Edward Hum – 3/17/09

This page was last updated on October 1, 2009.

Stop war on drugs and legalize them; Edward J. Hum; Beaver County Times; March 17, 2009.

Mr. Hum was a regular contributor (at least 28 letters) from mid-2004 through September 2007. After about 10 months, Mr. Hum came out of “retirement” to bash President Bush’s Air National Guard service with two letters in less than two weeks. Mr. Hum concluded 2008 with a total of six letters, only about two-thirds of his previous yearly average. It will be no surprise most of Mr. Hum’s letters have been no more than exercises in bashing President Bush and/or other Republicans. I wonder what Mr. Hum will do now that Barack Obama has become President. Mr. Hum’s letters are also flame-throwing exercises. I don’t know if Mr. Hum actually believes what he writes, or if he simply likes to stir things up to call attention to himself.

Mr. Hum is one of a group of local Republican impersonators (The group also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, William G. Horter, and George Reese.) who write claiming to be disgruntled Republicans. You have to give Mr. Hum “credit,” however, for going the extra mile to further his impersonation. As of September 2006, Mr. Hum was actually registered as a Republican despite the fact he’s no more a Republican than is Dennis Kucinich.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In the 1930s, a federal official named Ainslinger made his reputation fighting drugs. That means the drug war started 75 years ago.”

[RWC] What happened to Mr. Hum’s usual “Fellow Republicans” greeting?

“In 1969, President Richard Nixon said we were winning the war on drugs.

“Now, 40 years later, there are more banks and store holdups, home invasions and muggings to buy more drugs than there were in Nixon’s day.

“What if legal businesses produced these products cheaply with a federal tax stamp on each package like cigarettes and whiskey?

“There would be problems. Some people would abuse the products and need rehabilitation. However, that happens now.

“If we did this, we would release a million or so nonviolent drug offenders from prisons. That would increase unemployment, but we would save $30 billion a year in prison costs and need fewer police and judges.

“Or, we could add nicotine and alcohol to the lost [sic] of prohibited drugs and build more prisons.”

[RWC] I don’t know if Mr. Hum’s data is correct, but in general I support legalizing recreational drugs. (No, I don’t use any of them.) That said, it’s possible it would be better to keep the prohibition on some of these drugs.