasional comfort to be included.

Claude Tower