Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“They're getting an education, ” Horner said in a tone of wonder. “Can you believe that?
Theywanttobeinsurancesalesmenandcomputerprogrammers.That'stheirdreaminlife.
They want to make a lot of money so they can go out and buy more penny loafers and
Madonna albums. It terrifies me sometimes.”
We got in his car and drove through dark streets to his house. Horner explained to me how
the world had changed. When I left America for England, Iowa City was full of hippies.
Difficult as it may be to believe, out here amid all these cornfields, the University of Iowa
was for many years one of the most radical colleges in the country, at its peak exceeded in
radicalness only by Berkeley and Columbia. Everybody there was a hippie, the professors
as much as the students. It wasn't just that they smoked dope and frequently rioted; they
were also open-minded and intellectual. People cared about things like politics and the en-
vironment and where the world was going. Now, from what Horner was telling me, it was
as if all the people in Iowa City had had their brains laundered at the Ronald McDonald
Institute of Mental Readjustment.
“Sowhathappened?” IaskedHornerwhenweweresettled athishousewithabeer.“What
made everyone change?”
“Idon'tknowexactly,”hesaid.“Themainthing,Iguess,isthattheReaganAdministration
has this obsession with drugs. And they don't distinguish between hard drugs and soft
drugs.Ifyou'readealerandyou'recaughtwithpot,yougetsentawayforjustaslongasif
it were heroin. So now nobody sells pot. All the people who used to sell it have moved on
to crack and heroin because the risk is no worse and the profits are a lot better.” “Sounds
crazy,” I said.
“Of course it's crazy!” Horner answered, a little hotly. Then he calmed down. “Actually a
lot of people just stopped dealing in pot altogether. Do you remember Frank Dortmeier?”
Frank Dortmeier was a guy who used to ingest drugs by the sackful. He would snort coke
through a garden hose given half a chance. “Yeah, sure,” I said.
“I used to get my pot from him. Then they brought in this law that if you are caught selling
dope within a thousand yards of a public school they put you in jail forever. It doesn't mat-
terthatyoumayonlybesellingonelittlereefertoyourownmother,theystillputyouaway
for eternity just as if you were standing on the school steps shoving it down the throats of
every sniveling little kid who passed by. Well, when they brought this law in, Dortmeier
startedtogetworriedbecausetherewasaschoolupthestreetfromhim.Soonenightunder
coverofdarkness,hegoesoutwithahundred-foottapemeasureandmeasuresthedistance
from his house to the school and damn me but it's 997 yards. So he just stops selling dope,
