Just Say Know
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The War on Drugs: Red, White, and Blue Fascism

In 1996 California voters passed Proposition 215, which authorizes the purchase of marijuana by any Californian with a doctor's prescription. There's only one problem: medical marijuana is still prohibited by federal statutes.	

Enter Peter McWilliams, publisher, poet, and author. His books deal with everything from computers to psychology to poetry to politics. Libertarians know him as the author of "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do," a caustic critique of arresting people for committing "victimless" or "consensual" crimes.

McWilliams, 49, also suffers from AIDS and cancer and has found that "marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science." As a strong supporter of Proposition 215, he recognized the need for a safe source of medical marijuana; therefore, he loaned money to an entrepreneur who used it to nurture 4,000 marijuana plants.

McWilliams, always a jokester, commented that he wanted to become the "Bill Gates of medical marijuana." Shortly thereafter, federal agents appeared at his home at 6:00 in the morning, arrested him, and seized his personal computer. A draconian bail was set at $250,000, even though McWilliams offered to give up his passport. 

As the author of "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do" sat shackled in federal custody, President Clinton ironically stated about a federal investigation into his family's private life: "It's nobody's business but ours."

McWilliams stayed in jail for four weeks, during which time he was denied medication and exposed to a variety of contagious diseases. His health deteriorated, and he lost 19 pounds while in prison. He finally went home after his brother and mother put up their homes as collateral for the bond.

Libertarian national director Ron Crickenberger said, "Tragically, McWilliams already suffers from two potentially fatal diseases. Now he suffers from a cruel government that arrested him for trying to save his own life, and the lives of other sick people." 

"Given McWilliams' courageous opposition to the federal government's efforts to attack, imprison, and discredit anyone who suggests that there are genuine medical benefits to marijuana, it's not surprising that he's been singled out for prosecution."

The ridiculous War on Drugs has gotten out of control. Politicians have long wasted our tax dollars and fabricated pseudo-scientific lies in hopes of appeasing conservatives. Now the federal government, as Crickenberger said, is "fanatically determined to wage its War on Drugs--even if it means putting sick and dying people in jail."

Like McWilliams, I believe that no law should get in the way of an individual doing anything he or she wants, provided that his or her actions don't hurt anybody else. McWilliams did not harm anyone; in fact, he was only trying to help. He explained in a letter from prison, "I have never sold a drug in my life . . . I am a vocal and occasionally effective proponent of medical marijuana--and that is why I am in jail."

The ensuing trial will pose some very important questions, such as: What happens when federal and state laws conflict? Do the 9th and 10th Amendments hold any weight in court? And, most important, will our judiciary system allow political games to take precedence over the life of a dying individual?

Behind the Doors of Perception

After reading the previous piece, you might think that I condone or even encourage recreational drug use. If so, think again. 

In "The Doors of Perception," Aldous Huxley describes his drug-induced visionary experiences and praises the transcendental qualities of mescaline and LSD. While I admire Huxley's prose, I must disagree with his ideas.

I opened the doors of perception, and all I discovered was the superfluous stupidity of psychedelic drug use. This was not an altogether pleasant discovery. Tim Leary, the "High Priest of LSD," is one of my intellectual heroes, and I had to accept the fact that sometimes, even heroes are wrong. 

Psychedelic drug use--for whatever purpose--signifies mental dependence and weakness. Psychedelic drugs are not necessary for mind exploration or consciousness expansion; all you need is concentration. 

Nor does the human mind require potentially dangerous drugs to overcome boredom, interact socially, create beautiful art, or discover the self. If anything, psychedelic drugs dilute the self.

Maybe some people use drugs because they don't recognize what is really sacred in their lives--because they don't value their minds or their relationships with loved ones. But I do--and any unnecessary risk (no matter how slight) is too great a risk.

Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick eloquently concludes my argument from an artistic perspective: "I think that the illusion of oneness with the universe, and the absorption with the significance of every object in your environment, and the pervasive aura of peace and contentment is not the ideal state for an artist. It tranquilizes the creative personality, which thrives on conflict and on the clash and ferment of ideas. The artist's transcendence must be within his own work; he should not impose any artificial barriers between himself and the 
mainspring of his subconscious. 

"One of the things that's turned me against LSD is that all the people I know who use it have a peculiar inability to distinguish between things that are really interesting and stimulating and things that appear to be so in the state of universal bliss that the drug induces on a 'good' trip. They seem to completely lose their critical faculties and disengage themselves from some of the most stimulating areas of life. Perhaps when everything is beautiful, nothing is beautiful."