LETTERS: SAFE USE OF MARIJUANA IS PROPOSED

To the editor:

Lately, many Southeast Missourians have declared that we should morally perceive President Clinton as a good example of everything not to do, such as lying and cheating. We also believe that he admits to some of the mistakes, though not to all, since he has shown remorse and regret. A few of those who criticize Mr. Clinton express a disbelief that he would lie to us about something they thought everyone should know about, which is laughable since high moral standards which these people use to judge natural behavior in others would have damned him in the first admittance.

There was a definite backlash when Packwood was revealed as a pervert. Yet those within his own party, outstanding national leaders whom children look up to supposedly, lied and endangered the lives of these very children -- who are taught to shout "No!" -- from a platform on inconsistency. I am referring to the war and drugs, specifically anti-drug guru Gen. Barry McCaffrey's blatant, intentional lies to an audience clearly illustrating the void of negative facts about drugs such as cannibis. The decorated general spoke earnestly, reportedly stating, "The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States. The per-capita crimes are much higher than in the United Sates. The overall crime rate in Holland is 40 percent higher than in the United States. That's drugs."

Bill Clinton lied when he thought the public should not know a fact about his personal life. General McCaffrey lied because he thought the public should not know facts about their own lives. Facts about our lives are things that either control or inhibit us. In a free country, we hope that only those limitations on freedom encoded in law are based on reason and justification which can be expressed, "If everybody abstains from (or does) something, then a better state of affairs will result."

Some of these laws, such as the law prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors, are easily surpassed and bent because the general public tolerates occasional, infrequent alcohol use, even in teen-agers. Of course, these laws are also enforced at times, especially when a dangerous activity such as driving is involved.

Still, we realize that every so often that even if some teen-agers do drink alcohol, especially older ones, it will not necessarily result in a worse state of affairs. The law recognizes this fact as well through lenient and tolerant police officers.

So what can be made of McCaffrey's statements? Perhaps if he had used fair crime statistics, such as ones which the Dutch themselves released following McCaffrey's memorable speech, then he could have said how much crime actually occurs in Holland, a figure extremely low compared to the United States.

And if marijuana made you more stupid, then Holland's literacy rate would be lower. But it doesn't, and it isn't. The Netherlands' literacy rate rivals that of the United States with 100 percent of the population able to read. The United States is 95.5 percent, not too far behind.

The United States has a death rate only 7 percentage points from the world average, while the Netherlands' is 12 percent lower than average. The Partnership for a Drug Free America can never say again that marijuana, during responsible use, leads to lower intelligence or more deaths through violent crime or medical ailments.

Aldous Huxley reminds us that everyone has a natural tendency to choose his own door of perception, selecting a drug capable of opening familiar, yet new, ground. Though these instances for valuable experiences in us, the abuse of drugs always leads to a gross detachment from reality. If our social maxims rest on the assumptions that alcohol is somehow different in consequences of natural vice, then science disagrees, for studies have shown the effects to be on par with each other.

If you think the decriminalizing of marijuana would lead to more children abusing or even trying the drug than do already, science disagrees with you. I your mind is set on fulfilling the lies which began in the mid-20th century and continue today through various, uninformed drug-abuse resistance programs, then you operate on unjustified evidence contorted by politicians such as McCaffrey and countless others eager to deny freedom on a major issue.

The war on drugs causes pot smokers to be seen as criminals. Smokers don't steal things to get drugs, just like most of us don't steal to get alcohol. Both groups work to get what they enjoy, so the drunken driver can drive home having a wreck and killing a family on the way, and the pot smoker can cruise home at a reasonable pace, constantly aware of his surroundings.

The gateway drug theory is disproved through impartial science. I firmly believe the irrational and uncontrolled abuse of any drug is wrong, though simple use must be seen as a separate category. It is being done so for a volatile drug such as alcohol, and it should be done so for a peaceful drug such as marijuana as well. Science supports it, and consistent logic requires it. Could a supreme being give us a more explicit, assured sign than impartial evidence?

JOSH WILLE

Whitewater