It's no surprise that rich-kid George W. Bush did a little cocaine in his twenties. He was, after all, partying with other rich kids, and other rich kids don't bring Schlitz beer to their celebrations. I don't hold it against the younger Bush, I hold his politics against him (but that's another story). I can honestly say I don't like Bush any less now.

New Mexico's governor has been touring the national talk shows, talking about decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana. Johnson has also admitted to using cocaine and pot in his younger years -- he gave them up for good reason, he's a triathlete and the two lifestyles didn't mingle too well. I don't like Johnson's politics much either, though, so his past drug use hasn't made me like him any less.

New Mexico Congresswoman Heather Wilson had a little fit about Johnson's talking points. If we talk about decriminalizing drugs, says she, then we are admitting their some ambiguity as to the rightness or wrongness of drug use, and that, she says isn't right. Of course, there is ambiguity about drug morality, in fact our drug laws which allow for extensive searches and seizures and imprisonment are more ambiguous than the drugs themselves -- what right does the state have to imprison somebody for doing a line of coke in the privacy of their home? What rights should an employer have to drug test and individual if the drugs aren't affecting his work performance and even then, if the worker isn't performing well, shouldn't they just replace the employee rather than digging into their pasts?

For some reason, politicians are scared to talk about those ambiguities. Republican politicians are especially up in arms, probably because Johnson is one of their own. Jesse Ventura has talked along the decriminalization lines but nobody cares because he's not part of establishment politics. But when one of their own has a few moments of independent thought, the Republicans go nuts.

All this rhetoric has essentially cut off Johnson's debate. We can't talk specifics (if drugs were legal, who could distribute them and who would regulate the distributors? Who could buy them? Where could they be used?) but have rather fallen into a drugs good/drugs bad argument which will lead to no change in the current systems because anyone who says drugs are good will be painted as a kook by both the media and their opponents. Even Johnson keeps stressing that drugs are bad, adding that he doesn't drink either because alcohol is bad.

But alcohol isn't bad, and it's time someone said so. Neither is marijuana, tobacco or cocaine. They aren't healthy, especially with a high intake of any of those. But occasional use can be fun and the health risks are lower to anyone with enough restraint to not, say, buy and use cocaine every three days. Going to a bar with friends can be a joyous occasion, as long as that occasion isn't celebrated day in and day out. Not everyone who uses a substance is an addict. When I hear "we should talk about treatment rather than imprisonment," I answer "what about the people who don't need treatment?" Some people just want to be left alone and I always remember that some of the smartest people in my college classes, especially in the realms of philosophy and literature, but also in mathematics and engineering, were pot smokers. I don't think those guys needed help, as they were excelling in their daily lives.

If a substance stops you from doing what you want to do, you need help and have to admit that the substance is bad for you -- but it really needn't go further than that. You don't have to extrapolate that "the substance is bad for everybody."

Anyway, it is time for a real discussion. Johnson had the guts to raise the topic, but we need a stringer follow-through. Because I'll tell you what's universally bad -- people losing their property and going to jail for engaging in a private practice. Laws which say that you can't smoke a joint are as bad as laws which say you can't enjoy a certain sexual position with a consenting adult, and that a peeping Tom can turn you into the cops.

Michael Maiello isn't going to vote for George W. Bush, but he forgives the coke snorting.