IS SOMEONE ADDICTED TO ADDICTION?

Gosh, it seems everyone has on opinion about illicit drug use and abuse.
Most of it centers around the addictive nature of these drugs and the
terrible effect they have on society, not to mention the user.

Somehow, legal drug use is different. Numerous people drink and smoke and
hold jobs. But the very idea that someone could use heroin or pakalolo
regularly and hold down a job seems preposterous to many people. Yet
thousands do so. You and I know several of them without the faintest idea
that they are "impaired." For all I know, the same goes for ice, if used
"responsibly."

Now comes Rush Limbaugh to prove my point. "Addicted" over a long period,
the fellow performed flawlessly in the public spotlight, day after day for
perhaps years. Who was hurt or injured? Rush, perhaps, but not you, me or
society.

Where is the problem? Why are society, our news media, our lawgivers and our
law enforcers so concerned? What might they be drinking, snorting or
shooting to produce such irrational, mob-like, addictive behavior? And if
you think I am exaggerating, go listen to one of these drug warriors the
next chance you get.

Richard O. Rowland, President

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii