The Ecstasy of Censorship: Politicians,
Pandering to Anti-Drug Sentiment, Seek to Quell Free
Speech, Ted Oehmke, Salon.com
Stymied by the courts in their attempts to ban sexually explicit
speech on the Internet, politicians have picked a new target:
drugs. The Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act of 2000, recently
introduced in Congress by Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., is supposedly an
attempt to stem the growing popularity of a drug taken mainly by
young, affluent, white people, writes Ted Oehmke in the
Salon.com. ‘But much of the language is aimed at
controlling information about the drug. An aide to Graham said the
main targets are websites that extol its virtues and announce the
raves where people can buy it.’ In fact, says Oehmke, critics
charge that ‘the bill goes beyond even this questionable assault on
free speech. It would ban the teaching, demonstration or
distribution of information about ecstasy or any other drug defined
as illicit: marijuana, cocaine, LSD, even Valium used without a
prescription if the people distributing that information know that
someone will commit a crime based on what he has learned.’ —
LU
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