On Friday, The Drug Policy Alliance released a letter written on their behalf by Walter Cronkite.
In it, Cronkite, ‘the most trusted man in America’, states:
“Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home,” Cronkite wrote. “While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its causalities are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on drugs.
“With police wielding unprecedented powers to invade privacy, tap phones and conduct searches seemingly at random, our civil liberties are in a very precarious condition,” he added. “Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on this effort-with no one held accountable for its failure.
He also recounted his experiences covering the Vietnam War.
“I remember the lies that were told, the lives that were lost—and the shock when, twenty years after the war ended, former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara admitted he knew it was a mistake all along.”
So what, exactly, are you trying to say, Mr. Cronkite?
—Nicole Brydson
