LET'S LEARN THE RIGHT LESSON FROM RUSH LIMBAUGH'S FALL

In 1995, perhaps in response to criticism that blacks are far more likely
than whites to go to jail for the same type of drug offense, Rush Limbaugh
issued one of the moralistic edicts for which he is famous: "Too many
whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to ... find the ones
who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river."

For many, it will be irresistible to demand that Limbaugh, now do doubt
hoping his own lawyers can spare him the fate he demanded for others,
should go to jail himself.

We hope wiser heads prevail.

The opportunity Limbaugh's fall into drug abuse opens is for a re-
evaluation of the drug war that has done such damage to America. When the
ultra-conservative icon of millions of Americans gets hooked, it is a
chance to broaden the debate over just how we should deal with drug abuse.

We're not saying Limbaugh should not face prosecution. He should. The
illicit sale of drugs, prescription and otherwise, is a serious problem,
and Limbaugh had his criminal dealer just like every other addict. And the
power of drugs is clear when someone like Limbaugh falls, a man who
presumably stands for the very things in life that make drug abuse unthinkable.

But we have had enough of warehousing drug abusers in jail cells. We
continue to build more and more jails, but the real abuse is the way we
underfund drug rehabilitation facilities and programs. People like Limbaugh
should be sentenced to rehabiliation, not jail.

No, it's not a magic bullet. Limbaugh reportedly has been through some form
of rehab twice.

But in 2001 the Centers for Disease Control reported that more than
one-quarter of inmates in American jails were there because of drug
offenses, or more than 1.5 million people. In many cases, these people are
like Limbaugh -- not criminals, but drug users more likely to harm
themselves than others. Many had jobs and functioned well in daily life.
They were nonviolent. Although unlike Limbaugh, many of these people
probably were recreational users, not addicts, who were unlucky enough to
be caught.

It's too soon to say if Limbaugh has been humbled enough to change his mind
since 1995; it will be sad if he hasn't. We can't afford anymore of the
hypocrisy that lets celebrities like Limbaugh go to voluntary rehab -- and
ordinary people go to jail.