POLITICS: Rush Limbaugh and Drugs

Growing up in the Clinton years, my father always had conservative talk on the radio. And when I was in high school, my grandmother gave my family a 1982 Buick Regal with only AM radio for my brother and me to drive (we still do when we're back in Wisconsin). So I know a little about Rush Limbaugh and what he stands for.

Imagine my surprise when, after the painkiller fiasco erupted, the media revealed he was...a rabid anti-drug activist! To my recollection he'd almost never talked about drugs on the program. Reporters had to go back to a short-lived TV series to dig up the infamous 1995 quote, where Limbaugh responded to a comment that racial disparities exist in drug convictions:

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use....The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river too."

To me, this is pretty clearly a comment on racial disparities, not an endorsement of the War on Drugs (and let's bear in mind the man talks for three hours, five days a week). It is annoying when people whine about too many criminals going to jail.

And even if the comment constitutes support for the War, there's a world of difference between getting hooked on something you were prescribed and seeking out recreational drugs on the street. It's pretty saddening to see the normally-right Jacob Sullum of Reason carping on it once again.

In fact, if you look at another obscure quote, this one from 1998, Limbaugh actually supported legalizing drugs:

"It seems to me that what is missing in the drug fight is legalization. If we want to go after drugs with the same fervor and intensity with which we go after cigarettes, let's legalize drugs. Legalize the manufacture of drugs. License the Cali Cartel. Make them tax payers and then sue them. Sue them left and right and then get control of the price and generate tax revenue from it. Raise the price sky high and fund all sorts of other wonderful social programs."

If you want to delight in a religious conservative's fall, fine. But the fact of the matter is that Rush Limbaugh has never been a loud, consistent drug activist of any sort.