NO SYMPATHY FOR LIMBAUGH THE JUNKIE

Rush Limbaugh's drug use proves the war on drugs is a miserable failure.
Even though I dislike Limbaugh's politics and am angered by his hypocrisy, I
don't think Rush should be punished criminally. My only hope is that Rush's
followers realize the error of the war on drugs and show compassion for all
nonviolent drug users, not just Rush Limbaugh and members of the Bush
family.

Of course, Rush will never see the inside of a jail simply because he is
very wealthy. Even supporters of the failed war on drugs realize the
ridiculous double standard here - if a poor person were found to have
illegally possessed a fraction of the drugs Rush did, he or she would be
facing 20 years to life. Is the American dream of equality really alive when
rich people get treatment and compassion while poor people suffer
incarceration for the exact same offense?

Conservative heavyweights like Sean Hannity and Michael Savage have stated
Rush does indeed deserve compassion and sympathy, but they have never given
the same treatment to cancer patients who use medical marijuana to alleviate
their nausea and increase their appetite. Rush has exposed not only his own
hypocrisy, but also the hypocrisy of every supporter of the war on drugs who
doesn't feel Limbaugh deserves jail time. We can only hope this exposure
results in real drug law reform instead of more empty rhetoric and harmful
hypocrisy.

Anthony Johnson president, School of Law ACLU