prs@oliveb.UUCP (Phil Stephens) (09/23/86)
In article <273@uwmacc.UUCP> anderson@uwmacc.UUCP (Jess Anderson) writes: >BTW, I believe the drug discussion merits its own talk group, as it >will become a major focus in the months and years ahead. I'd like it >not to get lost amid the other political, legal, social, and medical >topics. I agree. I hear that 3 *BILLION* $$ has now been pledged to this holy crusade against pushers dealers and smugglers. I am also concerned about efforts to censor sexual entertainment and music lyrics, but I'm not sure how big that effort will still be after the November elections. The "drug war" apparently is not going to just evaporate, with that kind of funding. And many of the subscribers to this network may soon be pressured into (or threatened with loss of job) "voluntary" participation in unreliable drug tests with little or no assurance of rational and humane response to the results (assuming the result is positive and is not false, is there a drug treatment program without a lengthy waiting period? Will the victim .. er, I mean convict .. be subjected to harrasment if not fired outright? And remember, some of these tests respond to Advil and other legal drugs). This could be you and me, not "them", not just army recruits and air traffic controllers and senators and doctors. Lots of companies will be tempted to use urinalysis, based on wishful- thinking about its accuracy. This is not just a hypothetical moral issue, this is a major threat of ruined lives and careers, a serious issue *even if the drug tests were infallible*. Further discussion is very appropriate. Some on drug testing (reliability, ethics if it *were* reliable, alternatives that check actual alertness, current legal and union challenges ... etc); some on legalization, some on drug war as smoke screen, some on identifying what representitives and senators lean for and against various measures, ... and more. What to call it? I suggest: 'talk.drugwar' (or dwar, for short?) (talk, or net??) I sort of like 'net.repression', but that is a bit *too* slanted toward my own perspective. Likewise 'witch-hunt', 'smokescreen','folly' (I think Prohibition was called "Willard's Folly" or some such?), etc. Please note that my followup line is to net.news.group; edit it if you wish to respond to drug topic rather than to group creation. - Phil Reply-To: prs@oliven.UUCP (Phil Stephens) Organization not responsible for these opinions: Olivetti ATC; Cupertino, Ca Quote: "Cocaine is God's way of telling you you've got too damn much money" (... I think by Robin Williams, in his act).