Letters
to the editor
Zero tolerance laws inconsistent
Monica
Pardee makes a strong case for drug courts
in her April 22 op-ed. For non-violent offenders
with chronic substance abuse problems, drug
treatment is a cost-effective alternative
to incarceration. Unfortunately, drug courts
are being misused for political purposes.
Record numbers of Americans arrested for
marijuana possession have been forced into
treatment by the criminal justice system.
The resulting distortion of treatment statistics
are then used by drug czar John Walters
to make the claim that marijuana is “addictive.”
Zero tolerance drug laws do not distinguish
between occasional use and chronic abuse.
The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana
to martinis into taxpayer-funded treatment
centers says a lot about U.S. government
priorities, but absolutely nothing about
the relative harms of marijuana. For an
objective take on marijuana, look to Canada.
In the words of Senator Pierre Claude Nolin,
“Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates
that cannabis is substantially less harmful
than alcohol and should be treated not as
a criminal issue but as a social and public
health issue.”
Students who want to help end the intergenerational
culture war otherwise known as the war on
some drugs should contact Students for Sensible
Drug Policy at www.ssdp.org.
— Robert Sharpe, M.P.A.,
program officer,
Drug Policy Alliance
Criticism
is not anti-american
In
his April 22 letter to the editor, Jason
Garthoffner claimed that he is appalled
by D. Tran’s hate for this country after
Tran wrote a sensational article criticizing
the U.S. Army’s consistent record of being
more racially diverse than the American
population.
I thought that we had agreed at the Associated
Students Inc. town hall meeting a month
ago not to personally attack each other.
Like Jason, I disagree with Tran on some
of the issues he brought up — Tran
could be wrong, but I would never say he
hates this country. I think he just hates
oppression wherever it is, including in
Iraq under
Saddam and, as he claims, here by the U.S.
government.
If I criticize the U.S. government and you
call me anti-American, then this only means
that the criticism is true and instead of
conceding that you are wrong, you attack
my character like a slick politician.
Since when is criticism un-American?
Saddam was calling Iraqis that criticized
him un-Iraqi and unpatriotic. Yet, there
are a lot of Americans who have slipped
into the same rhetorical trap and assumed
that disagreeing with the government is
unpatriotic.
I personally do not know any better form
of patriotism than criticism. Out of my
love for this country and my belief in the
values and fundamentals for which we stand,
I criticize and disagree to make sure that
my government is on the right track. After
all, if it was not for the critical thinking
of a few rich aristocratic white men whose
criticism of the government led them to
do the right thing, our country would not
be here today.
Do not jump to conclusions and start making
judgments about my political views.
Do not start slandering me as another one
of those dumb liberals as Gerry Wachovsky
would probably assume I was. Please actually
listen to my criticism. We all share the
same goals, motivations and American values,
but we often disagree on the course of action.
Think of me as your American brother who
is just as concerned as you are about our
country. If you do that, then we can have
a civil debate.
—
Usama Kahf,
treasurer of the CSULB Speech & Debate
Team,
senior in finance
Monastery
threatened
I
am a monk with the Ramakrishna Monastery
here in Trabuco Canyon. When visitors come
here they feel close to something that is
indefinable, something very close to their
heart, for me I define it as the presence
of God.
Environmental impact statements do not take
into account the spiritual environment.
People can acquire great wealth in destroying
the sacred, by building great luxury homes,
but if one heart is empty, without love
then one has nothing.
As many of you know, we are fighting the
county of Orange and the developer of a
project called Saddleback Meadows that are
threatening to destroy the tranquilly and
sanctity of our monastery. So why has God
placed us in this situation at odds with
this developer and the county? For me it
is to learn to love them, because they are
manifestations of God.
However, we still must fight them and do
everything in our power to stop them. They
will use everything at their disposal to
defeat us and they are stronger and have
more money, but they cannot defend themselves
against our love.
—
William (“Wil”) Divine,
Ramakrishna Monastery
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