Drug Watch Pays Tribute to an Old Friend

otto moulton

Otto Moulton’s Courage Never Failed nor Faltered

Before there was Drug Watch, there was Otto Moulton.  Before there were local prevention councils and state commissions on drug abuse, there was Otto Moulton.  Before there was an Office of National Drug Control Policy, there was Otto Moulton.  Otto was one of a handful of pioneers in the drug prevention movement who spotted the growing scourge early on and hardened himself to the cause of fighting the spread of illicit drugs.  In time, Otto would become one of the world’s premier anti-drug warriors.
 
Otto traced his “baptism” into the drug war to an October day in 1977.  A young man who was seeking donations to print an anti-drug pamphlet showed Otto a suitcase full of drug paraphernalia and a magazine glorifying the drug culture that was being hawked at a local newsstand.  Otto went to the newsstand and found the magazine stacked next to Sesame Street’s publication, as if both were children’s literature.  He bought the whole stack of drug magazines and destroyed them.
 
From that day to the end of his life in January 2003, Otto worked to stop the proliferation of drugs.  Taking a leaf from the patriot Sam Adam’s playbook he and his wife, Connie, founded The Committees of Correspondence to expose the drug culture’s agenda to legalize drugs; to inform others of the effects of drugs on the brain and the body; and to create tools to properly educate children and adults.
 
In addition, Otto helped establish the National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth, which became a model for many drug prevention organizations.  In 1987, when President and Mrs. Reagan went looking for experts to serve on the White House Conference for A Drug-Free America, the name of Otto Moulton kept coming up, and President Reagan appointed Otto to the conference.  Mrs. Reagan came to depend on Otto as a consultant to her “Just Say No” campaign, and she named him to her “Nancy Reagan’s Speakers Bureau.”  Congressional committees frequently sought Otto’s informed testimony in their effort to understand the nation’s growing drug problem.
 
Otto’s impact reached far beyond the bounds of the United States.  Europeans, South Americans, Australians, and Asians – in and out of government – sought Otto’s counsel.  He addressed parliaments in four continents.  Today, the millions who are fighting the drug war worldwide might rightly be called “Otto’s Army.”
 
And make no mistake about it, these drug warriors are winning.  Only a few years ago in the United States, the citizenry of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Ohio might well have voted for drug decriminalization instead of rejecting it.  But thanks to Otto’s Army, a wiser electorate and lawmakers now realize that drug decriminalization amounts to drug legalization.  In Europe last year, delegates from 100 cities met and signed a zero-tolerance drug pact, and in just a few short months they have gathered 1.3 million signatures urging the United Nations to maintain its strong stand against illicit drugs.
 
Drug prevention leaders in many countries received packages of information from Otto, dubbed “Otto-Bombs.”  An Otto-Bomb consisted of box loads of books and videos, demonstrating the damage done by drugs and chronicling the strategies and whereabouts of legalizers, as they networked around the globe trying to spread the false message that drugs are harmless and ought to be available on demand.  Otto collected and organized incontrovertible evidence unmasking the lies of “medical marijuana,” needle giveaways, and hemp farming, and he exposed the leaders of the drug legalization movement as the drug abusers that they are.
 
For Otto, it was always about children.  Through the years, four boys whom he coached in Little League and Youth Hockey back in the 1970’s who became drug involved, were always on his mind.  Today, one is dead; one is in jail for murder; one had a near-fatal heart attack; and one lost his chance to play pro football because he tested positive for cocaine.  Otto believed that had he known then what he learned over time he might have saved all four of them.  However, what we do know is that Otto and his army have saved many others for which Otto received more awards and honors than would fit on this page.
 
Otto was a founder of Drug Watch International and served as an Advisor, as a member of Drug Watch International’s International Drug Strategy Institute, and as a member of the board of directors until his death.
 
We at Drug Watch who are Otto’s grateful warriors want to say, “Thank you, Otto.  We will never forget you.”