Rush Limbaugh

ADDICT SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED AS HE PREACHED

Credit Limbaugh for riling up the public and politicians to imprison many
addicts whose behavior was no worse than what he has admitted to.

Sorry to betray such a low level of lust for revenge, but as a
card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, I am duty-bound
to defend the rights of even those I loathe. Not that Rush Limbaugh, the
talk-show bully, has been charged with a crime or sentenced to jail time.
However, as an admitted addict who allegedly purchased drugs illegally, his
freedom, were he an ordinary guy on the street, would be very much in
jeopardy. In Florida, where Limbaugh allegedly committed his felony, the
crime of purchasing large amounts of powerful narcotics without a
prescription can get you a five-year sentence if prosecutors are in a mood
to be the tough anti-drug warriors that the Limbaughs of this world have
long applauded.

Credit Limbaugh for riling up the public and politicians to imprison many
addicts whose behavior was no worse than what he has admitted to.

Limbaugh was an equal-opportunity drug warrior who, in response to the
charge that drug laws singled out blacks, said in an interview in 1995:
"Too many whites are getting away with drug use. ... The answer is to go
out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send
them up the river, too."

Three years later, he is alleged to have begun his own white man's odyssey
into a life of addiction and crime.

Let me be on record as being strongly opposed to sending Limbaugh up the
river, even though that is the penalty he wished to inflict on others. Just
chalk me up as one of those bleeding-heart liberals who believe that drug
addiction should be treated as a medical rather than a criminal matter.

If convicted and imprisoned, Limbaugh could come back a hardened criminal,
most likely having learned only how to get away with convenience store
stickups to support his habit. Although in prison he might also be educated
by fellow inmates to drop the OxyContin that he allegedly was hooked on for
heroin, which has a similar high but may be less damaging to the body. We
don't know why he didn't turn to pot for relief, but I suspect that
prescription drug abuse is just more acceptable in right-wing circles.

But those are his choices, and I support his right as an adult to pick his
own poison. I don't endorse the tough-love hard line that because Limbaugh
has failed in his two previous attempts to end his addiction by voluntarily
checking into a medical program, he shouldn't be given a third chance. He
should get as many more as he needs. As one who has had bouts of addiction
with truly dangerous drugs - good red wines and only the most aged of
Scotch - I don't want them throwing me into jail just because I fall off
the wagon.

Although Limbaugh is obviously a hypocrite, that is no reason to compound
the madness of our drug problem by punishing him in what seems to have been
a victimless crime - unless he pressured his housekeeper/supplier into the
Florida narco-underworld, which would make him far more culpable. But we
liberals believe in innocent until proved guilty.

Limbaugh's experience is the best argument against the demonization of all
junkies - this one throughout his addiction held a big job and presumably
paid a lot in taxes. The considerable harm he inflicts daily on the larger
society can hardly be blamed on his addiction. The drugs may have even
tempered his verbal brutishness. In any case, there is no evidence that the
drugs caused him to daily savage others - he was equally offensive before
and during his drug abuse. To put it another way, his drug use, if it has
caused pain to others, is the least of his crimes.

But why be mean about it and wallow in the suffering of another?

Let's hope Limbaugh emerges from this experience more tolerant of the
weaknesses of others. Perhaps he could then prevail upon his buddy,
Attorney General John Ashcroft, to end his vicious crackdown on cancer and
AIDS patients attempting to use marijuana to manage their pain without
running afoul of the law.

Contact Scheer, a Los Angeles Times columnist, at 202 W. First St., Los
Angeles, CA 90012.