Walter Cronkite Recognized Failed Wars

[Jim Finnel]

Everyone knows Walter Cronkite was "the most trusted man in America" and someone whose rare expressions of personal opinion -- such as on the Vietnam War -- could powerfully influence the views of middle America. But fewer are aware of a passion of his that he came to relatively late in life -- ending the nation's disastrous war on drugs.

I first learned of Walter Cronkite's interest in the drug war back in 1995, when a producer for "The Cronkite Report" -- an occasional series on the Discovery Channel -- called to ask for my help on a documentary that he and Cronkite were doing on the drug war. The one hour report that resulted provided a devastating critique of the nation's drug policies.

Focusing on the lives of three women who had been sentenced to many years in Bedford Hills prison in New York, the program revealed the utter waste of human lives and taxpayer dollars that define the drug war. Neither Cronkite nor the women involved suggested that they had done nothing wrong. But the extraordinary lengths of the prison terms to which they had been sentenced, for relatively minor participation in the illicit sale of drugs, combined with the impact on their children and families, and the absurd amount of money being spent to punish rather than help and treat -- all this shaped Cronkite's devastating indictment of the drug war.

Walter Cronkite got it -- and he got it early. He knew a failed war when he saw one.

Then in 1998, he joined other prominent individuals in signing a public letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan that stated: "We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself."

Two women played a pivotal role in Cronkite's involvement thereafter with my organization, the Drug Policy Alliance. The first was Marlene Adler, his longtime assistant, who appreciated Walter's commitment to this issue. And the second was Dr. Mathilde Krim, a friend and neighbor of the Cronkites in New York, the founder and co-chair of amfAR, the HIV/AIDS research and advocacy organization, and a board member of the Drug Policy Alliance. It was with Mathilde's and Marlene's assistance that Walter agreed both to join the alliance's honorary board and sign the fundraising letter that has helped the group recruit tens of thousands of new members.

He wrote: "I remember. I covered the Vietnam War. I remember the lies that were told, the lives that were lost -- and the shock when, 20 years after the war ended, former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara admitted he knew it was a mistake all along.

"Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens.

"I am speaking of the war on drugs.

"And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure.

"While the politicians stutter and stall -- while they chase their losses by claiming we could win this war if only we committed more resources, jailed more people and knocked down more doors -- the Drug Policy Alliance continues to tell the American people the truth -- 'the way it is.' "

I once asked Walter -- at a dinner at Mathilde's home a few years ago -- whether he had ever tried marijuana. As I recall, he laughed and said not exactly, except for the "contact high" he might have gotten around CBS's offices back in the 1960s, when smoking was still allowed and not everything smoked was tobacco.

But of course the issue for him was never about the drugs. What mattered was intellectual honesty, sensible moral judgment and the obligation to speak truth to power, no matter how unwelcome or inconvenient that truth might be.

Ethan Nadelmann is founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Detroit News
Author: Ethan Nadelmann
Copyright: 2009 The Detroit News
Contact: Contact The Detroit News | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Website: Walter Cronkite recognized failed wars | detnews.com | The Detroit News

 

[Steve McStoferson]

its definitely good to see people who aren't stoners realizing the war on drugs is a complete waste of time

 

[surfin365]

R.I.P. Mr Cronkite.

Thank you for you wisdom, vision and integrity.

 

[Tokester]

Everyone knows Walter Cronkite was "the most trusted man in America" and someone whose rare expressions of personal opinion -- such as on the Vietnam War -- could powerfully influence the views of middle America. But fewer are aware of a passion of his that he came to relatively late in life -- ending the nation's disastrous war on drugs...."

What a wonderful post. It was a supreme delight to read your stories about Walter Cronkite. I loved the man. He was a man of such integrity and honesty. It seemed to be in his very fiber. Perhaps that was so palpable that all of us could feel or sense the honest and integrity in him. You naturally trust someone who exudes those virtues. Your stories certainly bring home to me how true Mr. Cronkite was to himself and therefore true to us.

All my family and friends watched him and many of us used to call him Father or Uncle Walter, as in, "Uncle Walter's on, come and watch."

I stayed up half the night watching a special about Walter, the other night. He was there for it all.

So thank you. It is sad to be without that voice...alone in the wilderness sometimes but still speaking. So Bless him forever. We were fortunate to have been here when he was here. We'll have his voice and image into the future...that is fortunate as well.

Thank you again for posting about Mr. Cronkite and your personal knowledge of him. It was deeply felt by me.


Patti

 

[Big dog]

I didn't know about the incident refrenced in User's article; but I am not suprised to learn of Cronkite's opinions. He was always a streight shooter.

 

[Lando]

A great man, one of the many i look up to in his generation.

 

[Jim Finnel]

just in case there is a misunderstanding, i didn't write this. it was written by Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. i don't want to take someone else's credit.