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1996-05-06
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From: gabe@happy.cc.utexas.edu (Gabriel Demombynes)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.hemp,alt.drugs
Subject: Article on Legalization
Date: 11 Mar 1994 14:42:57 -0600
Message-ID: <2lql4h$qqv@happy.cc.utexas.edu>
I want to thank everyone who responded to my "Notable People for
Legalization" request. You all were very helpful. Here's my column that
was published Thursday in the Daily Texan, the student paper here at UT.
Most of the research info came from Internet sources.
*********
Support swells for legal drugs
Gabriel Demombynes
TEXAN COLUMNIST
In recent months, discussion of drug legalization has vaulted from the
pages of High Times and obscure academic journals onto the front page of
The New York Times. Prominent people are talking seriously about changing
the direction of America's drug policy.
The shift in sentiment can be traced to an effort begun a year ago in
California. Several notable names gathered at Stanford University's Hoover
institution to draft and sign a letter demanding a fresh look at drug
policy.
The original signatories included Nobel-laureate economist Milton
Friedman, former Secretary of State George Shultz, Baltimore Mayor Kurt
Schmoke and about 20 others.
Since the initial meeting, hundreds of doctors, businessmen, attorneys,
educators, judges and members of the clergy have signed the resolution.
Among them are the mayors and police chiefs of San Francisco, Oakland and
San Jose; 20/20 correspondent Hugh Downs; and members of the California
Medical Association.
On Feb. 27, The New York Times printed a similar proclamation by another
Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He's convinced more than 2,000 of
his Latin American intellectual buddies to sign the statement declaring
that we must "focus on the various ways in which legalization can be
administered. This means putting an end to the self-seeking, pernicious,
useless war that the consuming countries have inflicted on us."
To protest the inanity of our drug policy, roughly 50 of the nation's
680 federal judges now refuse to accept drug cases. One researcher surveyed
450 judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys and found that 95 percent
believe "the drug war has failed and more innovative measures are needed."
The Feb. 28 Time included a pro-legalization column by respected writer
Barbara Ehrenreich. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders says that we would
"markedly reduce our crime rate" by legalizing drug use. The Economist last
year editorialized in favor of legalization. Conservative pundit William
Buckley has said, "If you had all the facts, you would agree like me that
marijuana should be legal."
This political change has begun to gather momentum because the Hoover
signatories explicitly shied away from advocating a specific new policy.
Some favor merely making marijuana available for medical uses. Others want
comprehensive drug legalization.
All are part of the movement -- which has made for some strange
bedfellows. Just imagine Friedman phoning up Garcia Marquez:
Friedman: "Gabriel, it's Milt. What's say you and me and Joy Elders get
together to discuss this drug legalization stuff?"
Garcia Marquez: "Last night I awoke from the desperate slumber of a man
who has tasted his lover's tears. In my bliss I felt a prescient
understanding. Next Tuesday two men and a woman will meet on the zocalo in
San Cristobal. While passionate men die on the streets in the name of
revolution, the three friends will sip cafe con leche and whisper their
desires."
Friedman: "OK, so I'll see you Tuesday. But you're buying. I don't carry
any of that Mexican funny money."
The curious coalition shows no sign of breaking up. A proposal now being
considered in Congress would charge a national commission with recommending
a new national drug policy. The resolution has 17 co-sponsors in the House
and five backers in the Senate.
Mark Smith, UT assistant professor of American studies and history,
teaches a class in the "Cultural History of Alcohol and Drugs." He says the
hardliners "have been discredited because they've been in power and their
results have been absurd."
It's already possible to talk about legalization without having a "Dope
Fiend" label pasted across one's chest. Perhaps within the next decade the
nation will adopt a drug policy rooted in reason rather than hysteria.
Demombynes is a Plan II/civil engineering senior.
******
Thanks again,
Gabe