Rush To Judgment, Rehab & Review

This morning I had a rare opportunity to listen to Neal Boortz while I was at work. His primary topic this morning was, of course, the Rush Limbaugh drug issue (can be found here on the 13th). Listening to the show, I thought that Boortz had two good questions - ones that no one seemed willing to attempt to answer. First, he asked if Rush should be sent to jail for his illicit purchasing. The second question was whether or not this should be a basis for revisiting the war on drugs.

Boortz's point with the first question was to expose the hypocrisy of many of the dittoheads who want to see the crackhead down the street locked away for years, while their hero goes free. And a few fell for it. They promoted the idea of treatment and intervention. They expressed sorrow and shame, but they avoided taking the hardline "throw away the key" stance that many conservatives are notorious for (a somewhat unfair characterization, but the rise of compassionate conservatism lends credence to the idea).

Apparently, the federal penalty for the illegal procurement of narcotics is up to twenty years in jail. Now Rush didn't steal from anyone (no political cheap shots here) and he didn't cause physical harm anyone other than himself. Was it a stupid move? Yes, it most certainly was. Does the punishment fit the crime? No, not really. It seems a bit extreme to me. That being said, if the crime calls for imprisonment, then Rush needs to serve his time, just like anyone else. He is no more above the law than anyone else.

Now there are some things about this situation that make it different than the crackhead down the street scenario. Rush only harmed himself. He publicly admitted to having a problem. He voluntarily placed himself in rehab. Rush has been proactive towards the situation. When it comes time for any sentencing that may be in his future, these factors need to be taken into account. But they are not reason for cutting him some sort of a special deal.

So is it time to revisit the whole war on drugs? I think we need to at least look at the end results to see if we're achieving our goals. So what do we have?

We have a situation where first time non-violent offenders are going to the pen instead of to rehab where they would be better served. We have a situation where violent criminals walk free to create more room for the guy who was trying to buy Xanax on the street. We have a situation where violent drug related crime is rising, while the quantity and quality of the drugs available continues to increase. Is this a success? I don't think so.

Boortz kept referring to a Rand study from 1994 (a synopsis, along with ordering information, can be found here), supposedly rejected by the Clinton Administration, which proved rehabilitation and treatment to be the most effectively spent money in the fight against drugs. I haven't had a chance to read through the study for myself, but it seems to be in agreement with my own beliefs: targeting the suppliers doesn't work - they're a dime a dozen, targeting the users for punishment doesn't work - it goes back to the coarsening of our society, we are afraid of intellectual pursuits, so the quick and easy high provided by drugs is considered acceptable by many, and finally rehab, which has a relatively high recidivism rate, is still the best of three poor options for correcting the problem.

I'm no big fan of Rush. I generally find him to be a little too far out to the right for my tastes. Despite that, I still respect him for the strength of his beliefs. I still appreciate what he has done for the conservative movement.

I am also disappointed in his action. More than probably anyone else, he should have known that his Oxycontin addiction would be fodder for the left and an opportunity for the left to discredit the conservative message by discrediting its most articulate messenger. For being such an active political player, I would have expected him to be more astute.

In the end, however, Rush is simply human. He is a man, no better and no worse than any of the rest of us. He is fallible, as this episode proves. If there is a punishable crime here, he needs to accept his punishment and move on.

As evidenced by his admission of a problem and his action in checking himself into rehab, he knows that he did wrong. He has taken the first step in rebuilding his now sullied reputation. The question still remains as to whether or not he can carry through to completion on the rest of the steps.

Only time will tell.