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Drug War Gone Bad
Drug war is a failure, gives citizens more credit and give up on a lost cause
N ew Mex-
ciry ( V
Johnson is not a
typical politi
cian. He has the
courage to
speak honestly
on a subject
considered sacred by the govern
ing establishment: America’s war
on drugs. The Republican has
publicly acknowledged his past
use of marijuana and cocaine.
Johnson believes the drug war is
an abysmal and expensive fail
ure. In an interview with
MSNBC, he said, “We’re spend
ing more and we’re locking more
people up. Personally, I have a
problem with putting people in
jail for drug use.”
According to the Justice Depart
ment, a record 1.86 million men
and women were behind bars and
another 4.5 million were on parole
or probation for drug offenses in
1999. The government spends ap
proximately $50 billion a year on
the effort to combat illegal drugs.
It appears to be losing. The Wash
ington Post reports 1 percent of
the adult population in America
was in prison in 1980. Now that
number has risen to 3 percent, or
one in every 32 people.
The failed effort to stem the
tide of illegal drugs in the United
States has only created more
criminals. The time has come to
admit the drug war is not only a
ifailure, it is not winnable. Instead
of pursuing a lost cause,
other options merit seri
ous consideration, in
cluding legalizing drugs
and viewing drug use as
a health, and not a crimi
nal, problem.
Narcotics will always
be around. The illegal
drug trade is estimated
to be $400 billion a year
— larger than the auto
mobile industry. Some
of the billions of dollars
spent fighting the drug
war could be redirected
into combating the traf
fic violations, murders,
burglaries and rapes that
are often rooted in drug
abuse. Under the legal
ization scenario, addic
tion would be treated as
a health problem, not a
crime. Criminal activity
of someone under the in
fluence of a substance
would be severely prose
cuted, similar to drunken
driving.
Legality must not
imply approval. Money
freed for drug education
should focus on the fact
that doing drugs has se
rious consequences. Of
ficials lose credibility
when they tell children
they will fry their brains.
In fact, drugs have a
very real and powerful
lure. Marijuana and
—1
wildcard voters
Hispanic voters torn between party loyalties
S omebody finally won
— or sort of won —
or lost the presiden
tial election. Whatever.
If there is one thing to
learn from the 2000 elec
tion, it is that both politi
cal parties need a major
boost from some group
of voters.
If either party is to break out of the cur
rent deadlock and be truly successful in the
future, it must bring new members under its
umbrella. One group in America today could
give such a boost: Latin Americans. Al
though Hispanics strongly supported Al
Republicans are
unsympathetic in many
areas important to
Hispanics such as
immigration and
affirmative action.
Gore in the last election, there is great rea
son for Democrats to worry about their alle
giance. Hispanics and Republicans are in
agreement on a number of issues. If Repub
licans can show a willingness to compro
mise, do not be surprised to see significant
numbers of Hispanics switching over to the
GOP in the next few decades.
1 Hispanic voters, and in particular Mexi-
Ican-American voters, are the wild card in
[politics right now. The Hispanic population
I in America is increasing rapidly, mainly due
[to immigration from Mexico. A clever
1 politician would care more about the num-
j ber of Hispanics who vote: The number of
[registered Hispanic voters since 1994 has
[increased almost twofold from about 5 mil-
jlion to more than 8 million. If either politi
cal party could consistently win a majority
[of this vote in the future, it would be well
[on its way to winning national offices. The
[parties know this, and it showed in this last
[election in Spanish television commercials
[and the Hispanic speakers at the national
[conventions. The results of this effort were
[a bit confusing.
Despite the efforts made by Republicans
[in 2000 to reach out to them, and despite a
[presidential candidate from Texas who
[speaks Spanish fairly well, most Hispanics
[chose Al Gore. Gore has little experience
[with Hispanic culture and, judging from his
[pronunciation of the language, doesn’t know
Spanish from his own left foot. Their sup
port for Al Gore is strange. But what is even
stranger is when you look at what many His
panic voters care about. Despite their clear
. support of Gore, many Hispanics voters ac
tually have quite a few things in common
with Republicans.
A 1998 poll by television giant Univision
found that Hispanics cared deeply about a
number of Republican issues, such as crime
and family values. In addition, most Hispanics
strongly support Republican programs for
school vouchers and school prayer and put
emphasize education, something George W.
Bush has also emphasized heavily. Henry
Bonilla, R-Texas put it best when he said Lati
no culture has “respect for the institution of
marriage and family, a strong faith, emphasis
on education, and the importance of hard
work and individual responsibility.” This
reads like a GOP convention speech. Al
though Hispanics are still mainly registered as
Democrats, an increasing number are not
only willing to vote for Republican candidates
but are willing to run as Republicans them
selves. In fact, Hispanic identification with the
Democratic Party in Texas has dropped in re
cent years from 48 percent to 33 percent.
Memo to Republicans: Do not mess this
one up. The percentage of white, affluent
males in America is dropping quickly. In
addition, not all Hispanic voters are ecstatic
about jumping into the arms of the GOP,
and rightly so. Republicans are unsympa
thetic in many areas important to Hispan
ics, such as immigration and affirmative
action. Attempting to erect a wall along the
U.S.-Mexico border is just not going to be
popular with Hispanics. Republicans have
an opportunity here, but they must meet
Hispanic voters in the middle. Affirmative
action is supported by many Hispanics,but
Republicans will not be able to match the
Democrats on this issue. Instead, they
should concentrate on immigration policy
and bilingual education, two issues ex
tremely important to Hispanics.
In the Univision poll, 83 percent supported
bilingual education. In addition, many His
panics are immigrants themselves and have
shown a willingness to punish at the polls
those who are anti-immigration. Only by com
promising will the GOP be able to bring sig
nificant numbers of Hispanic voters into the
party. People get what they give, and the Re
publicans are about to learn that lesson for
better or worse.
Matthew Cannon is a senior
biomedical science major.
more dangerous sub
stances can make
people feel better,
less lonely and more
in control of their
lives. But children
might appreciate and
positively respond to
the truth that long
term abuse is a ma
jor handicap.
Through legalization
and an honest educa
tional campaign, the
government could
control, regulate and
tax drug use. The is
sue certainly merits
further study. Ameri
ca’s narcotics policy
raises serious consti
tutional questions.
Yale law professor
Steven Duke said,
“The anti-constitu
tional effects of the
drug war have been
so relentlessly obvi
ous for so long that a
cynic might wonder
whether the Consti
tution is not the true
enemy of the drug
warriors.” In a free
society, purchasing
and intaking sub
stances harming only
the individual should
not be a criminal act.
The actions resulting
from these poor de-
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion cisions should be the
Mail Call
focus of law enforcement,
v Joseph McNamara, former po
lice chief in San Jose, Calif., be
lieves that America’s war on
drugs is a pointless endeavor. He
said, “There is no way the police
can penetrate this world unless
everyone becomes a suspect,
everyone gets stopped, everyone
gets searched.” Under no circum
stances should citizen privacy
ever be compromised in this way.
America’s current drug policies
are simply not working. For
many, obtaining illegal drugs is
easier than obtaining legal ones.
There are real casualties in the
drug war, including nonviolent ;
criminals facing jail time for only
harming their own bodies. Most
of the nation’s citizens are intelli- 1
gent, rational people who under
stand the problems of drug abuse.
They deserve better than the
rhetoric of politicians promising
to pour more money into a losing
battle.
The well-documented failure
of the drug war should raise ques
tions about continuing these poli
cies that have so little progress to
show. Through legalization, the
government just might be able to
control the drug market in a way
that works. Instead of arguing
how much more money should be
poured into this battle, it would
be smart to begin debating of the
alternatives.
Jonathan Jones is a junior
political science major.
Professor says
Clinton did not lie
In response to Mariano Castillo’s
Jan. 23 column.
You said that people focused on
the way Clinton worded his statement
about how he and Monica Lewinsky
had sexual relations. Clinton’s state
ment was: “I did not have sexual rela
tions with, that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.”
Clinton did not lie. He did not have
sexual relations. Both Clinton and
Lewinsky admitted that he put his
hand here and she put her hand there,
and he did this and she did that. How
ever, none of that is “sexual relations.”
Remember, people in public office,
particularly lawyers, are extremely
knowledgeable and aware of the
meanings of words. They use words
precisely. So, it is the height of folly to
believe that the president would go on
national television and make a state
ment, complete with emphasis and
emphatic arm and hand motion, that
was anything but true, that would be
easy to disprove. Clinton did no lie.
So, if Clinton did not lie, what is miss
ing? Definitions of terms. People just
do not understand what Clinton said.
The general public does not know the
meaning of “sexual relations.” The dic
tionary defines “sexual relations” as
meaning only “coitus." Coitus has
nothing to do with where he put his
hand or where she put her hand or
anything else. It means just sexual in
tercourse. Clinton did nof lie.
Douglas Ferret Starr
professor of journalism
Lane: a puppet of
A&M administration
In response to Forrest Lane’s Mail Call.
I find it ridiculous to have to read an
article from the student body president
telling the students of A&M how they
are supposed to behave in the new
Sbisa Dining Hall. It is not that I don’t
agree with him that food should not be
thrown in Sbisa; it is that he has
shown very little concern for what has
happened this year, especially in dorm
unity. His comment that students are
letting hall pride overtake their respect
for the money that has gone into Sbisa
is ridiculous because the truth of the
matter is that he knows nothing about
what is happening in the residence
halls. Had he actually been involved
with the students of the residence
halls, he would understand that they
are losing a large amount of hall pride
and unity due to the lack of Bonfire this
year. Instead of Forrest Lane getting
out and talking to students and at
tempting to voice their concerns, he
has successfully acted as a puppet of
the administration, only doing what
they ask. I have seen Forrest do very
little for the students except what the
administration has wanted. When they
felt threatened by the Keep the Fire
Burning Organization, he was there
backing their opinions. Again, the ad
ministration is upset by the behavior in
Sbisa and apparently they came kick
ing and screaming to Forrest to quickly
and urgently write a letter to the Battal
ion to,end food throwing in Sbisa. So I
have a question to ask Forrest: where
have you been the rest of the year? I
have had many concerns about A&M.
This year A&M has experienced a
great deal more change than it has in a
long time. This is the year that strong
leadership and concern could make a
difference for students struggling to
move forward with the University. I think
you care about what we think; but are
you really trying to act in accordance
with the students? Or are you just a fig
urehead for the administration?
I would urge our student body presi
dent to think about what his position re
ally means, and maybe get out and talk
to a few students. He might be sur
prised at some of the things he hears.
Gran Potter
Class of ‘03
Battalion cartoonist
addresses student
criticism, complaints
In response to the complaints
brought to my attention by the editor in
chief regarding my comic strip pub
lished last Monday, I voluntarily take
this opportunity to try to clear up the
misunderstanding I might have caused
in not considering some particular
conflicting ethnic circumstances.
The focus of the conflict was my de
piction of a fictitious Asian-American
professor. Apparently, my drawing
showed very stereotypical characteris
tics that offended a group of people.
Cartooning often means the exaggera
tion of physical characteristics and,
due to the size and scale of a comic
strip, it is even more accentuated. My
intention while sketching this charac
ter was in no way an attempt to make
fun of Asian-Americans at this Univer
sity.
Being an international student
gives me the opportunity to under
stand the downfalls of stereotypes
that students have for other cultures,
including my own. Words like ’’igno
rance” and even “racism” were men
tioned in some of the complaints. I in
vite those who wrote in and
complained to take another look at the
strip and try to understand its true in
tention: to make people realize
through my character that not all
Asian- Americans are math TAs. My
character due to the use of that
stereotype committed a huge mistake.
In the future I will try to give more
thought to the possible consequences
of what I am drawing and the charac
teristics of my graphics. Nevertheless I
am a human being and I am not per
fect, so I can only try to avoid situa
tions like this.
Adrian Calcaneo
Class of ‘01
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor.
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