A new call for ignorance
Phil Stephens
>Last night, the Reagans called for a new wave of ignorance. Past attempts
...
>1) The number of drug related deaths is low. ( @500/yr. )
I am sympathetic with your points, and would like some confirmation/references
on the above statistic so that I can be sure I am using a valid statistic when
comparing it to the (approx) 50K traffic deaths per year and *350 thousand*
tobacco-related deaths (incl emphasima and heart attack, in addition to cancer).
>I say drugs should be legalized because:
Some validity to your arguments, but I wouldn't throw all drugs into the
same basket. Given valid information, I *might* want to legalize some
drugs w/o controls, some with minimum age restrictions (alcohol *is* a
drug, and *does* kill; same for tobacco), some under observation only
(a bizzarre idea I had as a teenager, when all the scare-stories about
LSD were getting heavy press), some by prescription, and some for
research only. But I don't have such information, do I? And such a
realistic multi-teired system is much too complicated for political
bandwagoning, let alone Raygun's Brain.
> Maybe he's just trying to cover up
>the increased funds he wants to put into the black hole defence
>budget.
Possibly your most important point. Senate elections are only weeks away,
and distraction is a major Raygun strategy. Others have mentioned a
more frightening possibility involving use of military to "solve" this
problem. Small step from there to others uses, let alone the Prohibition-
style abuses likely in the anti-drug "war" itself.
[My followup to article by:]
> John Williams
- Phil
Reply-To: p...@oliven.UUCP (Phil Stephens)
Organization not responsible for these opinions: Olivetti ATC; Cupertino, Ca
Quote: "Cocain is God's way of telling you you've got too damn much money"
(- I think by Robin Williams, in his act).