Gore's Greatest Bong Hits

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 31 Jan 2003 08:26:30 GMT
From: William StClair
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 7:56 AM
To: 'themail@newyorker.com'
Cc: William StClair
Subject: Letter to the editor

To the editor,

Thanks to Henrik Hertzberg for his comments on the drug war ("Gore's Greatest Bong Hits," Feb. 7). It's time to end the war on some drugs. Completely. In the words of Vin Suprynowicz, "this does not mean that 'Marijuana should be available by prescription.' It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion."

It is not government's place to protect people from themselves. If drug addicts cannot work, let them starve in the streets. If they take overdoses, good riddance. People must be free to suffer the consequences of their actions. Only then will they learn. Drugs have severe natural consequences. We do not need to complicate those consequences with criminal laws.

When we end the war on drugs, the price will plummet. It will no longer be worthwhile to push drugs on our children. We will see an immediate reduction in gang violence. We will suddenly have more prisons than we need. Columbia will be able to end its civil war, without our help. And our police can go back to their rightful jobs. Instead of donning jack boots, breaking into houses on anonymous tips, and killing innocent people, they can resume hunting down true criminals, those who initiate force against people or their property.

Bill St. Clair
bill@billstclair.com

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