Editorial:
A
Line
in
the
Sand
1/11/02
David Borden, Executive Director, [email protected], 1/11/02 Every now and then something so crazy happens that you just have to laugh, angry as you may be. When police in Sao Paulo, Brazil, seized members of the band Planet Hemp as they concluded a concert, arresting them to be prosecuted for their pro-marijuana lyrics, it was one of those times. I confess to not having followed up to find out about the fate of Planet Hemp (not to be confused with the Planet Hemp clothing store, nor with the marijuana enthusiast's battle cry, "plant hemp"). But I was encouraged, as well as amused, to meet someone wearing a Planet Hemp t-shirt at a party here in Washington, DC, a few months ago. Brazil seems now to be moving away from their drug craziness (not to be confused with the book Drug Crazy, though maybe the same idea), as this week brings news that minor drug offenders in that nation will no longer face prison time. The new law is far from perfect; mandated treatment provisions, for example, raise the same issues being heatedly debated within drug reform ranks here in the US. But at least there is an interest in moving away from the hysterical, round-'em-up mentality that formerly held sway. If it isn't one thing, though, it's another. In California, companion bills in the state Senate and Assembly would mandate a 90-day or greater jail term for simply being under the influence of MDMA, popularly known as ecstasy. When you think about it, this law, too, is crazy. I'm not saying that using drugs and talking about using drugs are identical activities. But in both cases, police are seeking the power to round up and jail people who simply aren't bothering anybody else. Most ecstasy users are experimenting, exploring interesting states of consciousness or just having fun. Some may have emotional or addiction problems that impel their use, or are exacerbated by it. There are certain safety risks to the unaware or careless user, and the jury is still out on ecstasy's long-term health impact. Certainly, no drug is perfectly safe or without its downsides -- though ecstasy's extremely minimal number of fatalities compared with those from other drugs ought to place it far lower on the legislative radar than is currently the case. The main issue, however, is that no valid principle of health, safety, science or any other concern points in the direction of putting young people in jail for any drug, with its close exposure to bona-fide criminals and its well-known dangers. And to seriously attempt to enforce this law would require police to conduct invasions of homes, public establishments and personal privacy on a truly massive scale -- a frightening and abhorrent situation to anyone who respects the Constitution or values freedom, and a deranged way for a society to be organized. Either the bill's sponsors haven't thought things through, or they consider that weird vision of an Orwellian police state to be desirable. In some ways, in fact, the police state is already a reality. But that doesn't justify making things worse. It's time to draw a line in the sand against the ecstasy hysteria, and this bill strikes me as a good place to start. People who support sane drug policies need to organize to defeat this dangerous legislation. The American way of life is at stake. (Read our next article for more information on California's anti-ecstasy bills. If you're from California, please visit http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/ca-ecstasy/ to take an easy first step in opposing them.)
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