Opinion

POLICIES AID ENEMIES

Sometimes people who are the most passionate about their beliefs create the
most negative effects.

The extreme environmentalists of the political left are one example. Their
environmental policies have interfered with private property rights. They
also have created conditions resulting in record forest fires in several
Western states, as well as energy shortages and dependency on foreign
energy sources.

This has hurt our economy and national security.

The drug policies generally associated with the political right are another
example. In the early 1900s, drugs were legal. Few people used them; the
drug problem was negligible.

Alcohol prohibition was a disaster, but nothing like the disaster created
by our drug policies. The United States has more people in prison per
capita than any other country.

There has been an erosion of civil rights, especially the Fourth Amendment
and due process. Because of immense profits, crime and corruption have
increased greatly. Afghanistan now has greater opium production than prior
to the conflict there.

Daniel Sheard

Amarill