NOT SO SIMPLE, IS IT?

Rush Limbaugh has been hard on drug abusers. Now he acknowledges that he is
one. Back in 1995, according to Newsday, the never-in-doubt talk-show emcee
had this to say on the subject:

"Let's all admit something. There's nothing good about drug use. We know
it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys
societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we
have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing
drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in
societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so 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."

No wiggle room there. If they're doing drugs and breaking the law, they
should go to jail.

But last week, after several days of saying nothing about widely published
allegations that he was under investigation in Palm Beach County for
receiving large amounts of prescription pain-killing drugs through his
maid, Limbaugh announced on his nationally syndicated radio show that he
was addicted to painkillers and was checking into a 30-day
drug-rehabilitation program.

To his credit, Limbaugh said he wasn't a "victim" and deserved no sympathy
for being one. But he also didn't repeat his previously expressed views
that all lawbreaking drug users should be prosecuted. Presumably, his
lawyers will be doing the talking for him on that point.

Assuming Limbaugh's treatment successfully liberates him from his drug
dependence (he said he's been to "medical facilities" twice with the same
problem), it will be interesting to see if his public-policy assertions on
the subject undergo any transformation. Drug addiction is an insidious
thing, and simplistic approaches just don't work. Too many prominent people
can attest to that.