Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.drugs From: [e--w] at [hip.atr.co.jp] (Eric Woudenberg) Subject: 3 "Letters to the Editor" from the New York Times Date: Mon, 31 May 1993 23:57:44 GMT These three "Letters to the Editor" appeared in the May 24 NYT. My comments follow each one. DECRIMINALIZATION WOULD JUST BOOST DRUG USE To the Editor: "Dethrone the Drug Czar" (Op-Ed May 9), in which Whitman Knapp calls for decriminalizing drugs, proved poignant for me. I read it soon after coming off an emergency room shift where I saw two cocaine-induced abortions and got to resuscitate a 15-year-old who suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage due to cocaine use. "Resuscitate" may be too strong a word. What I actually did was hook up a brain-dead boy to life support, drill a hole in his head and try to comfort his hysterical mom while I negotiated him into our last remaining intensive care unit bed. Judge Knapp doesn't seem to understand that the consumption of illegal drugs, not the commerce surrounding them, causes most of the drug-related misery and death. This tragedy is visited not only upon the drug users, but also upon those who get in the way of their fists, knives, guns and cars. Justice Department studies have shown that a majority of violent crimes are committed by people already intoxicated -- not by those seeking drugs. Those who learn their history from historians, rather than from old re-runs of the "Untouchables"," know that Prohibition resulted in a major reduction in child abuse, domestic violence, murders, disease and absenteeism. The subsequent decriminalization of alcohol did not "cut into alcohol addiction" -- it facilitated and encouraged it. For many people and for society as a whole, alcohol and illicit drugs are agents of disease. Decriminalizing illegal drugs will remove yet another barrier to their consumption and end up increasing their use. This may put the drug czar out of business, but it's sure to keep me spending more of your health care dollars for years to come. Daniel Brookoff, M.D. Assistand Professor of Medicine University of Tennessee Memphis, May 10, 1993 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: This is the letter Tad Cook apparently quoted from, although I seem to recall he got it from a paper other than the NYT. Maybe this doctor is sending out lots of letters to newspapers? He starts off with a very heartrending tale of cocaine-induced abortions (miscarriages?), a cerebral hemorrhage, and drilling a hole in a kid's head. However, we know that if these substances were legal and packaged with precautionary information (e.g. "Do not exceed this dosage within a 24 hour period"), at least the accidental cases of such poisonings would be greatly reduced. An informed (not propogandized) user is a safer user. The second paragraph strikes me as slightly dishonest. Even if consumption causes more problems than the commerce (which I doubt), the simple fact that these substances are illegal is what causes most of the problems with consumption. If these drugs were legal, *all* of the commerce problems would go away and most of the consumption ones as well. He then goes on to talk about drug user's "fists, knives, guns and cars", but all except cars are problems due to commerce. He then mentions a Justice Department study which must surely be referring to alcohol, which is not an illegal drug. And I seem to recall a recent Justice Department study saying that drug use in itself did not correlate strongly with violent drime. The third paragraph seems to be just plain wrong. Can anyone post a few relavent facts and put the lie to this nonsense? Finally, I must be getting infected with the libertarian bug, how is it there can be an agent of disease for "society?". How does "society" get better, by drinking plenty of liquids and getting lots of bedrest? Let's keep to the topic of individuals and individual responsibility please. Second letter: --------------------------------------------------------------------- MANY GOOD RESULTS To the Editor: We can no longer ignore calls like Judge Whitman Knapp's in "Dethrone the Drug Czar" to decriminalize drugs. When most of our jails are filled with drug-related convicted criminals; when the criminal justice system is crippled by drug-related cases; when drugs cost us billions of dollars in police, judges, prosecutors and lawyers; when our streets, schools, subways, parks, homes and we are not safe from drug-related shootings, burglaries and muggings, our politicians can at least debate decriminalization honestly. What are we afraid of? That it would become too easy to obtain drugs? How difficult is it now? Are we afraid that more youngsters will use drugs? Do we really believe that the fear of criminal punishment deters drug use? If so, where is the proof of such deterrence? These questions should be debated. If drugs were decriminalized and made available without the fear of long-term jail terms for sellers and user,s it stands to reason that prices would be reduced drastically. The drug user who now steals, mugs and burglarizes to support his habit may not commit such crimes if he could obtain the drugs at a lower price. The billions of dollars now spent to enforce drug laws could be spent to educate youngsters against the use of drugs and to treat drug users. Decriminalizing drugs does not mean encouragement of their use. On the positive side, decriminalizing drugs could reduce crime, unclog our judicial system and free billions of dollars for other purposes, including drug treatment facilities. What is the negative side of decriminalizing drugs? Can we afford more of the same? Demetrios Coritsidis Long Island City, Queens, May 12, 1993 _The writer is a lawyer._ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: Notice how he calls for the topic of legalization to be debated honestly. This is really good, we should all keep harping on this. "We're not asking people to favor drugs, but we do need an honest and rational debate of drug policy". Third letter: --------------------------------------------------------------------- CALI CARTEL'S THREAT To the Editor: Over the last few years we have lost our focus on illegal drugs as a national security threat. Editorials increasingly demand a United States counternarcotics policy that attempts to solve the drug problem solely through domestic actions. Increased resources for drug prevention and treatment can pay big dividends, and should be pursued. But we also need a focused foreign policy. The news that Gilberto Rodriguez-Orjuela, the Cali cartel drug kingpin, ordered the killing in New York City of Manuel de Dios Unanue to silence his writings about the cartel (front page, May 11) should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans that an isolationist counternarcotics strategy would be a tragic mistake. Although the Medellin cartel has been badly damaged, the Colombian cocaine cartel headquartered in Cali is more powerful than ever. Through corruption, intimidation and murder, it exerts a powerful influence over Colombian Government institutions. Its influence has spread. In Bolivia, trafficking networks of native Colombians have replaced native Bolivians, while in Guatemala Cali traffickers have bought up ranches to use as staging locations for aerial smuggling. Wherever they go, the curruption of democratic institutions follows. And now the first murder by the Cali cartel of an American journalist on American soil has been charged. So long as the Cali cartel is allowed to flourish unchecked, it will export death and violence to America. It has the most effective clandestine distribution system in America for contraband and weapons. When American weans itself away from widespread cocaine addiction, the cartel will have shifted to heroin. The cartel is financing a massive opium cultivation program in Colombia that has in less than two years catapulted Columbia to the world's No. 3 heroin producer. A global drug cartel like Cali can only be weakened and incapacitated by global-law enforcement action. If we leave these global mafias for our children to deal with, it may be too late. Robert C. Bonner Drug Enforcement Administrator Washington, May 14, 1993 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: "Pay no attention to that drug legalization talk behind the curtain, we need MUCH MORE guns and money for international gangbuster type shoot-em-up operations". Here we see a die hard drug warrior showing his anachronistic mindset. I realize my thinking must be very simplistic, but we do not have any international alchohol or tobacco cartels which are threatening US national security with it's exports of death and violence and clandestine distribution systems for contraband and weapons. Legalize it, Mr. Bonner, and go find yourself a respectable job in Hollywood, selling your fantasy world to the theatre goers. These three letters were clipped and sent to me by my father, who is sympathetic to my views. On the top of the page he wrote "The Dialog has Started!". Yes, I think it has. Now it's time to keep it going. Eric Woudenberg >> Have you written your legislator today? <<