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From: cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Re: A new call for ignorance
Message-ID: <1087@kontron.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 27-Sep-86 13:47:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: kontron.1087
Posted: Sat Sep 27 13:47:15 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 1-Oct-86 03:57:45 EDT
References: <424@hsi.UUCP> <1173@oliveb.UUCP> <385@fai.UUCP> <1037@gilbbs.UUCP>
Organization: Kontron Electronics, Mt. View, CA
Lines: 40

> In article <385@fai.UUCP>, ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian) writes:
> > I may be ignorant myself, but I can't reconcile two figures
> > that have been bandied around in this newsgroup:
> > 
> > 1)	Drugs claim about 500 lives a year.
> > 
> > 2)	The US government wants to spend (is spending?) 2 to 3
> > 	billion dollars a year to combat the problem.
> > 
> > If this is true, doesn't anyone think this money could be better
> > spent?  Just an idea.
> 
>    Yup.   $6,000,000 per death.   Strange priorities.
> 
>    Reagan won't provide school lunches for poor children, but he'll spend
>    $6,000,000 each to prevent the deaths of 500 people stupid enough to
>    use cocaine.  
> 
>    Yessir, *THAT* is what makes Reagan such a great president!
> 
> tom keller					"She's alive, ALIVE!"

While I disagree strongly with the current drug laws, Tom's remarks
above are highly misleading.

1. The current drug hysteria is a bipartisan piece of insanity -- you
will find even higher levels of nuttiness on this issue in the Democratic
Party.  That bill that just got through the House passed with a large
majority.

2. The *deaths alone* are not the reason that the population is so
anxious to combat drug abuse -- it's the rest of the suffering that
goes along with it, and the high crime rates associated with its
non-free market pricing.  (It sure is funny to hear a liberal suddenly
concerned about cost-effectiveness of government programs.)

Of course, if you want a reason to paint horns on Reagan for this, go
ahead -- don't let the facts get in your way.

Clayton E. Cramer