Federal Drug War Rethought

As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition. But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. The other candidates for president prefer not to address this issue, but ignoring the failure of existing policy exhibits both a poverty of thought and an absence of political courage. The federal government must turn the decision on drug policy back to the states and the citizens themselves.

My change in perspective might shock some people, but leadership requires a willingness to assess evidence and recognize when a strategy is not working. We are paying far too high a price for today's failed policy to continue it simply because it has always been done that way.

It is obvious that, like Prohibition's effort to eradicate alcohol usage, drug prohibition has not succeeded. Despite enormous law enforcement efforts -- including the dedicated service of many thousands of professional men and women -- the government has not halted drug use. Indeed, the problem is worse today than in 1972, when Richard Nixon first coined the phrase "War on Drugs."

Whether we like it or not, tens of millions of Americans have used and will continue to use drugs. Yet in 2005 we spent more than $12 billion on federal drug enforcement efforts. Another $30 billion went to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.

These people must live forever with the scarlet letter P for prison. Only luck saved even presidents and candidates for president from bearing the same mark, which would have disqualified them from not only high political office, but also many more commonplace jobs.

The federal drug laws affect even those who have never smoked (or inhaled!) a marijuana cigarette. One of the lessons I learned while serving in Congress is how power tends to concentrate in Washington, and how that concentration of power begets more power and threatens individual liberty. The ever-expanding drug war is a perfect illustration of this principle.

We simply must bring our system back into balance. First, the federal government should get out of the "drug war" and allow states to determine their own drug policies. Rather than continuing to arrest and imprison people for offenses that do not directly harm other people, we should focus federal law enforcement on crimes involving serious fraud or violence, with identifiable victims. Even then, only where there is a clear and specific federal interest, should the federal government be involved.

As president, I would also begin dismantling the vast bureaucracies that have grown up as part of the drug war. My drug "czar" would diminish rather than expand the office. Importantly, the vast power of the federal government would no longer be employed to override the decision of the citizens of the states to reform their drug laws.

I also would review my presidential pardon and commutation powers as a possible means to reduce the number of people in federal prison for non-violent drug offenses. We can no longer afford the human and economic costs of imprisoning so many thousands of people for drug possession. This is the most destructive impact of drug prohibition.

With regard to the medicinal use of marijuana, it appears that politics, rather than true science, led to the government's classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, preventing its medical use, and has blocked attempts to reconsider that classification. As president, I would direct the DEA to initiate, for the first time, a truly open, fair, and objective process to test and evaluate the medical potential of marijuana. Based on the studies that I have consulted, I believe the result would be reclassification of the drug.

Regardless of federal policy, the federal government should accept the decisions of the citizens of the states if they choose to allow the medical use of marijuana. As president, I would ensure that no executive branch official interfered in a state initiative or referendum campaign. I also would direct the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency to respect state law. Crimes of violence, whether involving drugs or not, must continue to be investigated and prosecuted by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

None of this means that I believe drug use to be harmless, or appropriate for minors. For that reason I would encourage people and institutions throughout America, from churches to social agencies to sports leagues, to work together to address drug abuse. One of our nation's greatest strengths is the willingness of people to organize outside of government to solve human problems.

But treating what is, at base, a moral, spiritual, and health problem as a matter of federal criminal law has solved nothing. The next president must put politics aside and take a long, hard look at the failure of the federal war on drugs. We must reestablish the primacy of individual choice and state's rights in deciding these issues. This always has been the greatest strength of America, and should be again.

Bob Barr, a former member of Congress from Georgia, is the Libertarian Party's nominee for president.

Comments

[BARRISTER]

Mr. Barr:
I respect your honesty Sir.

It would help if you were to advocate on behalf of tghe change we need in America by putting your efforts to ensuring an Obama/Biden victory come November 4th.

It would help further, Sir, if you were then a Secretary of State in the Cabinet. I have no doubt as to your integrity, and good people should not be allowed to sit on the sidelines.

[insanityfollows]

Bob,
I have to say, that while I still don't agree with you many times, that you continue to impress me with your ability to open your mind. I strive to do that always and constantly fail, but for someone to come from your far end of the political spectrum and actually strive and succeed, is almost unheard of. I have come to admire you for not only refusing any more kool-aid, but spitting back out whatever you had already sipped. John McCain and the whole Republican Party could use some of your political maturity. I used to cringe when I heard you publicly state a position, as I used to be a fellow Georgian, but you have staked your political life by taking on the conventional republican and political wisdom. John McCain claims to have done the same, and it's true. He used to. Keep speaking Mr. Barr, because right now, you are one of the few true maverick voices. I salute you, and you have given me remewed faith in the future of the Libertarian Party and our system in general.

[Sug]

Mr. Barr

I appreciate that you take the time to write down your thoughts. It is a practice that more leaders need to take on. The War on Drugs is one of the most wasteful efforts in the history of mankind, it may in fact have no rival in U.S. Policy in terms of wasteful spending. Sadly it has become a need in terms of funding law enforcement, becuase the money needed to fight other types of crime is often tied to anti-drug programs.

Clearly there are different issues when it comes to the problem of drugs. To criminalize weed(which I have never personally used) seems very stupid. It should be treated like alcohol. I do fear the issues that arise with meth and other hardcore drugs. We have theft, child abuse, neglect, murder, etc stemming from the addiction to these drugs. This is a tough issue for the United States, but we would be well served to look to other nations as models for how to win this "war".

[VoteBarr2008]

I posted under the name VoteNader2008 on Ron Pauls C4L site some negative comments against you after the press hearings. I take it all back, I'm voting for you. I dont agree with every stance you have but its the major ones that are important right now in our withering liberties. The issues the corporate slave McBama are paid to ignore. I will vote for you to strengthen our movement, this will take a lifetime or more to undo the damage they have done to our way of life that they have spent almost 100 years inflicting on us through the government.

[MouthFountain]

As somebody whose father is in prison for such crimes, I will say that it is not him who I feel has been taken advantage of, but the country as a whole, who has paid for a needless and senseless war. With acquaintances who are at top levels of most professional fields including law, medicine, and finance, I have often smoked a joint at parties. Who does go to prison for such offenses as it is most certainly not these people?

The criminality is the hypocrisy.

[tempusbinder]

Nor is it Cindy McCain or Track Palin or Rush Limbaugh.

The hypocrisy is staggering, and it undercuts respect for all of our laws and for our civil society.

[tempusbinder]

Thanks for speaking out on this.

Now if only Schwarzenegger and the California legislature could be convinced to shift to a safe and sane drug policy, the state budget crisis could be resolved immediately, with savings on the law enforcement side and tax income from the production side of what is, after all, California's biggest agricultural crop.

[Opsimath44]

//As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition. But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. //

The sad thing is, this might be the only issue that he actually studied before leaping to an ideological conclusion. Not to pick on Bob... that's an occupational hazard of being a politician.

[MouthFountain]

Sadly, I disagree. Having a son who is now 22, I had to speak about drugs. And, having done certain drugs, it would be hypocritical for me to deny the option. Trust is important, and he has told me that I made the correct decisions. I did however place boundaries, and this is critically important.

Thank goodness he could however do such drugs with many of the top contributors' children. They will never go to prison for such offense. Will they?

[zurcl]

i must disagree with you, opsimath44, i don't think mr. barr's is an ideological decision. anybody who has studied the history of the mariuana laws, can see for themselves their ideological beginnings and their destructive impact on the populace. maybe you, sir/ma'am, should study the history yourself. there are drugs that certainly need to be controlled, those drugs are obvious, but "pot"? i don't think so.
thank you, mr. barr, for a thougtful, honest opinion.
signed,
your loyal opposition.

[Loculi]

I like what I'm hearing sir, but forgive me if I'm skeptical. Make me a believer, push this incredibly important issue as far as you can!

[indyleftist]

I agree that we should end the drug war

I have no idea however why the Libertarians picked someone who voted against MEDICAL marijuana to lead the fight.

Did anyone see Ron Paul on CNN yesterday basically endorsing Ralph Nader his polar opposite. If the libertarians had picked someone better Paul would have endorsed the Libertarian party and they would have at least some impact in the election. But with Paul out now his supporters will scatter instead of voting for his natural ally the libertarian party.

[Opsimath44]

//I have no idea however why the Libertarians picked someone who voted against MEDICAL marijuana to lead the fight.//

The Libertarians, even more so than the Democrats, have a "strange bedfellows" problem. Barr spent a career as the un-Libertarian, but they'll take what they can get.

A few more years of GOP incompetence and corruption, though, and their ranks will swell. Seems like everyone I know who is a newly minted Libertarian came from the GOP side. Folks who really believe in small government and the Constitution, and who realize that "social conservative" is an oxymoron.

[noneIn2008]

You saw a very different Ron Paul announcement? Have you read any of Ron Pauls blogs? You must have been listening to the CNN post announcement spin. I thought they said it was clear Paul endorse Obama.

[edwcorey]

I forgot: 8. The logging industry, which wants you to make paper out of their trees, not easy-growing, disease- and vermin-free hemp. 9. The cotton industry, which wants you to make clothes out of their pesticide-, fungicide-, petroleum-­fertilizer­-, herbicide-requiring plants, rather than hemp, which requires none of those. 9. The chemical industry, which wants you to use cotton because of the high use of chemicals to grow it.

[edwcorey]

Here's what you have to overcome: 1. The corrections officers union, which believes that the more people incarcerated, the more secure COs' jobs will be. 2. The corporate prison system, which has a fiduciary responsibility to increase shareholder value, which means more incarcerations. 3. The pharmaceutical industry, which probably spends as much trying to make up diseases so as to come up with a pill to treat them, and would lose preeminence if people discovered they could grow their own psycho-sedatives. 4. DEA honchos who not only command a huge budget, but also get to seize assets of so-called drug dealers. 5. Republicans who can't stand seeing people content unless it's from alcohol and animal slaughter. 6. Politicians who want to seize an easy issue or vilify an opponent. 7. The threat-assessment industry, which relies on terrorists, who rely on illegal drugs to raise money.

[Opsimath44]

On the one hand, I fully support the right of workers to organize. Unions are necessary. But when they become a business unto themselves and not a means to helping workers, they cause nothing but trouble.

[MouthFountain]

Congratulations on keeping your identity obscure. You most definitely are not a Democrat. Thankfully, as a Democrat, you have noted the Republican party's downfall...

[noneIn2008]

Unions were necessary to break the hold of the merchantilist. As a worker, I worked to help the unions but soon found it necessary to fight the unions. Soon some pigs are more equal than others - (Read Animal Farm, don't link me to the Obama comment). The Unions now are more of a tool of exploitation and coercion of the workers. The Unions now cost the USA jobs.

[NedFlanders19]

Bob,

Your heart is in a good place with all of this, and allowing the production of hemp would revolutionize the country on many levels - climate change, food, clothing, building materials, etc.

However, there is something that would need to be addressed. Changing the laws would mean that the prisons and their employees, the DEA, and many others with vested interests in keeping drugs especially marijuana illegal would resist and fight change.

If a leader was able to survive the blowback from these powerful groups it mean a huge shift towards a more enlightened country. Mitigate the response from those trying to hold onto and/or expand their money/power and find new places for these people to make a living and things would flow more easily.

While its not the easiest thing to do, at least you have put it on the table and hopefully it will lead to real, genuine discussion, not simply dissolving into fear and scare tactics.

Repression and suppression never works, it just creates the illusion that things are fine - underneath its a ticking time bomb.

If you truly believe in this Bob, you will make it your main issue and do all you can to create this change. Realize you will not be president, but you can bring this topic to the forefront and be of service in a valuable way - hopefully you will not respond as most politicians and let their egos get in the way of doing what's best.

[juxtapostle]

Ned, agreed.

Drug economics are a massive bubble - dwarfing the false economics that brought us the current mortgage crisis.

Bob,

You have travelled far. Congratulations!
Do not stop progressing, because the Green Party could use someone with your history.
BTW, are you a member of the ACLU yet?

[fredamae]

Drug abuse concerns can be greatly reduced by a simple approach. It Is called "Harm Reduction". You teach kids, teens, adults and seniors about ALL drugs equally. There is No such thing as a Safe Drug.

We lose More than 600,000 Americans to the perils of Legal Drugs Every Year.
Cannabis zero
All illegal drugs combined cause just 17,000 fatalities in comparison to the More than 600,000 fatalities from Legal Drugs..

MAMA believes we need to:

1. Judge all drugs by the same standard.
2. Teach basic drug consumer safety and provide complete and accurate information about all drugs.
3. Provide anonymous referral for help regarding drug related problems
4. Provide requested treatment for all drugs
5. Question techniques of advertising all drugs and advertising's effects on the entire population.
6. Advocate for programs that teach people the social skills to provide for their basic needs, e.g. adult literacy, job training, language classes, and the like.
7. Teach communication and decision-making skills.
8. Teach parenting skills, so we can raise our children to have a positive self image.
9. Teach people how to plan and implement affordable, fun activities

http://www.mamas.org/frationl.htm

[zizyphus]

Decriminalizing pot and hemp would lead to an economic renaissance in America. It is the one thing that would certainly improve life for many millions of people.

Despite decades of propaganda, the trade in pot (and other illegal drugs) is what is keeping the economy (black market) alive. Despite all the laws, all the prisons, all the propaganda, pot is still the number one cash crop-ahead of corn and soybeans. One hundred million Americans have smoked pot.

The government's position is that all drug use is abuse, and this is wrong. Millions of Americans come home after a hard days work and twist up a joint in the privacy of their own homes and relax, laugh and enjoy life. They harm no one.

A federal study under Nixon found that rats with the most exposure to pot outlived their undosed counterparts, and had less cancer. No surprise that the results of the study were hidden.

Thank you Bob Barr, for making this your campaign issue.

[DarkandStormyNight]

There definitely should be a public dialogue about this issue and candidates should weigh in. However, how are we suppose to focus on this when we can't even get to the basic issues such as the economy, healthcare, Iraq war and other issues that we care about? We are too busy focused on irrelevant comments, scare tactics and who white women will vote for. Time to move on.

[fredamae]

There is public conversation...its just Not widely advertised.

Please, for a thoughtful and informational review about Cannabis, watch this video.

http://www.marijuanaconversation.org/