DRUG WAR DEFENDERS KNOW LITTLE ABOUT IT

Robert M. Roller's letter to the editor on Jan. 9, "College loans are a
privilege, not an entitlement," was short on words, but long on
inconsistencies.

If the money needed for a college education is considered a privilege, only
the privileged will attend college.

If we are going to set standards, why would we provide grants to other
ex-felons such as murderers, rapists, and child molesters, and refuse
the same for someone who has hurt no one by smoking a joint?

He is incorrect referring to the "privilege" of owning a gun. In fact,
it is a right. He should read the Second Amendment.

He stated, "Quit playing the race card," but knows nothing about
original racist intent behind the drug laws.

He should read some history, in particular the Congressional Record
covering congressional hearings prior to the passage of the Marijuana
Tax Act of 1937.

Were he to look into anti-opiate and anti-cocaine legislation, he
would find the same racist intent behind these laws. That they are now
enforced unevenly between the races merely confirms this.

Remember that it took a constitutional amendment to ban alcohol,
whereas other drugs not ingested originally by descendents of white
Europeans were prohibited through legislation designed to circumvent
due process.

As is usually the case, people who defend the drug war know very
little about its history.

Ray P. Carlson,
Redwood City, Calif.