RUSH IS HUMAN

Oct. 30, 2003 -- Drug addiction is a horrible thing that debilitates
one's life. Millions of people are confined and imprisoned by their
inability to stop using illegal -- or legal -- substances.

The current system of criminalization of addiction is obviously not
working if Rush Limbaugh, the father of right-wing fanatical AM radio
talk, the preacher with his finger on the electrocution button and the
patriarch of the lock 'em up and throw away the key criminal policy is
popping OxyContin, hydrocodone and Lorcet painkillers to keep up his
buzz.

I guess "Just Say No" did not work for Rush.

These drugs are prescription opioids that block pain receptors but
also open up "reward pathways" in the brain as a secondary effect.
When prescription painkiller users start to abuse these substances,
their brains become accustomed to the over-stimulation and
dependencies are created.

Not only are these drugs as addictive as other opioids like heroin or
morphine, according to a National Institute of Drug Abuse study
published in Newsweek, these types of painkillers are the second most
abused drug in America, claiming 11 million abusers in 2002 over the
age of 12.

Rush Limbaugh most likely will not fall victim to his own 1995
declaration of being "sent up river" to serve hard time for his drug
addiction. Perhaps he will lose some clout with his listening base,
but most likely they will "rally 'round the Rush."

He came out with his problem -- after being accused in the tabloids by
his former dealer -- and now will be painted as a hero by the right as
a man confronting his addiction, while the rest of the world will see
him for what he truly is: a hypocrite with a drug problem.

But hopefully people will also see him as a human being with an
illness that needs medical attention. Rush Limbaugh is regressive, a
dirt bag and a doper who needs help from the liberal institutions that
he so deplores, and the liberal institutions that rightly deplore him
must help him.

Regardless of his stances, Rush is a citizen of this country and a
member of this society. If the United States and the rest of the world
want to win the war on drugs, to finally end society's drug addiction,
they must help the addicts, not punish them.

Just as the HIV infection of famous athlete Magic Johnson showed the
world that anyone is susceptible to AIDS and led to more understanding
of the horrific virus, the right's polemicist's drug addiction may
change the way this country addresses drug policy.

American drug policy is racist, favors the rich, tends to be
self-serving and does not work. Millions of people shoot up, get
stoned, drop tabs, and pop pills on a daily basis. Fear of the law
does not play a role in the curbing of the abuse of drugs.

The people who are abusing drugs do not care about the law that tells
them that they should not get high, and when their addictions lead to
violent or dangerous crime, these people do not care because they are
high. If this country took a different approach -- namely
decriminalization -- it would see a fall in crime.

By decriminalizing drug abuse, crime will decrease automatically.
Sixty percent of the federal inmates and 20 percent of state inmates
incarcerated today are drug offenders. According to the ACLU, a
majority of those are nonviolent offenders.

Harm-reduction specialists have shown that even if drugs were
decriminalized, most people -- people without histories of substance
abuse -- would not start taking dangerous drugs.

Even under this policy of decriminalization, drug use would be
illegal. However, the punishment would be a helping hand apposed to a
slammed prison door. There is no question that decriminalization is
not a panacea, but it is a start.

Decriminalization with rehabilitation programs will lead to a less
addicted society. It will help millions of people that are stuck in a
cycle of self-destruction.

By shipping addicts up the river, society only increases the reasons
that addicts abuse their substance of choice. However, by including
them within society and accepting them as citizens with a problem,
this society could address the demand side of the war on drugs.

All this necessitates is a shift in public funding and opinion.

Let Rush be an example of what needs to be changed in the United
States' dope laws. Rush's addiction needs to be addressed as a medical
problem. All drug addicts must be given the opportunity to heal from
their illness outside of the bars of the prison system.

Don't do drugs, but write to DONALD COHEN-CUTLER at
djcohencutler@ucdavis.edu
But if you do drugs, be responsible and don't drive while you are high.