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BANNING ADULTS' DRUG USE IS ABUSE OF POWER

 A sampling of a "War on Drugs" Forum
 The following was posted in Southeastern Virginia, on the "CompuVision" BBS by me, K.
 Holland (screen name "The Woodpecker") on 08/08/95 at 10:58 pm, to open the "War on
 Drugs" forum, which now appears as a regular feature on that board.  I am posting it
 here in order to share my views on this subject with as large a body of like-minded people
 as possible.  The very first post was a re-issue of a public statement I made on the matter
 in late 1989 or early 1990 for publication in a local newspaper.  Those following,
 however, originated on the dates and times shown for each.
 (All original material copyright 1989, 1995, 1996 by K. Holland. No part of this posting
 may be reproduced or sold for profit without the express written permission of the
 author.)
 To: All
 From: The Woodpecker
 Date: 08/08/95  10:58pm
             It should be obvious to any intelligent, well-informed person that the laws
 prohibiting the use of various drugs by consenting adults are overly-broad, and arbitrarily
 enforced legislation which violates the fundamental rights and liberties of individual
 citizens.  They are based upon a blatant form of governmentally sanctioned prejudice,
 fueled by ignorance, and perpetuated by fear.
              We are constantly told that the "War on Drugs" is necessary in order to rid our
 neighborhoods of vicious drug gangs and prevent our young children from becoming
 "crack" addicts.  But it is not the drugs, in and of themselves, that lead to drug gang
 activities, but the highly profitable underground market that is created because these
 substances are unavailable by legal means. (When was the last time so many people were
 shot and killed for want of an alcoholic beverage?  Prohibition, right?)  The only reason
 that children have access to drugs is equally relative to that underground market, since
 many unscrupulous street dealers will sell their wares to anyone, regardless of age, as long
 as they have the money.  This would be far less likely to happen if state governments
 regulated sales.
              A 1987 survey by Eric A. Lindstrom (Reported by National Geographic Magazine
 in January, 1989) showed that prior to the Bush Administration's highly touted 1989 drug
 war, the overwhelming majority of the estimated 5.8 million cocaine users were over 18
 years of age, and that the majority of those users were aged 26 years and over.  That
 survey also showed that users under the age of 18 numbered far less than 500 thousand,
 and that use by high school seniors was already declining rapidly.  (No doubt these
 numbers got a short-lived boost owing to all of the publicity the illegal drugs got in the
 press over the next few years, but that is a subject that needs to be discussed under its own
 topic heading.)
               The simple fact here is that adults are the ones who are demanding drugs, not
 children.  It is of course prudent, and imperative that drugs (as well as tobacco and alcohol)
 be kept away from children, whose minds and bodies are still developing, and who do not
 yet posess the ability to make intelligent choices regarding their own welfare.  But once
 people reach the age of consent, they are no longer children, and should not be treated as
 such by their government.
                We are supposed to be living in the greatest country in the world, free of
 oppression and blessed with liberty.  It is highly illogical -- indeed, it is quite disturbing -- to
 think that American citizens should be so harshly treated by their own society for conduct
 in which even in the most uncivilized countries would be recognized as an individual's
 natural, God-given right to participate.
                   I believe it is acceptable to penalize people who supply drugs to minors or
 other incompetents, or those who use such substances so irresponsibly that they cause
 harm to others.  But punishing those who use drugs at their own peril, but in such a way
 that they cause no significant harm to others is clearly an arbitrary abuse of governmental
 power that amounts to an unwarranted breach of every citizen's natural and fundamental
 right to liberty, and legal protections against arbitrary prosecution.  It is the first step to the
 destruction of the Bill of Rights, and the beginning of a new totalitarian state.
 The following exchange then ensued:
 To: The Woodpecker
 From: Jnel835
 Date: 08/19/95  09:02pm