Monday, December 13, 2004

Stanley Crouch refuses to sugarcoat prohibition From today's New York Daily News:  ... the real solution to the drug problem this country faces has little to do with how much time some lightweight drug pusher or user is sentenced to spend behind bars. It is not about finding better ways to get the big guys and put them where they belong. That's all a waste of time. What we need to do is legalize all the drugs and face the consequences. Stanley Crouch makes a powerful case for abandoning the drug war in a short essay. He makes straight regulation sound pretty appealing. So while states, including this one, are considering legal gambling as a way to raise their tax revenues and provide better services for their citizens, I believe that they should start thinking about the same thing in the area of illegal drugs. The taxes from drugs alone would greatly deepen the resources necessary to fight the educational shortages in this nation, for one. 10:02:26 AM | permalink | comment [] Gary Webb, fearless investigative reporter, R.I.P. I was saddened to read Last One Speaks yesterday as Libby posted news of Gary Webb's death. I never met him, but I was entranced by his work, particularly his book Dark Alliance. Based on his newspaper reporting on the CIA-Contra-crack scandal of the 1980s, the book is one of the best illustrations of the looking glass world of the drug war, where those who say every drug user should be caged are actually profiting financially and politically from the illicit drug trade. Many books tried to cover this issue, but no one else did it with the flair and insights of Webb. Because of the broad cast of characters and their double (sometimes triple) identities, it's still a challenging read, but it's the best way to get a grasp on what probably happened. Though many people just don't care about the truth, Gary was a godsend for those of us who do. 9:04:53 AM | permalink | comment []

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