Thursday, June 14, 2007

Waking Up . . . and Not

KY wakes up to a big problem most states have, the fact that abuse of LEGAL prescription drugs, in this case by teens, is a growing and comparatively ignored part of our druggy culture. These drugs don't fit easily into the stories our drug warriors tell and cite for their heroic images of themselves so they're harder to deal with and demonize. If the drugs are legal and prescribed (even if not to the one (ab)using them), how can the (ab)users be EVIL, EVIL, you hear me?, like those who smoke illegal pot and fill our prisons to the exclusion of doing things that actually stop crime better? . . . OTOH, have hope for here is a former DA who has let research and evidence guide him to a change of thought on punishment. The topic is medical marijuana and the former DA is now the governor of NY. Good to see that ideology and professional ego-stimulation can be overcome by reality once in a while. . . . Or maybe not. The "we're God and you're not" DAs in the Genarlow Wilson case in GA who are demeaning and undermining their profession as surely as the Duke lacrosse DA did have come up with yet another abusive travesty. Mad that the mother of the "victim" in the case publicly stated that she felt Wilso was unfairly punished as an "example" and her daughter's involvement was consensual and no crime, an ADA went over to her house, sat her down and made her call the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to recant the story, and bragged to the paper that they were there making a tape recording of the recantation. Originally, the mother said that the ADA had early on threatened her with neglect charges but, after the helpful visit, she also recanted that. As Wilson's attorney says, this is "something that almost reminds us of what happens in a Communist country, that when you speak out about something to the media, you get a visit from the government." Or Tony Soprano. (Wait . . . isn't he dead? Or not?)

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