Drug Czar on Anti-Marijuana Crusade

The Week Online ^ | September 20, 2002 | Phil Smith

[Beach_Babe]

SO LEGALIZE IT!

DAN CAN GROW HIS OWN, NO SMUGGLERS OR CARTELS WILL HAVE TO BE INVOLVED, AND IF THERE ARE ANY PROBLEMS, IT CAN BE TAKEN TO COURT RATHER THAN SETTLED BY GUNS!!!

Can the ONDCP be so stupid as to think the average person will link marijuana use to drug war violence without considering that it is the prohibition...not the substance...that leads to violence?

[scholar]

That's OUR tax $$$, folks. Is it really that worth it to all you drug warriors?

Well, it's not worth it to me. Was just having this discussion with someone the other day who told me that I sounded more like a libertarian than a conservative. I simply asked him to observe the amount of money we are throwing at the WOD and just what it has accomplished.

I worked for federal law enforcement when the first Drug Czar was appointed. I have not observed that the amount of drugs imported to this country has beem stemmed in the least, while statistics indicate that more and more kids are involved with some type of drug.

Our prison system is overburdened with non-violent, pot-smoking "criminals" while the big time dealers never find their way to prison. In the meantime, child molesters are given suspended sentences and walk free. I cannot begin to grasp the logic of our criminal justice system.

Having worked in the system I could make some observations, but I would be here all day.

[Hard_Pill_To_Swallow]

Terrorists get a lot more oil money than drug money.

[KDD]

76.3 million people over the age of 12 have admitted to smoking pot. That's 34.2% of the adult population according to the NIDA's own survey. Walters needs to be carefull in what propaganda his office puts before the public. Americans have had 50 years to learn about marijuana and know that it is not the demon drug that the ONDCP wants to make it out to be.

As the governments assumption of the ignorance of the people it governs becomes more apparent to those governed, the backlash against Walters and all law enforcement will grow. Disrespect for Federal Law Enforcement is already rampant in this country and on this forum.

This is a foolish waste of one billion dollars. In every state where this marijuana issue has come before the people for a vote, the sentiment of the people has been clear. Legalize or decriminalize the stuff. Washington is ignoring the will of the people in the "Several States". Something more important to the government then the "will of the people" is at stake here. What could it be?

[Beach_Babe]

The following are excerpts from The Benefits of Marijuana:

Marijuana use can have physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits:

The PHYSICAL BENEFITS of marijuana are far-reaching, widespread, and long-term. Because of the way marijuana impacts the Autonomic Nervous System which expands the breath and relaxes the body, its potential for health and healing are enormous, and have been completely unrealized by Western Medicine.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS: When we balance the Autonomic Nervous System, there is an effect on the mind that is both energizing and relaxing SIMULTANEOUSLY. In other words, we can think more clearly and more efficiently.

SPIRITUAL BENEFITS: That which enlivens is understood as the SPIRIT. In these times of secular values, when the life force is not recognized as being an expression of the holy, when in fact, the notion of a plane of existence beyond the material is not acknowledged, the search for meaning nevertheless perseveres.

Today, in these darkest of times, hundreds of millions who pursue the journey inward to the universal core values, find that marijuana facilitates the search. As a religious sacrament, intuitively recognized by all for whom the sacred beckons, marijuana has been employed for thousands of years, crossing all geographical and ethnic barriers. Marijuana not only balances the body, and enhances our mental processes, it can also help (some of) us to perceive the abiding reality by raising our consciousness.

[KDD]

So does chocolate.

[headsonpikes]

John Walters "...is a bullshit factory."

[rb22982]

Great post, right on target

[joeyman]

Look, I'm not an advocate of smoking dope. Frankly, we need more people to get involved in their communities and start holding our constantly growing govt accountable for its action. However....

Let dopers be dopers. It's too expensive and a waste of time to continue drug prohibition in this country.

[Hard_Pill_To_Swallow]

Right on, Alice. Big BUMP!!

[Urbane_Guerilla]

The appalling irony of those commercials is their use of innocent murder victims caused by the policy of the WOD. It is the WOD which provides the motive for the deaths of bystanders to the War.

I have yet to see a single drug warrior acknowledge the truth that they must necessarily find the murder, robbery and burglary of tens of thousands of innocent victims an acceptable cost for trying (futilely) to stop people from getting high.

[Renegade]

They showed the commercials on TV Today show this week with a bunch of high school and college kids to judge ..4 of six said kids don't give a crap about the people in Columbia, and if they legalized it, the crime would go away . So much for our tax dollars spent on legislating pleasure again ..
The two that were in agreement were typical lemming that follows the government protection of the people to the max .

[avenir]

You've got a point there...if we follow the trail back to origin, any number of things might become "tainted". That is a weak argument against illicit drug use, isn't it?

On the other hand, diamonds and SUV's aren't distorters of perception. Society (i.e. Us and the government we have elected) have found it necessary to limit or criminalize substances which can change the entire affect of a person, making him at least potentially dangerous to himself and others.

[bat-boy]

"This is Dan. This is the joint that Dan bought. This is the dealer that sold the joint that Dan bought. This is the smuggler that smuggled the pot to the dealer who sold the joint that Dan bought. This is the cartel that uses the smuggler that smuggled the pot to the dealer who sold the joint that Dan bought. And this is the family that was lined up by Dan's cartel and shot for getting in the way."And this is the CIA agent who organized and funded Dan's cartel. And these are the CEO's of America's largest finincial institutions who launder the money for Dan's cartel. And these are the local, state and federal politicians who are bought and paid for by both the drug cartels and the finincial institutions to insure that the war is never won and will never end.

[avenir]

Oh, I almost forgot: Alcohol is included in there too. It is indeed a powerful substance. It is restricted by the government but not illegal. That may be hypocritical of our society. Wouldn't surprise me. Still I wouldn't want to legalize marijuana just in order to be "consistent".

[KDD]

Society (i.e. Us and the government we have elected) have found it necessary to limit or criminalize substances which can change the entire affect of a person, making him at least potentially dangerous to himself and others.

For more than 4 in 10 convicted murderers being held either in jail or in State prison, alcohol use is reported to have been a factor in the crime. Nearly half of those convicted of assault and sentenced to probation had been drinking when the offense occurred.

About a quarter of the women on probation nationwide had been drinking at the time of their offense compared to more than 40% of male probationers (figure 30). For those convicted of public-order crimes, nearly two-thirds of women and three-quarters of men had been drinking at the time of the offense.

On an average day in 1996, an estimated 5.3 million convicted offenders were under the supervision of criminal justice authorities. Nearly 40% of these offenders, about 2 million, had been using alcohol at the time of the offense for which they were convicted.

Explain the discrepancy.

[KDD]

A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University confirms what many criminologists have long known: alcohol is associated with more violent crime than any illegal drug, including crack, cocaine, and heroin. Twenty-one percent of violent felons in state prisons committed their crimes while under the influence of alcohol alone. Only 3% were high on crack or powder cocaine alone and only 1% were using heroin alone.

Pot doesn't even make a blip on the violent criminal radar screen.

[dark_lord]

And the really stupid thing about all this is if they focused the exact same campaign on cocaine or heroin it would actually be fairly accurate. But by focusing on pot all it does is make them look like complete morons.

More of our tax dollars down the toilet. FLUSH!

[KDD]

Still I wouldn't want to legalize marijuana just in order to be "consistent.

Would you support the re-instatement of alcohol prohibition. If not...why not?

[Dane]

Pot doesn't even make a blip on the violent criminal radar screen.

Uh pot does make a large blip on the drug culture screen, though.

Oh that's right that can be "explained" away with such blast fax idioms such as, "Well all criminals drank milk, so there", never mind, it is useless trying to talk to the pot fixated, IMO.