Marijuana Policy Project

Call it political chaos theory: Janet Jackson bares a breast during the halftime show at the Super Bowl, and Howard Stern's radio show gets kicked off the air in six cities.

In the wake of the Breast Bared 'Round the World, Stern's show is one of many getting a little more scrutiny nationally and locally, as station owners cower in fear of the Federal Communication Commission's authority to fine or revoke broadcast licenses.

It may not happen any time soon: The FCC is still somewhat busy trying to figure out if the "f-word" can be used as an adjective on broadcast TV.

And if hearing the word isn't bad enough, now we're treated to pictures: Motorists in some states are being exposed to porn shows playing on the in-car TV screens of other vehicles. A driver in Schenectady, N.Y., got a ticket for breezing past a police detective while screening the film "Chocolate Foam" in his Mercedes-Benz, and at least one mother in Flint, Mich., had to explain the facts of life to her daughter after she spotted a porn film playing in another car.

Couldn't have anticipated that one. TV screen, DVD player: Some people are going to naturally think porn. Lawmakers are contemplating anti-mobile-porn laws, since they already have laws that prevent you from tinting your windows dark enough to keep small children from inadvertently sampling your movie collection.

But wait, there's more: Not only is the government going to tell us what is acceptable for TV programs and radio shows, it wants to tell us what we can think, too.

Drug czar John Walters brought his Liarpaloozza 2004 tour to Las Vegas on Thursday, claiming 60 percent of the 7 million Americans he says need drug treatment are dependent on marijuana. There's only one thing: It's never been scientifically proven that marijuana is physically addictive.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves: Walters said that the push to get a Nevada constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would legalize up to 1 ounce of marijuana is "not an area for legitimate debate." So just forget you read that last paragraph.

The last time we had a distant central government telling us what we could and could not debate, there was a revolution. "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man," wrote one of those revolutionaries, Thomas Jefferson. The quote is engraved in the memorial to him in Washington, D.C., not far from where Congress regularly engages in every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

But Jefferson also wrote in the Declaration of Independence that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. So if the people want to make the speed limit 75 mph, or legalize up to an ounce of marijuana, they have the right to debate the question, regardless of whether lying, petty bureaucrats like it or not.

And don't look to Washington to prevent Walters from making war on truth. On Wednesday, in a letter to Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas—who had complained about anti-legalization lobbying during the 2002 elections—the General Accounting Office said it wouldn't be the truth squad.

"However, the Office of National Drug Control Policy is specifically charged with the responsibility for taking such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use' of certain controlled substances such as marijuana—a responsibility which logically could include the making of advocacy statements in opposition to legalization efforts," GAO attorney Anthony Gamboa wrote to Paul. "The deputy director's statements about marijuana are thus within the statutory role assigned to ONDCP. Given this role, we do not see a need to examine the accuracy of the deputy director's individual statements in detail."

Right. Because so long as the government is telling us what to watch, what to hear and what to think, what's the value of truth, anyway?

© 2004 Las Vegas Review-Journal