European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes saturday Way 16,19s7 Tom Wicker problem of alcohol abuse a ways downplayed to equate the consumption of alcoholic Bever Ages with illegal drugs is a societal so writes a Reader who objected to a column about the positive cocaine titling of Dwight Coden the pitching Star of the new York mets. Apparently a lot of readers agree with the sentiment quoted a remarkably repeated theme of numerous responses to that article was that drugs and alcohol Are different because the manufacture and Sale of alcoholic beverages Are Legal. You should advised one of these let ters that alcohol though certainly a killer is these letter writers there were quite a few seem to me to protest too much. Perhaps they know in their hearts and whatever their own habit thai alcoholic beverage Are just what i said they were a far More widely used than cocaine and equally addictive Poi son that knows no limits of age and that s not a societal insult that s a fact i m grateful to or. Lawrence Wallack of the University of California s school of Public health at Berkeley who writes alcohol. I the direct cause of 80,000 to 100.000 deaths annually and contributes to another 100,000 deaths. The leading cause of death for teens ii alcohol related automobile in Sharp contrast Only 3,562 lives were known to be James lost in 1935 from use of All illegal drugs combined a figure provided by Thomas v. Ses Selof the National Council on alcoholism. Pcs Sci Points out further that the economic cast to society of alcohol problems is about twice that of All other drug any family with an alcoholic member can substantiate not Only the economic but the social and emotional costs of alcohol abuse since alcoholism is the More frequent problem these costs Are greater in sum if not in degree than those caused by abuse of any or All illegal drugs. Employers know moreover that if illegal drug use on Iofi Job is a serious problem so is alcoholism which is More widespread in the work place and a been for a longer time. Crime too is heavily the product of alcohol use. The illegal Dmitri Butman of cocaine May be the meal on which television and movie producers Are feasting nowadays but persons influenced by alcohol legit or otherwise always have been a major source of crime and violence and continue to be. Even in professional sports where so much Effort to Weed out illegal drugs is now being publicized if accurate statistics were available they d probably show Al Cohol to be a problem at least As great As cocaine and perhaps greater. But the head coach of the chicag Obean was not suspended from his profession or Vili fied by sportswriter or forced by the moguls of pro football into rehabilitation after his conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. In fact despite the protests of so Many letter writ ers alcohol is not always a Legal drug. Many state shave Laws that restrict drinking to those Over 21 All set a lawful drinking age of at least 18. But millions of underage americans buy and drink alcohol or get in by some other mean that s Why there Are so Many teen age deaths in alcohol related automobile crashes. For these Young people alcohol is just As much an illegal drug As controlled substances Are for everyone else. When the courts Are ruling moreover that a bartender can be held legally responsible for the acts of a customer to whom he sold enough alcohol to cause drunkenness or that a Host at a party can be held legally responsible for the acts of a guest the Host Al Lowed to become drunk it s also a hard question whether alcohol in Large Quantity is in practical fact a Legal All id is another Reader declared that to compare the use. Of alcohol and drugs is to downplay the seriousness of drug abuse. That conclusion can be drawn Only if the seriousness of alcohol abuse i downplayed Asil constantly is Minnesota for example is the Only state even considering mandatory alcohol testing of All Drivers involved in a crash causing a fatality or a serious that with the Wal ingress of attorney general Edwin Melesc and others to impose drug testing on huge classes of americans perhaps All of them Forno probable cause at All. Can by Kwh time Secord survives hearings As Tough old Bird let us hear three cheers and a Tiger for Richard Accord. The former major general in the air Force emerge from four Days of battering examination last week As a Tough old Bird who did his damnedest 10 support the policies of his president. I Admire the Guy. All this talk about secord1 breaking the Law at the moment is just that talk. In one sense these hearings ended at the moment they began when sen. Daniel Inouye presiding judge Al this impartial unprejudiced and bipartisan hanging convicted All the accused before a won of testimony had been taken. Inove s opening statement was straight from the trial of the Knave of Heans sentence first verdict the gentleman from Hawaii already had concluded that everybody was guilty of something so off with their Heads. Sen. Howell he Linof Alabama who it old enough and experienced enough to know better rattled on thai Secord should be indicted. Hokum let is get Back to fundamentals. When this we bizarre affair began the Reagan administration had three goals in mind. The first was to put out feelers toward a rapprochement with Iran. The second was to obtain release of our hostages. The third was to Aid the Contra of Nicaragua in their Effort to of throw the communist government there. The National Security Council Drew Richard Secord private citizen into the Pursuit of these objectives. As 1 said he did his damnedest. The goals were sound. Yes they led the president into the hypocritical position of publicly opposing the Sale of arms to Iran while privately be was. Condoning it. The president had opposed negotiations with terrorists obsessed with the humanitarian goal of freeing the hostages he nonetheless authorized negotiations. This administration and from time to Lime the Congress also has emphatically sided with the contras in seeking to prevent a soviet base in Nicaragua. Secord fell that he was carry ing out the policies of his government and Secord was plainly right. What is in that Secord supposedly i guilty of sen. David Boren d-oua., Felt especially outraged that Secord had conspired v keep Congress in the dark. He had not timely informed the senator s distinguished colleagues of what was afoot. But the senator s distinguished colleagues leak like sections of roller Hose. To have informed the Cong Ess would have been to inform the washing ton Post within the hour. Covert operations May it please the senator must operate covertly. The very Constitution itself recognizes this truism the houses of Congress Are to publish their proceed Ings excepting such parts As May in their judgment require no Wand then the Senate docs meet in secret session but every reporter knows a member who will blab 10 minutes later. It is said that Accord violated the to land amendment this piece of legislative Folly was in effect Only from oct. 3, 1984, through dec. 19, 1985, some of the evidence amassed last week Ante dated the effective period other actions came afterwards. The amendment stupid those to news 1 Pap tent All that time Asp Money they Sutok More Ertter aliment Ter of the contras and the sandinista Congress has behaved Lite the legendary railway Man who was in again out again gone again Finnegan. During the roughly 14 months of this dumb was out again. Do not hold your breath until a grand jury indicts a trial jury convicts and a judge imposes punishment. The Law i murky. If i were sitting on a jury would vote to acquit without leaving the Box and i would then propose a medal for Gen. Secord. Look at his four Days on he stand. He never pleaded the fifth amendment. He sought no immunity from subsequent prosecution. He Aii swered questions directly and immediately without evasion of any sort. Under the badgering of Senate counsel Arthur l. Liman he got testy toward the end. Read he record from top to Bottom there is not a scintilla of evidence lop Rove that Secord himself profiteers a from Bis patriotic efforts. It is completely understandable in a Complex operation of this kind thai no every Penny can be accounted for. Secord was not operating under the Eye of Price waterhouse. He was trying to keep the contras causative. Congress ought to do likewise
