Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2000
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2000 The Dallas Morning News
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Author: Kristen Thomas

POLITICIANS ON DRUG WAR SIDELINES

I am constantly hearing politicians talking about their involvement in the war on drugs. When was the last time you saw George W. Bush crying about a friend who has overdosed on drugs? When was the last time Al Gore was sitting next to a person he cared deeply about, fighting with them to give up their addiction?

I am a 16-year-old girl who has probably seen more of the war on drugs (or lack thereof) than any number of the political leaders sitting there on Capitol Hill, getting fat off the funds for a war they will not win. Politicians do not fight the war on drugs. The families and friends of addicts do. They are the ones whose hearts ache when they hear the news of a loved one dying from an overdose of methamphetamine. They are the ones who see friends constantly in and out of rehab.

No, politicians do not fight the war on drugs. They merely take the credit for it.

Kristen Thomas, Rowlett
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