It has recently come to my attention that two bills are currently being considered by the Committees on Commerce and the Judiciary that would become a serious impediment to free speech if they are passed. These bills are The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act and HR 2987. It is my understanding that this bill, HR 2987, would: Allow police to search your home or business without so much as notifying you that you are under investigation or that such searches have taken place for as long as six months, Allow investigators to make copies of your documents and computer files without ever notifying you, And make it illegal to distribute information about how to make any controlled substance, to merely link to web pages giving information on that or drug paraphernalia, or to even just describe how to find such information.
While I certainly do not condone the manufacture and use of illegal drugs, this bill will do little in reducing the use of methamphetamines and have a large impact on freedom of speech. My greatest concern is where this slippery slope may lead us. Would the next target be the removal of this information from books and journal articles in the library? Will organizations which catalog and index literature such as the Chemical Abstracts by the American Chemical Society and the Web of Science by the Institute for Scientific Information by told to take any information pertaining to amphetamines off of their databases?
I hope that no one in Congress would even think about regulating the type of information in the libraries. Factually correct information cannot be "bad," since that is a subject evaluation and information must be evaluated objectively. Of course, the use of data can be "bad" and that is where legal regulations can be put in place and to a large extent already are. Enforcement of current laws related to the manufacture and use of amphetamines should be emphasized, not creating new broad sweeping regulations which will have little effect upon the problem and open the door for abuse on our rights. While regulating information may be easier and cheaper, simple cost effectiveness and expediency is not what our great country has been built upon. We have often made the hard decisions and have taken the costly high moral road. With access to information becoming ever more abundant and accessible, regulation of the content and access will become increasingly difficult. However, we should not consider that course, since information and they knowledge of said information is not "bad" only the use of the information can deleterious to people and society. Knowledge is never a bad thing, although too little knowledge can be harmful.
I am a proud resident and registered voter in Maryland and I hope that the Free State representatives would not support legislation which will have such a negative impact on our freedoms. I realize that you are not on the committees currently considering these bills, but I hope that you have discussed these issues with your colleague the Honorable Robert Ehrlich, Jr. who is on the commerce committee.
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It has recently come to my attention that two bills are currently being considered by the Committees on Commerce and the Judiciary that would become a serious impediment to free speech if they are passed. These bills are The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act and HR 2987. It is my understanding that this bill, HR 2987, would:
Allow police to search your home or business without so much as notifying you that you are under investigation or that such searches have taken place for as long as six months,
Allow investigators to make copies of your documents and computer files without ever notifying you,
And make it illegal to distribute information about how to make any controlled substance, to merely link to web pages giving information on that or drug paraphernalia, or to even just describe how to find such information.
While I certainly do not condone the manufacture and use of illegal drugs, this bill will do little in reducing the use of methamphetamines and have a large impact on freedom of speech. My greatest concern is where this slippery slope may lead us. Would the next target be the removal of this information from books and journal articles in the library? Will organizations which catalog and index literature such as the Chemical Abstracts by the American Chemical Society and the Web of Science by the Institute for Scientific Information by told to take any information pertaining to amphetamines off of their databases?
I hope that no one in Congress would even think about regulating the type of information in the libraries. Factually correct information cannot be "bad," since that is a subject evaluation and information must be evaluated objectively. Of course, the use of data can be "bad" and that is where legal regulations can be put in place and to a large extent already are. Enforcement of current laws related to the manufacture and use of amphetamines should be emphasized, not creating new broad sweeping regulations which will have little effect upon the problem and open the door for abuse on our rights. While regulating information may be easier and cheaper, simple cost effectiveness and expediency is not what our great country has been built upon. We have often made the hard decisions and have taken the costly high moral road. With access to information becoming ever more abundant and accessible, regulation of the content and access will become increasingly difficult. However, we should not consider that course, since information and they knowledge of said information is not "bad" only the use of the information can deleterious to people and society. Knowledge is never a bad thing, although too little knowledge can be harmful.
I am a proud resident and registered voter in Maryland and I hope that the Free State representatives would not support legislation which will have such a negative impact on our freedoms. I realize that you are not on the committees currently considering these bills, but I hope that you have discussed these issues with your colleague the Honorable Robert Ehrlich, Jr. who is on the commerce committee.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Jeffrey G. Forbes, Ph.D.
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