Xref: utzoo talk.politics.misc:41473 alt.drugs:2145
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!unhd!pas
From: pas@uunet!unhd (Paul A. Sand)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.drugs
Subject: Re: What, me worry?
Message-ID: <1990Jan17.045908.25293@uunet!unhd>
Date: 17 Jan 90 04:59:08 GMT
References: <21220@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <6185@internal.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: pas@unhd.UUCP (Paul A. Sand)
Organization: University of New Hampshire
Lines: 35

In article <6185@internal.Apple.COM> casseres@apple.com (David Casseres) writes:
>Have no fear.  It is not an accident that to date, the War on Drugs has 
>had absolutely no impact on the actual availability (or even the street 
>price) of illegal drugs.  That is not its purpose.  It is nothing more 
>than a vast public-relations charade at the expense of the taxpayer's 
>dollar and the citizen's freedom.  Far from trying to "win" the war, 
>Bush'n'Bennett will endeavor to drag it out for as long as possible.  They 
>are a perfect example of the famous symbiosis between the Vice Squad on 
>the one hand and the drug dealers, pimps, and numbers operators on the 
>other.  Neither side can prosper without the other.

One can only hope that similar connections will be made with the other
great governmental moral crusades that proclaim high dudgeon and noble
sentiment, but never seem to accomplish anything worthwhile beyond
making their perpetrators Feel Good About Themselves.  (Although, for a
few, a good deal of political power and some extra spending money is
also involved.)

So the current war on drugs is just one more battle in the never-ending
struggle against racism, sexism, porno, booze, poverty, ignorance,
inadequate recreational facilities, sexual preverts, tobacco smoke,
unemployment, homophobia, various ecological catastrophes, the decay of
the family, homelessness, Oriental cars and DRAMs, mental illness,
gambling, the international communist conspiracy, and those folks who
won't buckle their seatbelts and drive at 55 mph. In short, Evil.

Don't worry, friends: your government is making real progress on these
problems, and more you haven't even heard about yet, but will. Don't
forget to send in your 1040, and make sure you check that little box
for the Presidential Campaign Fund.
-- 
-- Paul A. Sand       | For this unavoidable excess I take full responsibility,
-- U of New Hampshire | trusting that readers will sort out what is valuable
-- uunet!unhd!pas     | from what is not, and that those who find nothing of
--  pas@unh.edu       | value will forgive and forget. (Robert Grudin)