Stephen Chapman`s attempt to pin a dishonesty tag on Bush (”The dishonesty of Bush`s war . . .”, Sept. 7) becomes a charade when Chapman tries to justify it. While I would admit that the total success of the present drug plan may be questionable, Chapman`s justification of his charge against Bush is dishonest.
The journalist perpetuates the claim that drug use, ”unlike most crimes, is not a form of aggression against others.” This old canard of
”victimless crimes” was invented to justify abnormal behavior that sooner than later hurts members of society. In one field alone-health-smoking, drinking, drug use and even overeating mean higher premiums to pay for the treatment of conditions brought about by those habits.
The same economic principle that works for legal products-textiles, cocoa, rubber, coffee-works for drugs. Just as a fraction of the price of coffee ends up in the hands of the foreign producers and sellers, a similar fraction paid for drugs goes to the middleman here and in South America. It is precisely that middleman-primarily in Colombia-who is placing bombs and killing people to maintain the monopoly of trade. Mr. Chapman should remember that it was one thing to place a flower in the barrel of a rifle and quite something else to justify the consumption of a drug with the excuse that it is a ”victimless crime.”
