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ROBERT CO.LES
head-on-and makes the mind's life seem more interesting than
the
factory's goods.
These two books at least try to discuss some of all this; in a sense
we are asked to acknowledge that we are men of the West, and working
men. Weare also asked to think of drugs as more than a legal problem,
or one that deserves the awesome, frightening, authoritative language
doctors can easily summon. As I see it, we are asked to question one
another and decide for ourselves openly and without coercion whether
or not we'll use or advocate pot, even as we do with other habits or
ideas. I have no personal interest in any of the drugs; I do my work and
put in my forty-five minutes on the expressway every morning, every
night. Yet, it is quite apparent that there are some--call them a few
or a growing number, depending upon your viewpoint-who not only
turn me and my habits down, but do so by "turning off." I fail to see
why I should hound them and punish them for the choice they have
made, particularly since they may persuade me to have some second
thoughts about my own values and actions, about what in my "way of
life" I want to defend, or keep at arm's length-or abandon for some–
thing better.
Robert Coles
