32• NOVIMBIR I 88

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Although the two major political par-

ties won't even discuss legalization as a
means of dealing with "the drug prob-
lems," there is one presidential candidate
on the ballot who is calling for legaliza-
tion of all drugs as a major part of his
campaign platform. If you plan to vote in
the upcoming elections, you should read
this profile of Ron Paul, Libertarian Can- l': ."~~~: <.·~.v \. --:-
didate for president. • _ r"C ',c .~ '--.__ _ . .

y the lim e you read thi s. the 1988 presidential electi on will

B only he a few weeks away. If vou're a ca n na bis co ns ume r;

voti ng in this el ect ion will pm ba hlv be on e of th e must diffi -
cult decis ions YO U'H > ever mad e . Afte r all . the contende rs from
both major parties aTC call ing for an expande d " War e n Drugs."
Ho wever, there is o ne cand idate who wan ts 10 le gal ize AI..! . drugs.
His na me is Dr. Hem Pau l and he represent s the Libert ari an Par ty.
Pau l's Hallie will appear on ball ots ill al most every sta le .
"" do n't think there s hou ld be any laws outlawing the use of
dru gs," says Paul , 5:-( "It's always heen amazi ng to me how h ypo-
critica l the members of Congress have I W (' I1 , ta lking ab out dru gs,
and getting political ben efit 0 111 of the issue, giving s peec hes on
the HUIISC n (~or abou t hard d ru gs. while so me of them have been
half-ine bri ated on alco hol. I th ink dru g laws are the nu mber one
reas on why we have so much crime in th is country. an d if we se ri-
ously want to talk about reducin g cri me. we must get rill of d rug
laws. The people who like the dru g laws are the peop le making
money off the drugs, the Mafia-t ype organi zations."
He mea ns it. As a four-t erm Hepuhlican Congressman from
Texas between 1976 and 1984. Paul voted again st all fed era l leg-
isla tion de s igne d to give governme nt more power to fight dru g use .
" My voting reco rd could be c ha ract erized as libertaria n-free mar -
ket," he Si.lYS , " I prefer the term non -interv entioni st. "
In Novembe r, Paul will be on rhe ballot in at least 45 s tales , and
possibl y all 50 . along with the District of Columbia . if hallot ac-
cess efforts are suc cess ful. His running male is Andre Marron. a
one-time Libertaria n stat e legisl ator from Alaska, the on ly stale By Greg Kaza
 HIGH TIMES· 33

where ca nnabis c ul tivation is leg a l. Th e party is prohahl v stronge r
in Ala sk a th an a ny othe r s ta te . In 1980 . Libe rtaria n pre s id e ntia l
candidate Ed Cla rk, a n attorney, ga rn ere d 12 pe-rce nt of IIH' vote
statewi de. In nu merous co mm u nit ie s , Cla rk ou tpu lle d [h- moc ra t
J imm y Curte r a nd in depe ndent John Anderson. In 19B2. Dic k
Rand olph , a th en-Libe rtaria n sta te legisl at or, receive-d 1;) 1H'ITent
of th e vote in the race for gove rn or. Pe rha ps not coinc-i de nt al ly,
officials in Ju nea u, th e sta te ca p ital. so me t imes d isc uss politi cs
over a joint inst ead of a lcohol. tile prefe rred d rug of pol itic ia ns in
the lower 49. Pa ul expects to perform wdl in Alask a this yea r.
So me part y offi cials prt '4l ict he will finish second in the s tate this
Nove mbe r.
Tilt' libe rta rian opposi tion to d ru g laws is twofold. First . they
OPPO~t· drug laws o n moral grou nds . A cen tral te net of Iibertariun-
is m l'xp lai n{'d hy Hothbanl is th at (" Try pc rstm is th e owne r of
the ir own hod y: S(·e-o IHll y. libcrt a ri uns ut ili ze an f'('(JflOm ic a rgu-
me nt to show th ai dr ug laws c-reat e scan 'i ty hy artific iall y restri ct -
in g suppl y. d ri vin g lip pr ic('s a nd c-rentiug a lucra ti ve market for
c riminal d e me nts to e-xploi t. Le gal ize dru gs . argues Rothbard . a n
economi st . a nd prices will fall. eli mi na ting the e normous profits.
'·1 sup port the a bolition of d rug laws for two re aso ns ," Pa ul says .
"OJH', lilt' govc m rneu t sho uldn't haw the rig ht to te ll people what
10 (10 with the-ir own bodi e s . Two. drug laws do n't work . One is a
mu ral a rg u m e nt . TIlt' second is an economic po.. . ir ion ."
Had it not bce n for Richa rd Ni xon . rln- Libe rta ria n Part y pro-
ha h lv would no t e xist.

T
he l.ibe- rta riun Partv ha s uttrart e-d r-on se-rva tives , tudi rul«.
a nd lilu-ral s. Its pla tform is a swee pin g iudic-tnu-nt o! gO H'rJI4
m e n t. A11go vern me n ts . I .ihcrtariuns i.ldYlwlI!t' c-i vi I 1ilx-rtir-.... II A IJ ~ lJ sI 1971 . Nixo n imposed wage- an d -pric-e con trols on th e
in person a l affai rs. a luis . . (·z-fa il"l" syste-m ill the l·('OIlOlll i(' realm
a nd a non-inn-rveu tionist fo rei gn pol i(·y. Tllt'y suppcut tilt' a boli- I Ame-ric-an ("(·ollom y. With in days. a s ma ll grou p of Co lora do li-
bc rta rinn s we-re meeting ill De nver to disc uss formi ng a thi rd
tion of vic tim less c ri me la ws re-gula ti ng dru gs , /!i.lll1 hlillj! . P0I'l104 po litical pa rty. The ir dec-ision ,..'a s nut a diffi cult one. Vietnam.
g ra p hv, prus fi tut ion u nd sexual prefe-n-ncv. Tlw y ud vocun- whi ch libert a ria ns o ppos ed , was ragi ng, a nd a Iull -sculc c-rack-
elimination of federal ft'g'ul a tnry ag:t ' IJ('il '~ . . uch ; j,.; tilt" EP:\ . ~'( :C. down 0 11 c ivi l liberti es hat! OCCUlTed under Nixo n. Fur liberta r-
FTC. ICC a nd () ~ H :\ . T lw~' ulso c-all fur L' ~ witlul filW'll [nun ia us. wagc-a nd -priee c-ontro ls we-re the stra w that br oke th e
:'lATO and othe r milit ary all iune -e-s, and a ll end 10 d ra ft n-ai stra- ('amt,rS luu-k . Th ey sta~w d their first nationa l convention in J uly
lion . as well a s the abolition of lilt' FBI and tlu- C1 .\ . \\ 'a s hillJ!loll 1972 , 011 till' sa me wee-kend the Water f;!:at e b re ak -in U('('lIITe(1 in
would bec-ome a g host to w n tinde r a Libe rta ria n administru tion . \\'ashingt(lIl.
" This is a very inte n-stin g q uest ion : ' Pa ul resp ond s good -nu- .loh u Ho.. . pcrs , th e Libe rt ar ian Pa rty's first ca nd idat e for pre ei-
turedl v, when as ked whic h fede ra l ag ency he woul d aboli sh first. d ent. gnrn ercd onlv .').()()O vote s in two state s that yea r. But Hoger
" In ma ny ways it is a tou g h questio n for 11)(' he-c-a use the n ' a re so J\1a('B rid t·. 11 prcs ident iul elect or pl('d ged 10 Nixon . des ert ed the
ma ny govern me nt agen ci e s I woul d like to a ho ljs h ." Libertarian s Hcp uhln-ans a nd east his e lectora l vote for Hospers 1.lIH I 'Ionic Na -
ha ppily refer to th e abolit ion of a gen c ie s as " pus hing: the but ton ." tha n. his ru nn ing ma lt' . (Nat ha n"'" electora l vote prece-ded by more
Pau l's pe rsona l pre fe renc-es a re the IRS a nd Fed eral Res e rve Svs- than a d t'eade th e \'tllt>:,- cast fur Dem ocrat L era ldi ne Fe rraro in
tem. "A s lung as the lon g a rm of th e ~o\'t..r nm ent ta x collector i-, 19H.l . N<tthall a lld ~'t'rra l1 ) are th e only women in Ameri(·an history
h o\'C rin ~ O\'er us . nu l' lib e rt ie s are threatent.·(I.... he say s. to han- ret'l· in,.I elt'c loral ,"olt'S. t Ho!'pt.·rs . a ph i lo so ph ~' professor.
Pau l would a lso pu sh th t.' hu tto n O il the DEA. " I don' t kn nw of la ll·r ga ine d notoriety lj,r anolhe r n 'ason . In 19HU. Ihl' US Sta te
a ny rea son to ha"e il.- he says. Th e party's platform ;-u lvo(:ith's ~t l Jt> De par1nlent th rea tellt'd II) Jl ru~c eut e Il os pe rs a nd l' i~ ht othe r li4
repeal of a ll la ws proh ihi tin~ th e pm dll d ion . sale. posse ssion or Iwr ta rhllls f<)r Ihe ir invo!wme nt in a n a llUrti ve efforttl) es lahlis h a
use of drll ~s . a nd of a ll nw di ('a l pre script ioll req uirenu'll ls fin' Ihe fn 'l' " Hukl'! uto pia 0 11 a n isla nd e ha in in the ::;o ulh Pac ific . In-
pllI'ch a st' of vi ta mins. d ru gs . a nd simila r su bs la nces : ' In ca s(' you c lllC!l·d in the proposed (·lltllltr y's c onstit uti on was a meas ure l e ~al ­
were wonderin g. Liber tarian s woul d als o pus h the button 011 th e izing marijuana. \V1lt'n a uthorities seized Jimm y Steve ns . a
FDA. ('ha ris rnatic tri ba l ch i(·ftai n who favured Ihe lib erta ria ns' effort s,
"'TIlt' ease a~ainst o ut lawin~ nareoti(' an d h a llu e i n o ~c ll i ( ' dmgs th ey found ka va. a natin- ha lluci nogenie. in his pO.. sl·ssioll.
is fa r ,\'(~ak t'r th a n th e ('a~e ag ainst Prohihition . a n expt.'ri me nt ~ l a ('B rid e 's de fcc·tio n from Nixon so ple ased th e Lihe l1aria lls
which the ~ rjs ly era of the: 19 20s ha s hop('fu lly d iscredited for a ll tht.'\' dt'eided to 011I him for Pre side nt in 19 76. Ma eBride. a n at -
times ." Dr. 1\ l urray Hothha nl ar gues in his hook ForA New U berty . ton~n. ft.'(·eived 17B-UnO \'Otes in ;~6 :,-tules . The tota l sUl'pa:'ised
Rothh,," 1i!' so meti mes (·alle(lt lle Ka rl ~I an ofl ihertaria nism. His a ll or'the other minor part ies (·(lInh ilwd . But it was in IYHO tha t the
hook is n ·qu irt·d readill~ for pa rty aeti \'ists. " For wh ile nareuties Lihert a rian s really hit full s pe ed . Ed Cla rk ae hiew d hall ol sta tus
ar e undoubtt·tlly more ha rmfullhall is aleohol. the lalt t"r ( ',11\ also in a ll ; 0 sta tes a nd reeein'd almost a mill ion vote s . Al a \'ietory
he harmfu l. and outlawill g !'omet hing he cau se it may ha rm the pa rt y a fte rwa rd . juhil a nt pa rty ad ivis ts cde hralt' d hy li/!hting up
ust'r It'ads s tra i/!ht do wn the lo ~ ical ~ a n l(, 11 path 10 our totalit ari a n joi uts . Th e fo ll ow in ~ yea r, ma riju an a s lllo kt~ from a hospit alit y
e a ~e, whe re people a re p rnh ih iled from ea tinv; ca nd y and fon' l'd to suite op erat ed by th e Lib ert arian Pa rty Had ical Ca ucu s a l lhe par-
ca t yo~u rt 'for Ihe ir own ~o ud.' lI owe\,(' r. in the far more imposi ng: ty's natiu nal cOIl\'{'ntion ill D('n ve r was :,-o thi c k that ho k l !,(·(·urily
a rgunw nt c(lJ l(' t-' m i n~ ha rm Itl ot hers. a k Hhol is lllue h m on~ likdy threa ten ed to shllt the room down. Fo r pa rty aeti\'is ts. t ho~e we re
to lead tn (·rime. au to ae ('iden ts . et c. , than na re otie s: whieh ren - th e ~ood old days .
dt'r the use r pretern a turall y p('acd ul and pa ssiH". Tlw rt, is. of T he l"(> has bee n litt le to eele hra te sinee. Beset hy in te rna l
course . a \'t'ry stro n~ ('UI1IH·(·tion het wt·t·1l a ddiction and ('rime. squa bhling. the party ran DU\'id He q,d and . an allonwy, for presi-
hut the ('o(1flection is th e rf', 'er.~e of a ny ar/;!:lIment for p roh ibit ion . dent. Be rgland ac hieved ba llot sta tus in on ly 38 states , a nd ft.'-
Cri mes a n ' ('ommittetl h~' addiets driwn to thdt hy the- h i~h priee ('ei,\'ed onl y 22.~. OOO votes . Th e ne xt yt'ar, th e part y·s monthl y
of d ru ~s (·alls(·d by th e nutl awry itself! If 1l1.1Tcotie s wefC lega l. the newsp;lper re(Juced puhlie al ion to six ti mes a nnua lly. whe re it re-
stlpply wou ld /;!:rt'al ly inc n 'ase , Ihe hig h ('os ts Hf b lack ma rkd s a nd mai ns today. Pa rt ~' le ad n s do no t seem cone ern t'd. th ough the
poli ce payoffs would d isa ppear, a nd th e pri ee would he low sma ller \'Ote total s a nd ina hil ity 10 pu bl ish ca n be inte rp rete d as
en ough to e1illlina lt>mosl add id-ea us ed erinw ." cvidc llec of decline . A sma ll ~rou p of ae ti vis ts known as th e
 )(. NlJVIMIl(R / 18
Li Lertarian Republican Organizing Committee (LHOC )eve n de-
fected and de cid ed to work within the Republi can party. "T he
Libertaria n Part y, lik e virtually every oth er third party in Amer-
ic a , had its place in history," arg ues Eri c Garri s. nat ional di re ct or
of th e tROC. "The LP was a ph enomenon cre ated as a result of
Water gate and the Vietna m War. 'fclda)', however, the batt le be-
twe en th e forces of peace and war, and fre edom ver sus gove rn ment
c ontrol, is going 011 in the Hepuhlir -an Part y," In 19 78. Garri s was
an org a nize r in Sa n Francisco Proposition W, an ini tiat ive order-
ing th e loca l dist rict a ttorn ey a nd poli ce to nol e nfo rce or PIDS C-
cute indi viduals in volved in usin g, cu lti va tin g or se ll ing mari -
ju ana. Th e mea sure passed with 57 percent of the vote . but a more
rad ical measure organized by Ga rr is in 19HO that soug ht ab oliti on
of the vice squad rec eiv ed onl y :m percen t of the vote.
Libertarians dis agree . Wa ry of its decl ine , the part y nominat ed
Paul as the ir presidential candidate in Seatt le last Septe mbe r. In
1988 . the Libert ari an s expe ct to fiel d 250-500 c andidates for
public office at th e fed eral , state and locallevels . \Vhile the party
is down , it is by no means out. Nationa l Dire ctor Paul jacob notes
more than 80 members c ur re ntly hold elective a nd appointed po-
sitions nat ion wide . He expects tha t number to increa se thi s year,
alon g with membership, whic h c urre ntly total s 7.000.
For tho se who do join the part y. runn ing for office is not always
as easy as it sounds . Ballo t a ccess laws erected by the Democrats
and Republic an s force the Lib ertarians a nd othe r minor parties to
spend most of the money th ey rai se on petition drives , instead of
adv erti sing and promotion. "O ur limited resources have to be
spe nt on ballot ac cess , and that mak es it very difficult." Paul no-
ted . Fundin g ca n a lso be a problem . In keepin g with their oppo si-
tion to govern me nt, the Libertarian s refuse to 'acce pt federal
mat ching funds. " A third party that refuses to take government
money on pri nciple ha s to ra ise money from other sources," Paul
sai d. "Th e spec ia l inte res ts ce rta inly a re n' t going to provide that
money be cause the y're only lookin g for spec ia l favors. a nd the y
kno w those favors won't co me from us ." Paul expe cts to rai se 85
million from private c itize ns.
A
t first gla nce. Ron Paul appears to be jus t another poli ti-
cian . His hair is Sh 0l1, his suits a rc three -piece and his
dra wl is Texan . But whe n Paul ope ns his mouth it is cl ear he
advo cat es rad ical soc ia l c ha nge for Ame rican society.
" It's a fa rce, a total failure and it should he abandoned ." Paul
says of Rea ga n's \Var On Dru gs . " Nancy Reagan ca me out a nd
sai d ' Anyone who bu ys a ma rijuana cig arette c ontribute s to the
dru g wars an d killin g: a nd therefor e they creat ed the drug deal-
ers. I think that's turned up side down. Th e drug dealer is c reated
by the law. 'Ii)say that IWl"sOr) S who usc drugs creat e thi s system is,
I thi nk. comple tely wron g." Ja cob adds , " Rona ld and Nancy
Hca gan are hypocrites. Th e y've blown th e dru g issue into mass
hysteria. hut tolerate-d :\Iichael Deaver, someone with a ve ry se ri-
ous problem. Basically, Deaver 's a drunk . So how did the Reagan's
respond ! Did the y te ll h im to see k cou nsel ing for hi s al cohol prob-
lem ! Did they launc-h a nationwide war a ga inst alcohol use? No.
The y went on the supposit ion that alcoh ol us e by the Republi can
cou ntr y cluh set is le gitimat e , e ven when it lea ds to alcoholism ,
while a ny kid ca ught with a j oint should he thr own in the sla mme r.
That certainl y qu alifi es , in my book. as hypocri sy"
Paul and Jacub. who is 2 7. compleme nt e ac h other nicel y.
Paul's a p pe-al a ppea rs greate r when dealing with older audien ces ,
while .lucoh breaks ground with younge r crowd s . But one episode
illustrates the pair's (·om mitmenl.
On Jul y 4 .198 1, J acob, th en 2 1, went underground to fight
draft registration. In Se pte mbe r 1982 , he was indict ed for refu sing
to regi ster with the Se lective Se rvice Sys te m. Libertarians oppose
registration and th e draft as infrin gem ent s on indi vidual rights .
But by the time he was ind icte d , Ja cob was long gone . Unde r-
ground. he dre w payments from a s peci a l fund and worked odd
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jobs lin ed III' hy Libertarian suppo rte rs . j acob a voided the FBI for
over two ye ars . hut was ultimatel y ca ptu red in December 19 84.
Other politi cal parties would have dis owned any member indicted
for resi sting the draft, hut not the Lib ertar ian s. Th ey united be-
hind Jacob. During a two-day trial in Jul y lY85 . in Littl e Rock ,
Ark a nsas , Paul testified in Jacob's defen se . Asked by a defense
attorn ey if he supporte d Ja coh's pos it ion on th e draft . Paul re-
spond ed , " Abs ol ute ly, I me an . it is the pos ition tha t on ly count-
geous peopl e can hold and act ion on ly courageou s pe opl e c an
tak e." Und er <.TO:-;S e xamina tion . a pro se cu tor. Assistant US Attor-
IWy Sandra Che rry. showed Paul a c opy of Ja cob's vote r registra-
tion c ard. On it, jacob had writte n "G o Sma sh Th e Sta te. "
" Is that a n opinion or an atti tude that you think finds support
among people of your ph ilosoph y'!" Che rry asked.
" We ll. you know, as far as I'm concerned th e state is massi ve,"
Paul responded. "The las t couple yea rs I was in Congress I vote d
a ga inst 99 percent of the ex pen dit ures of the sta te main ly be cause
we' re bein g driv en int o a bankrupt state. I don 't lise tha t typ e of
lan guage. I don't use those words . But if you took my voting re-
cord , I ce rta inly would reduce the state in a ve ry significa nt man -
ner. because the sta te now is e nc roac hing on ou r personal
lib erti es . It's enc roac hing thro ughout th e world on a dail y basis on
what the y a re doing and a lso in the e conomy, a nd for thi s rea son, I
think the state itself is a thr eat to us. It's a thr eat to the individual
lib erti es , not on ly of Paul .lacoh but to eve ry s ing le so litar y per son
in this country. So th er efore, I th ink the verb is one that I wouldn't
have chosen , hut I ce rta inly w ould choose word s lik e 's ignifica ntly
redu ce " the role of government over our lives : ' Despite the testi -
mon y, Jacob was co nvicted and ultimatel y served four month s, 27
da ys in pri son .
Th ere is an adage part y act ivists rep eat. Libert ari an s go to jail
before the y are el ect ed to office ; Demo cra ts a nd Republicans to to
jail ofte r they have been el ect ed . In rece nt years . othe r Lib e rtar-
ians have been incarcerated. for resist in g w ha t "they te rm "the
Sta le.... Tim Lewis . thc part y's 1984 vice -pres ide nt ia l candidate,
was convicted on fed eral c harge s of willfu l failure to file a federal
income ta x return and se nte nce d to one yea r in pri son. J.ibertar-
ians support a bolition of the incom e la x as un con stitutional.
Norma J ean Almodovar. who ran for Ca liforn ia lieutenant gover-
nor in 1986. was con victed la st yea r of solic iting. Almodovar is a
former pol icc meter mai d turned ca ll gi rl. She maintains her harsh
three- year pri son sentence is an att empt hy Ca lifornia a utho rities
to sil en ce her for writin g a book 011 poli ce corruption in Los
Angeles. Other libe rtarians have tak en up the cause of Lewi s and
 Almodovar. " We don' t abund un our fallen," says .\lark Ford. na- e leet ~' dby taki ng the positions I was. I think I proved them wrung.
tional d irect or of the Libert a rian Stude nt Network (I.SN I. the la rg- I always had the same posit iun 011 d ru gs. whic h was to legal ize
es t libertar ian you th grou p in th e co u ntry, them. even whe n spea ki ng to a funda mentalist c h u rc h somewhere

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.on Pau l's rad icalism extends be yond legali zing dr ugs a nd in rura l Texas. Yet my oppone nts never made an issu e of Illy sta nd,
abolishing the DEA. Paul says he would cons ider using ex- and I never lost a ran ' ove r it. I thin k the most interesting thing
ecu tive clem ency to pardon persons co nvicted under fed- about Congress. whe-the r the y're dem ugoguin g the iss ue . or votin g
e ral victi mle ss crime law s. a ga ins t heroin laws, or whet her it was voting on a ny othe r law be-
Pau l o pposes mandatory ra nd om dru g testing. He condem ns fore them , is th at many (If them often times felt co mpelle d to c ome
form e r De la ware G ove rnor Pi erre S. " Pete" Du l 'on fs p rop osal 10 to me ami ask what the libe rta rian posit ion on the iss ue was. Or, if
tes t teen agers. l Iul'o u t, a former ca nd ida te for the Republican you can bel ieve th is. to expl ai n that deep down in thei r heart s they
presi dent ia l nomina tion . advoca tes tes tin g teen s a nd la king a way we re libertaria ns. but of t-ou r...c Ihey co ul dn' t vole thai way.
the ir driver's licen ses -if they d OIl'1 pass. " 1 thin k Dul'on t's idea is "I th ink they know exact ly what to do a nd say," he s a~" s , "They're
horrib le," says Pau l. "Drug tes tin g tee nagers is another example a lways looking to the next elec- tion. They believe. and so far
of politicians not rejecting the idea that govern ment power makes they've been able to pm \"(' this , that if the y de magogue the drug
peop le bet ter;" Iron ically, Dul'ont's abortive campaign for the He- laws issue , c hances are th ey'll succeed. Those of us who under-
publican nomina tion dr ew the support lIf Ed ward H. Cra ne II I. stand the d rug issue from a phil osophical viewpo int , or an eco-
( presiden t of the Ca to Ins titute. a neo-libert ariu n th ink tank in nomic viewpoi nt need to he heard ."
\\.'a sh in ~t on. Crane is an ex-party member;
t is no coi ncid en ce that a nti-d rug extremis t Lyndon I..aR ouehc
Paul ch ar acterizes Gt'orge Bush. the He puhlir -an ca ndid ate. as
"the e pitome of the Establ ishm en t. Hush would do absolute ly
noth ing to move us toward a free soc-i ety, He represents the big
hanks and the big co rpo rations . His would not he a n admini stra -
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has targeted the Libertar ian s. La lt ouch e advocates death se ll-
tcnce s for dru g dealers, harsh prison terms for use rs and other
repres sive me-asures . Laltou r-lu- smea rs the Libertarian Party as
"a by-th e-book 'Coint e- lpro" operation of -Dope, Inc ,' a nd pre-
tion for ind ivid ua l libert ies, es pec ially on all issu e such as mari -
dominantly British intel ligen ce networ ks . l.a ftouch c . in his own
j uana decriminal ization.'
inimi tabl e way. has attack ed the Lib ert arian s. us t'a project of the
Democrat ic frontru nne r Jesse j ac kson, accordi ng to Paul. is
internat ional organ ized network known as 'D ope . Irlt' . : launched
authoritarian on the dru g issue . " 1 th in k Jack son is a demagogue
through the Mont Pe leri n Society front group of Count Ottn \ 'un
on the issue of d ru gs. His solution is reall y to becom e an ultra-
Ha psburg's nco -Nazi Pan-European Unio n. the terrorist Institute
cons ervative on the issu e. He wouldn 't hes ita te to test. He
for Poli('y Studi es (IPS). and 'liT lingu istic ian/h rai nwashe r Noam
wouldn' t hes itate to use the military again st d rugs. He wouldn ' t
Chomsk y." Libertarian uppum-nts of Laltouche have bee n ver-
hes itate to th row more peopl e in prison . Il l' would n't hesitate to be
bally s mea red as d rug deale rs, terrorist s and Soviet agents of
a d rug cza r, You can imagine what j es se Jack son has in mind if
influe nce .
elected president ."
One would he hurd-pressed to find a political grou p the more
Paul is especially cri tic-a l of politic-ia ns who atte mpt to exploit
polar opposite to Lalt ouc he . whose pmgram is ess entially fascist,
anti-dru g se ntiment by calling fur harsher laws although they have
than th e Libertarians. In 0114' St.' IISI·, the Libertarian s d efy all CO Il -
personal substa nce abuse p roblems. "My guess is that the nu mber
ventio na l political definition s. Th eir e-co nomic posi tions place
of alcoholics in Longress is s lightly higher than the average allwng
th em 011 the right side of the s pec-t ru m. yet the ir sta nds on ci vil
the pop ulation. You ca n imagi ne that's a prett y h igh nu mber of
liberties and foreign pol it·y issues fall on the left. In a nother
people ! Certain members Ill' Congress have been known to he on
se nse . ho.... eve-r; the Libertarians rep resen t a rad ica l depa rture
HI think drug laws are the number one from the 20 th Cen tury tren d toward totalitu riani sm of which La-
Hour-he is prob uhlv the best conte mporarv exam ple in the Unitt'd
reason we have so much crime Stall's. ( Jne need not ag ree with all. or eve n mos t of the Lihertar -
in this country. " ians positions. 10 under sta nd they an' unti-tota lituria n. - We"';e
dru gs. Certa inly a large majority us e alcohol. That 's hypocr isy of lost our way," Paul says. " At 011 1' time we c hampioned ind ividual
the wurst so rt when they turn around and vote for more laws, libert v Hut in this cent ury, ess ent ially, l thin k w e have bee- n on a
.., think politicians nm scared ," Pa ul says. "They ru n seared dangerou s t-oursc downwa rd that is now reac-hing a c limax. W'e 're
and away fr om princi ples. What WI' need from politicians is lead - r-urn- ntlv in the midst of a \( 'ry import ant time in our nation's his-
ership un the iss ue instead of zombie s who re bo und to thei r own tory. and I would say I le-an more toward fear that we're headed
pe rc-eptions or follow opinion pulls that aren' t done corrl'd ly." toward not having a free soc iety. Tha t sean '!' me-. But it also moti-
Paul eontend s memhers of Congress are mOl i\'uted mun ' hy po- vate s me to work harder for a free s()cil'ty.-
litical exped ie ncy tha n principle when taekli ng the tJrug iss ue. Paul desnihes the Iran-Colltra affair as - a tra giI'. hu t natural
He likes to cite one examp le from his teHure in Washington . -:\ OUI I'OIl\(' of an iUIt'f ve ntion ist fore ign policy that see ks to control
fe.. . - years ago. there was a minur requ est in Cungress to allow doc- ev('I')' ('Olltltry it ea n gf'l its han ds 011 ."" Ife does not d ispute tha t a
tors to preseribe heroin to ('aTH'('r patients who were Ilying." ht' n' - see n' l j2;O\'t' rn ment exis ts, and is aI·tiw' in the d rug trade . .., don' t
ea lls. "T he vote cam e up a nd les s than 20 % 'voted for the measure dou bt that the CIA has heen in volved in d ru g dealin g. The people
Th at is aver)" puor showing. The truth was , the large major ity of in po.....er are so arrogan t they will s ubvert law a nd onler, the Con-
members of Co ngress who were votin g O il thi s iss ue lIsed alcohol to stitution. anything to get the ir way. [ ndergmund govern ment is
the extreme. as well as utller dnlgs , And yet. be('ause of Ihe politi- \'ery, very d an ~erou s . A fn 'l' soci et y ('annol exist l o n ~, whi le a se-
cal ra mifil'at ion s. at least what the y tbough t, they a ll bt"came en·t govern ment is eating away at its foundation.
frightf!ncd and hypocritica l. Some of th em even told me, ' I ca n·t "There are no outst and ing it-alit·is ill the DemolTati c anlJ He-
vote to legalize heroin heeuuse my opponent in the e!edion will puhlit'an pat1ies , and the t·lectorate IS tu rned otTthis year." Paul
use that aga inst me and say I'm soft on dnl gs: That's how thin gs concludes. "Many people are prel lit'ting a ('lose el ecti on. Fi n~ to
are do ne in Wa l:'hin ~ t on . 10 percent of tilt:' \'ole I'm ild sw i ll~ th e rae('. Tbere's nu reason why
. " Ironiea lly. a lot of members of Congress professelJ sympathy a lihertarian eand ida te might not ma ke a di fft'l"e lwe in sOllie
an d understand ing for the libertarian posit ion d uring 111)· time stateI:'. C\'t'll ..... in in a statl' or two out Wesl. Th at wou ld lurn the
therc . cven though tht'ir Iwrccptioll was that they could never gel politieal system ups ide down." •