The Second-Rate Values of Drug Warriors

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson’s column on Ron Paul provides a wide-open look into the mind of a drug warrior.  In his view, by advocating and end to the War on Drugs, Ron Paul will “condemn a portion of his fellow citizens to self-destruction.”  This makes Paul’s values “second-rate.”

But what about the collateral damage from the Drug War?  Does Mr. Gerson wish to condemn those whose lives are harmed by the PROHIBITION of drugs?  What exactly is first-rate about policies that inadvertently spread AIDS, fuel violent crime, and erode our civil liberties, while doing very little to stop the consumption of drugs?

More people are condemned BECAUSE of this country’s drug prohibition policies.  And which values again are second-rate??