Downey Jr.

[Guest guest]

Good story by Cohen. He uses the " sick " label once, but appears to be

very skeptical about real solutions, noting that Downey has been thru

the treatment mill.--Jim

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IS ROBERT DOWNEY JR. A CRIMINAL?

In his Washington Post column today, (

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4740-2000Nov29.html )

Cohen writes about the trials and tribulations of actor Downey

Jr.,

who was recently arrested again on drug charges. Cohen makes the

argument

that " a drug addict is a sick person and not a criminal. "

Downey had previously spent a year at Corcoran State Prison where

Manson and Sirhan Sirhan, killers both, are held. " With Manson and

Sirhan we

can all name their victims, " Cohen writes, " But who is Downey's? It

has to

be himself. He has committed no violent crime, robbed no bank nor,

may I

add, offered me a cell phone service that works only sporadically. "

Cohen continues: " Prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes clog the

jails.... Altogether, federal prisons hold almost 240,000 persons

convicted

of drug--not violent--crimes, and the states hold about 200,000 more. "

The new Cato book, " Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug

Policies

in the 21st Century, " (

http://www.cato.org/cgi-bin/Web_store/web_store.cgi?

page=afterprohibition.ht

ml & cart_id=165327.10337 ) argues that drug prohibition has proven to

be a

costly failure and explores alternative approaches to drug policy. It

is

edited by Lynch with an introduction by Milton Friedman and

features

chapters by New Mexico Gov. , Pilon and others.

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