I am going to unload a little here, so be forewarned. Barack Obama has just told a group of high school kids that his past drug use was a matter of wasting time. This is drug use that includes snorting cocaine. Now, listen to the response from Rudy Giuliani:

“I respect his honesty in doing that. I think that one of the things we need from our people who are running for office is not this pretense of perfection,”

Excuse me sir, are you kidding me?

Obama is flat out wrong to have said what he said. You know why? Because Obama leaves a big fat false impression that you can do some amphetamines when you are young and you will be no worse off. You can still be successful, you can decide to apply yourself later. It certainly appears that Rudy feels that way as well. THAT IS JUST WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Because many, many of the people who experiment with illegal drugs will never live a happy, normal life. Many, many of the people who do what Obama did will end up on the streets or in prison. They will lose their lives to addiction.

Does Giuliani know anything about law enforcement?

Right now, this country is in what can properly be described as an epidemic when it comes to illegal drugs, like methamphetamine (Don't even try to distinguish cocaine from methamphetamine to me. I am not stupid. Most people who snort, smoke and inject that stuff don't know what they are getting anyway because the supply between the two shifts depending on the availability of ephedrine to labs in Mexico.). Lives and families are absolutely ruined by this drug. As a prosecutor, I see this first hand constantly. It is extremely sad to see. People who may have been normal only months earlier find themselves doing things they would have never done before. Sometimes, this is entering homes and businesses to steal, taking cars, cashing fraudulent checks, etc. Other times, people simply fail to care for children and even worse, their mind becomes warped in a search for stimulation and they sexually abuse children.

Our country spends enormous sums of money trying to help rehabilitate people who have lost their lives to drugs. Mostly, these programs are terribly unsuccessful. Relapse is high. Now, don't get me wrong, people can change. But many will find themselves never able to. Those who do will often find permanent effects from the drugs. Mental illness in varying degrees will often be the result for the duration of their lives.

This isn't sex education folks. There is no condom that is going to protect you from the bad effects of drugs. Abstinence is the best course of action and the only way to ensure that even one foray into drugs doesn't cause irreparable harm. That needs to be our message. If Obama or Rudy has made mistakes and managed to overcome them, good for them. But they of all people should be clear as day, you cannot expect to be able to experiment with drugs and escaped unscathed. I send away people young and old to prison and I can tell you, you don't want to risk your life to that white crystal powder.

For his part, Romney had this to say:

“It’s just not a good idea for people running for president of the United States who potentially could be the role model for a lot of people to talk about their personal failings while they were kids because it opens the doorway to other kids thinking, ‘well I can do that too,’”

Romney is absolutely right. In fact, I wish he would be more forceful. Drugs ruin people's lives. We cannot afford to have a casual attitude about them in our country. I am once more convinced that a vote for Rudy is to push the country in a direction that is lacadaisical when it comes to protecting our children and that Romney is the only candidate who can stem the slide in values that is apparent and for which too many are suffering.