WILL RUSH GET THE NOELLE BUSH OR RAMAH COMBS TREATMENT?

While it is usually unfair to exploit anybody's misfortune, Rush Limbaugh's
prescription drug addiction case does warrant a look at whether the
treatment he receives will be equal to what he advocates for others.

Before Limbaugh voluntarily checked himself into rehab, his former
housekeeper accused him of using her to illegally purchase more than 30,000
prescription pills, including OxyContin -- a powerful painkiller linked to
increasing levels of illicit abuse. The question is not if Limbaugh made bad
decisions -- he did; he's an admitted addict. The question is whether he
will be "sent up" for them, thus fulfilling his own strategy for racial
equality in drug sentencing.

The answer is most likely no. A wide disparity exists in the ways rich,
well-connected drug offenders are treated, compared to their less-privileged
counterparts. If recent history is any indication, Limbaugh's experience
will probably more closely resemble the case of Noelle Bush than that of
Ramah Leon Combs.

Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of the president, was
first arrested in January 2002 for allegedly attempting to purchase a widely
abused anti-anxiety drug, Xanax, with a fake prescription. A Florida judge
ordered Bush into a treatment program. While in rehab, she was arrested
twice with controlled substances. In July 2002, she was jailed three days
for possessing prescription pills at the center; the following October, she
spent 10 days in jail for having crack cocaine. However, there were no more
public incidents until this last August, when Bush's rehabilitation stint
was declared complete. The drug charges against her were dropped, and she
was released.

Bush's ordeal is a painful story of addiction, relapse, tough love and
recovery. It is heartwarming she has been released to pursue a better path,
but it is also a sharp contrast to the cold, heartless manner in which
countless other drug offenders are treated by the criminal justice system.

Combs is one such person being punished far more heavily for bad decisions.
Combs grew up the 10th of 13 children to an eastern Kentucky miner and
former schoolteacher. The Combs family supplemented its meager income by
tending a small farm, raising animals and hunting wildlife. Firearms were a
fact of life for them; Comb never imagined this lifelong hobby of collecting
guns would one day cause him to lose everything.

Combs was involved in a motorcycle accident in June 2000. He was released
from the hospital with a prescription for OxyContin. The following January,
Combs was arrested and later indicted on federal charges of trading his
medication for a stolen firearm. Unable to afford a private attorney, Combs
was appointed a public defender. His representation readily admitted to
being a golf partner to both the prosecuting attorney and the judge in his
case. Combs' trial was held in Frankfort, Kentucky's state capital rather
than his native eastern Kentucky.

During the trial, Combs' accuser repeatedly admitted to stealing firearms
and trading them to various people, yet nobody but Combs was ever charged
with a crime (not even the gun thief turned informant). The jury returned
with a guilty verdict on four of the five counts, and without any prior
convictions, Combs was sentenced to more than 31 years in a federal prison.

These two stories exhibit the widely disparate way in which the privileged
and underprivileged are treated for indiscretions related to drug crimes.
Drug charges currently account for more arrests each year than for any other
type of violation in the United States. Yet while almost three in four
American drug users are white, more than three-fourths of those serving time
in prisons on a drug charge are black or Latin American. The injustices
inherent in draconian drug laws magnify our society's greater disparities.
It is systemic that within the U.S. stratification of wealth and power,
those who can afford justice get help, while those who cannot get crushed.

Limbaugh once postulated, "If people are violating the law by doing drugs,
they ought to be accused, and they ought to be convicted, and they ought to
be sent up." He further explained the racial disparity in drug sentencing by
saying "too many whites are getting away with drug use."

I would like to offer this message to Limbaugh: As your wealth and status
carries you through this ordeal, as your private lawyers shield you from
harsh prosecution and as your money buys you the best addiction services
available, please think of those who do not get the treatment you are
receiving. Please remember that in the past you defended the incarceration
of more than half a million Americans for having troubles similar to yours.
And when you overcome your demons and reach a healthy recovery, please think
about just how fortunate you are and reconsider your views about the
fairness of U.S. drug policy.

Jason Samuels