hilip Seymour Hoffman’s death at the end of a heroin needle again spotlights the dangers of a poisonous drug. And so did the Vermont governor’s plea last month to confront the “full-blown heroin crisis” plaguing his rural state.

His population is far poorer and more isolated than an Oscar-winning actor in New York’s Greenwich Village. But though drug overdoses are democratic in choosing victims, the War on Drugs is anything but.

Every year, billions of dollars pour down the War on Drugs drain, and the drugs are cheaper and easier to find than ever. The war enriches dealers by constricting the supply while turning addicts into criminals afraid to publicly confront their drug use.



Our less than compassionate conservatives can’t get this in their head. With some noble exceptions, Republicans remain intent on treating drug users as reprobates, especially if they are poor.

Note the reasoning of Trey Radel, the Florida tea party Republican recently convicted for cocaine possession. The then congressman was under the impression that with some inpatient treatment and prayer, he would become “a better man for southwest Florida” and pick up where he left off.

Resign in disgrace? Not him; he had a “disease.” Join the half-million Americans in prison for drug violations? Never considered. (Radel eventually gave in to pressure and quit the House seat.)

Not long before, Radel had joined fellow Republicans in a vote requiring food stamp applicants to pass drug tests before receiving benefits. Some Democrats asked why they didn’t demand drug tests for recipients of federal oil subsidies or federal crop insurance. Sadly, we know the answer.

So continues a non-compassionate traditionof making life harder for those already having it hard. Two years ago, for example, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., proposed forcing states to drug-screen applicants for unemployment insurance.

In 1998, then-Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., pushed through an amendment to the Higher Education Act that denied federal aid to any student having committed a drug offense. A Souder spokesman explained, “American taxpayers should not be subsidizing the educations of convicted drug dealers or drug users.”


Of course, the drug-offending children of rich parents were not affected, because they didn’t need student aid. They were also less likely to get caught and, if they did, could afford better lawyers. But hundreds of thousands of low- and moderate-income students were denied federal aid, often for being found with a stick of marijuana.

(Souder left Congress in 2010 after having an affair with a female staffer.)


The current White House occupant, Barack Obama, confessed to using both substances. Obama has not been a tiger on changing the drug laws, though he’s going easier on marijuana.


FROMA HARROP writes a column for Creators syndicate. Contact:

FROMA HARROP writes a column for Creators syndicate. Contact:

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