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Drug Rehab Florida

ALMOST from the moment talk radio king Rush Limbaugh admitted he was hooked on pain-killing drugs and would check into a rehab center, there were calls of sympathy from his conservative followers.

The sympathy seems disingenuous at best.

These are the same people, after all, who have railed at efforts to treat, not jail, drug offenders. Indeed, Limbaugh has hardly been the voice of compassion toward drug users, especially minorities. He has ranted to his radio listeners that blacks aren't jailed in disproportionate numbers to whites for drug offenses.

There's nothing wrong with Limbaugh's adoring fans cheering him on in his battle against addiction, and urging prosecutors not to bring charges. It's just that they should do the same for the thousands of other drug offenders who need the same help as Limbaugh--and who aren't high profile talk show hosts. They are mostly poor, black or Latino.

Many of the more than one million blacks that pack America's prisons are there for non-violent, drug-related crimes. It costs billions to keep them there. Putting them behind bars instead of in treatment programs commonly reserved for pampered celebrities has had staggering consequences.

It tears apart families and communities. It is the single biggest reason for the bloat in federal and state spending on prison construction and maintenance--not to mention the number of prosecutors needed to handle these cases. It effectively bars thousands of blacks and Latinos from the polls in the handful of states that ban ex-felons from voting.

And few black and Latino drug offenders have the cash necessary to check into a private drug rehab center. Most will not be cut any legal slack either.

Following news leaks that Limbaugh was under investigation for alleged illegal drug buys, the Palm Beach Post interviewed local criminal attorneys and former prosecutors. All agreed that even though his maid publicly claimed he used her to illegally procure drugs, and had e-mails documenting the buys, the chances of Limbaugh being prosecuted were slim to none.

But what if Limbaugh were prosecuted?

If convicted under Florida's mandatory sentencing law, he could face a sentence of up to five years, and lose his driver's license for as long as two years. Republican Gov. Jeb Bush enacted that law at a mammoth anti-drug rally at the Orange Bowl in Miami in 1999 and vowed that this would be a powerful weapon to combat illegal drug use. The jails in Florida quickly filled with mostly black and Latino drug offenders.

Perhaps Limbaugh's drug plight could aid the mounting efforts of drug reform advocates to eliminate the racially skewed disparity in the drug sentencing laws. President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have made passing reference to the need to re-examine the effectiveness of the drug sentencing laws. (Bush quickly joined the chorus of those who urged compassion for Limbaugh.)

The case could also spur state legislators to dump or at least modify their mandatory drug sentencing laws, and provide massive funding for treatment, not jail, for non-violent, first time drug offenders. Some states have modified their draconian drug laws to save money.

Cynics claim that Limbaugh publicly announced his addiction as a ploy to avoid the scandal of prosecution and the disgrace of a jail sentence. That's irrelevant. Limbaugh's experience is a cautionary lesson. Whether the admitted drug addict is a rich, conservative popular talk show host or a poor black or Latino, they both deserve the same public compassion.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of "The Crisis in Black trod Black" (Middle Passage Press).

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