Holder As Attorney General Seen Likely To Escalate War On Drugs

There's been plenty of right-wing hand-wringing recently over fears that Barack Obama's election will bring about a new era of 1960s liberalism. Obama's selection of Eric Holder for attorney general, however, should calm at least one of those fears, the one regarding the war on drugs. Reason magazine recently called Holder's "rhetoric on the seriousness of marijuana offenses was indistinguishable from that of the most zealous Republican drug warrior" and offered the following quotes from Holder:

The truth of the matter is that marijuana is a significant problem for the city....Crack cocaine still drives most of the violence in this city, but marijuana violence is increasing. We need to nip it in the bud.

Four years later, when he was the deputy attorney general, Holder talked up the Clinton administration's alleged drug war victories during a weekly briefing (also quoted by TalkLeft):

We've made some major inroads in the drug problem but we don't have--I mean, if you think back there was a Time magazine article I remember on--a cover story on cocaine and--this was sometime back in the late '80s--and at that point, I remember reading the article and the article seemed to indicate that, you know, it was [a] drug being used by the middle class and that there were not many consequences for that use. We obviously know that that is not true now....

Certainly, I think, as opposed to the late '80s and the early '90s, I think consumption is down.

The Washington City Paper listed Holder's past actions in the war on drugs:

In 1996, Holder proposed cracking down on marijuana users and sellers, a policy perspective which was and--assuming he still holds it--is completely antithetical to President-Elect Barack Obama's promise to end federal crackdowns on medical marijuana dispensaries.

What kind of legacy did Holder leave? Evidence abounds that the drug war has done nothing to help D.C.'s crime problem. The MPD are still investigating recent violence in Petworth, but it's likely that the crimes have a drug component, just as they do in Trinidad, Anacostia, on Kennedy Street, and in other parts of the District. Turf wars have become part and parcel of the drug trade, and are a direct result of law enforcement artificially driving up prices for drugs and limiting geographic opportunities for transactions.

The issue was also mentioned at HuffPost's roundup of reactions to the Holder selection in the media.

Comments

[drewbob]

What is this whole idea of "Marijuana violence"? Ive never heard or seen anybody ready to do violence after doing marijuana, unless you include a bag of Funions. The violence is a result of prohibition and street gangs feeling to need to fight over territories. This has nothing to do with marijuana and everything to do with keeping jobs for people in the DEA and making victims of low income neighborhoods in an effort to keep prisons full.

Learn the truth and stop using kids as an excuse to put innocent people in prison. Your not protecting kids by putting pot smokers in prison, your just giving them a bigger chance to go to prison themselves where they can learn to be real criminals.

[stell]

If something is truly to be done about the "War on Drugs", logically it would have to be stopped before it gets here in planes and boats, or whatever it arrives in. Those boats and planes aren't owned by Blacks, Latinos, or poor whites for that matter.

[worldlyhick]

This appointment of Eric Holder as Attorney General is very concerning to me. From what I've read about him, looks like he has a pattern of overlooking real corruption in the powerful while stepping up this obscene war on a harmless and medicinally valuable plant .

I supported Barack Obama, but I am very disappointed in this choice.

[HC4BO]

Grow your own snuff ...

[truegreen]

Obama is on record supporting lesser penalties for Marijuana users. Obama is the boss and Eric Holder is aware of that.

[robXdion]

The AG is independent of the President. Or should be, unlike what Bush has shown us.

[Chicago48]

This is a little frightening. Nowhere does he discuss Cocaine or heroin at least in the same as marij. use.

[V4Vigilance]

Oh yeah, that's what we need, an escalation in the 'War on Drugs' 'cuz, God knows, it's been going so well up to now.

/snark off

p.s. Anybody else see yesterday's story about the CIA shooting down a plane full of US missionaries over Peru killing everyone on board including a mother and her 7 month old child? That's our 'War on Drugs' dollars at work.

[pdxdog]

Holder would do much better to focus on reducing crime and increasing public safety, under which drug related activities would fall. It's time to look at the root conditions and causes that create problems in the first place, link them together and deal with them in a holistic fashion. Saves time and money. Also, reduces duplication and redundancy of past effort and funding.

There is a already a lot of work done in these areas that could be dusted off the shelf and reviewed for usefulness. No need to recreate work that has been done and paid for already. If we need new information, that's a different story. But we really have spent billions and billions on this already.

Evaluate what has been done, see what's been effective and create an integrated effort that connects the dots between all the agencies with a piece of this complex social issue.

[ronspri]

Actually Holder would do much better to focus on restoring the Constituion and prosecuting the administration that ripped it up. The patriot act is far more dangerous to our way of life than pot is.

[adampap]

I don't understand this at all. Alcohol is responsible for about 100,000 deaths each year, its lethal dose is easily achieved, and its role in leading to poor decisions including rape and unwanted pregnancies is undeniable. Also over the counter painkillers are responsible for around 76,000 hospitalizations and 7,600 deaths a year. These drugs are deadly. And they are legal.

The exact opposite can be said for marijuana. There is no known lethal dose, there have been a total of zero deaths throughout the history of humanity as a result of smoking marijuana, and it also has unique uses for relieving the suffering of the very ill. If you've ever smoked weed you'd know it has very different affects than alcohol. it makes you lazier, it makes you think more, it makes you hungry and sleepy. I would say it is a deterrent to violence not a cause.

Our drug policy is absolutely absurd. Tt baffles me every day. I'm a senior in college. i smoke weed almost every day and so do all my friends. we all have jobs, do well in school, and are good, respectful people.

In any "free" country any citizen should be able to put whatever they want in to their own body. I thought Obama was a step in the right direction. Hopefully he can talk some sense in to Holder. After all he "inhaled frequently".

[donks]

adampap said it right to the point.Amen

[ggm68]

Marijuana use doesn't lead to violence or death, but marijuana trafficking and sales sometimes do. Ironically, the only thing standing in the way of making marijuana SAFER for all concerned is the fact that it remains illegal. I can only hope that BO is not changing his previously stated stance, and will direct his appointees to follow more sensible policies whether they agree with them or not.

[dexxjones]

i am starting to worry.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Good thing he'll be working for Obama and not the other way around. Obama promised to eliminate programs that weren't working, not to mention the fact that we don't have any money to escalate as "war" as stupid as this one.

[NWMidwife]

AAAARRRRGG­GGHHHHH!!!­! The way to (mostly) eliminate marijuana-related violence is to legalize it. When it can be purchased by its consumers in legitimate establishments, just like other consumer goods, we will cease to see one-on-one crime. Also, the taxes generated will benefit everyone.

Like alcohol, marijuana is used by responsible citizens in huge numbers, despite Holder's assertion that it's lost popularity since the 80's & 90's.