U.S. STILL CLINGS TO FAILED POLICIES

Each morning I read the paper, earnestly seeking news of a 30-year
war that seems forgotten by all but those it affects directly and, of
course, the justice system. Each night I watch the evening news,
waiting for any news that even remotely touches on the truth about
this forgotten war.

I wait in vain, left only to speculate as to the reason for the
silence. Are the media so tied to government propaganda that truth is
secondary, or are they choked into silence by corporate interests
(pharmaceutical companies, brewers and distillers)?

The rest of the civilized world is quickly turning failed drug
policies based on imprisonment and punishment into policies based on
compassion and treatment, while drug users are viewed as sick and not
criminals. Still, the United States stubbornly clings to old
Nixon-era ideas.

In my youth, I watched as eager and courageous journalists took us to
places of injustice and horror, and opened our eyes to truth. In my
twilight, I can only wonder what now robs us of truth.

Hundreds of thousands of people, U. S. citizens, are affected by our
failed drug policy every year. These people all have families, and
they all have stories. Are we to assume, as the government would
have, that they are all incorrigible and beyond compassion? Will the
media always take the word of government as truth and ignore the
cries of such a large segment of society?

Solid, socially correct examples are being set in most European
countries and others, including Canada, after years of following the
same futile strategies as the United States. This should be news. Yet
how many Americans will know of these new and novel social
experiments if the media do not inform?

MARK HARDIN

Wilmer