BILLS GO TOO FAR

The following contains excerpts from DRCNet (in quotation marks --
http://www.drcnet.org ), which encourages free publication of its articles:

Senators swear "To 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies' and to 'bear true faith and allegiance to the same ...' "

"Yet at least three bills with bipartisan support in the Senate ... would
strike at the core of that most basic of constitutionally protected
freedoms, freedom of speech. The methamphetamine bill, the ecstasy bill, and
... the bankruptcy bill, would impose up to 10 years in federal prison on
persons convicted of providing 'information pertaining to ... the
manufacture, acquisition, or use of a controlled substance, with the intent
that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in
furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a crime.' "

The rhetoric behind these bills is ... to "make it a crime to help people
manufacture and traffic in dangerous , illegal drugs." Yet, these bills go
much further. "Anyone who discusses the medical value of marijuana, anyone
whose Web site links to needle exchange schedules or safer injecting
techniques, or who helps ecstasy users stay alive by providing information
on risk-reduction techniques they can use while taking ecstasy -- any of
these compassionate and sensible measures could subject law-abiding
Americans to the threat of their lives being ruined by the government."

I urge citizens to contact their representatives and express disapproval of
these laws that damage rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Daniel Butterworth, Lubbock Via e-mail