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Strange Priorities
By
TChris, Section
Social Justice
Posted on Fri Aug 19, 2005 at 10:32:24 PM EST
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by TChris
Joseph Califano Jr. misses the point when he claims, “If you don’t reduce the use of marijuana, you can't possibly reduce illegal drug use because marijuana is far and away the most used drug.” Of course it is. It is among the safest of illicit drugs, and millions of world-wide tokers have learned that responsible use will not adversely affect their lives. Not only is it possible to “reduce illegal drug use” while largely ignoring marijuana use, it should be the government’s priority to help individuals reduce their reliance on drugs that have the greatest potential for dangerous abuse.
John Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, makes the same mistake when he tells reporters: “The issue here is not meth or marijuana. We’re concerned about substance abuse generally.” If we’re to take our drug policy seriously, shouldn’t reduction efforts be most closely targeted to the most dangerous drugs?
Focusing resources on marijuana users is wasteful. Between snacking and napping, pot smokers have little time (and even less energy) to rip apart the social fabric. If the government were serious in its desire to address actual (rather than imagined) social harm, it would direct its attention to predatory lenders.
Across the country, dishonest payday loan stores, rent-to-own centers, check cashing stores, sub-prime home mortgage companies and other "predatory lenders" are taking thousands of dollars out of the pockets of poor people in clear view of the law. They are wreaking havoc on the country's working class, often driving grandmothers into foreclosure, military soldiers into debt and depression, and school teachers into personal bankruptcy.
The government sends men and women to prison because they grow and distribute a plant. Lenders make “millions upon millions” in exorbitant interest and fees levied upon the most vulnerable members of society, and government looks the other way.
Surprisingly, no national politician is holding a primetime national press conference to discuss this epidemic. In an era in which steroid use and Terry Schiavo have taken center stage in politics and the media, it is noteworthy that no senator is threatening a filibuster, and no elected official has suggested a hunger campaign to protest the injustice of predatory lending.
Where is Jimmy Stewart's courageous character from the 1939 movie, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," when you need him?
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