kuro5hin.org || Rush Limbaugh - there but for the Grace of God ...

The recent news that Rush Limbaugh is addicted to pain killers has sparked a new debate about how we, as a nation, handle the issues surrounding drug use. When Ronald Reagan introduced us to the war on drugs 20 years ago, it sounded like a good idea. It sounded like we were saving the nation, but today when we look around, can we honestly say that? Drug use is a problem for many, but I don't think it's a crime. The most damaging effect of our "War on Drugs" is that we have made drug abuse a crime, and instead of helping people we lock them in prison. In this Op-Ed piece on kuro5hin.org the author relates his own story with drugs.

There's a deeper and more profound question we should be asking - if an obviously intelligent man with a strict and demanding sense of morality can fall prey to drug addiction, what of the rest of us? Are we stronger? Wiser? More strict? Or, perhaps, just more fortunate? And what does this suggest our drug policy should be?

Yesterday, on NPR there was a very one-sided story about the use of drugs to help ease pain. The piece talked about how drug laws and the potential complications that come with them have stilled doctors from perscribing pain killers, or treating pain. I think it's time for a new national debate on drug abuse. I think it's time that we really examine the essence of how drugs hurt our society, and whether the criminalization of a generation is a worthy cost for our drug free ideal.