Potential Drug Czar's Family Connection To Failed Drug War

In the Academy Award winning film Traffic , Michael Douglas plays the nation's new Drug Czar who discovers just how unwinnable The War On Drugs really is when he finds that one of his children is a drug user who has been arrested.

Life seems to be imitating art once again as investigator Joseph Culligan reveals on his website WebOfDeception.com that President Obama's presumptive choice for the position of Drug Czar, Seattle Police Chief R. Gil Kerlikowske, has a stepson with a history of arrests, including multiple arrests for marijuana related offenses.

WebOfDeception posted detailed public records that show that Jeffrey Kerlikowske, 39, has a criminal record dating back to 1994 with serious charges including theft, battery, cruelty to animals and assault with a deadly weapon . Yet these crimes against living things and property aren't as likely to raise the eyebrows of the drug prohibitionists as Kerlikowske's multiple charges over the years involving marijuana, including possession and intent to distribute.

That's because talk of Chief Kerlikowske's nomination has raised the hope of many hoping for a restoration of effective, fair and reasonable drug laws. As The New York Times said in a recent story,

The anticipated selection of Chief Kerlikowske has given hope to those who want national drug policy to shift from an emphasis on arrest and prosecution to methods more like those employed in Seattle: intervention, treatment and a reduction of problems drug use can cause, a tactic known as harm reduction. Chief Kerlikowske is not necessarily regarded as having forcefully led those efforts, but he has not gotten in the way of them.

Even this lukewarm semi-sorta not quite opposition to the evil weed makes Kelikowske a target. Given President Obama's vetting problems, the conservative forces that seek to demonize marijuana and keep America mired in the Drug War quagmire will potentially have a field day with Kerlikowske's loose family connection to marijuana crime.

I hope that Kerlikowske or someone in a position of government power will speak the truth that Michael Douglas's character did in Traffic. Douglas is giving the same sort of pointless platitude type of speech we've all heard countless times from real politicians when he suddenly has an 'I can't do this' moment and says...

"...there is a war on drugs where many of our own family members are the enemy. I don't know how you can wage war on your family..."

Unfortunately, real life politicians have been waging war on our American family for years. Let's all pray it stops soon so we can finally effectively help those with real problems and stop making criminals out of the rest.

Comments

[Tim Meehan]

I wouldn't worry all that much. You're going to have screaming from the Calvina Fays and Kevin Sabets no matter what happens toward progressive policy. They are about as relevant today as the WCTU, though.

He's not alone, though. Dan Burton, Al Gore, John Murtha, Maurice Hinchey and a host of others have children involved in drug cases. More here: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4440

No, Kerlikowske needs to grow a backbone and let anyone who challenges his views and decisions to look at them through the lens of a parent. He needs to stare down the chemical McCarthyists and ask them about decency.

[silverball]

....how much more time and $$$ can we WASTE on this "war".....i'm ready for the scientific based decisions on such a minor thing...i mean, really....800,00 arrests a year for pot....and how many defendants do we have incarcirat­ed???...ca­n we really afford this type of failed policy anymore....they are getting real in ca...proposing decriminalizing it and reaping the tax benefits....for christ sake, can we at least use the industrial hemp???

[NorCalNative]

Lee, it would certainly be nice if our real-world drug czar had a similar turn. A mature society is one that recognizes the difference between use and abuse. Another scene from the movie has the Douglas character highlighting the fact that law enforcement methods get preference over rehab and drug abuse treatment.

The real damage of propaganda parading as public policy is that it teaches citizens to distrust their government and laws. I'm not so sure the NEW drug czar will have any more latitude than any of the past Directors of National Drug Control Policy primarily due to a law passed in 1998 which makes it against the law for the Director to speak about cannabis in a positive manner. Without changes to that act of congress U.S. policy will remain committed to misinformation.