Legalize Marijuana? Perish the Thought, Says Drug Czar -- Banish the Herb...and the Verb!
"The discussion about legalization is not a part of the president's vocabulary under any circumstances and it's not a part of mine."
-- ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske, from interview withReuters
First, let's get that title business out of the way. I'd suggested in an earlier post that Kerlikowske might want to deep-six the "Drug Czar" label. But mere days into his tenure he made self-referential (and borderline reverential) use of the moniker. Therefore, out of respect for my colleague I'll employ the title for as long as he clings to it.
Now to a "discussion about legalization," a conversation boldly embraced by vast and growing numbers of experts and everyday Americans, whose wisdom (and courage) on the issue far exceeds that of their leaders. A quick vocabulary quiz for Czar Gil:
1. Which of the following most accurately describes U.S. drug policy over the past four decades:
a. Noble
b. Cost effective
c. Vital to national security
d. Ruinous
2. Which of the following best captures the most likely effect of ending drug prohibition:
a. Joyous drug traffickers
b. Galloping crime rates
c. Safer communities, restoration of our civil liberties
d. Burgeoning prison populations
3. What do we call the conduct of a public official who promises science-based policies but refuses to talk about legalizing a drug shown empirically to be safer than alcohol?
a. Pragmatic
b. Hypocritical
c. Realistic
d. Gutsy
4. Cynically ending the rhetoric of the drug war while continuing to target and attack adult Americans who smoke marijuana:
a. Undermines the public's confidence in their government
b. Wastes huge sums of taxpayer money
c. Damages the lives of yet more Americans
d. All of the above
5. Which of the following institutions and/or individuals were reported to be crestfallen upon learning that marijuana legalization is not part of Czar Gil's vocabulary?
a. Liquor distillers
b. Brewers
c. Vintners
d. Big Pharma
e. The prison industrial complex
f. The International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association
g. Mexican drug cartels
h. Afghan drug lords
i. The Taliban
j. Bill Bennett
k. Rush Limbaugh
l. Street traffickers
m. None of the above
Answers: (1) d; (2) c; (3) b; (4) d; (5) m
Source: The author
In the late eighties or early nineties I attended a major drug policy conference in Washington, D.C. Participants were urged to "leave no stone unturned" in the search for answers to the nation's "growing drug problem." Chief Daryl Gates of the Los Angeles Police Department kicked off the meeting, informing us that one stone, after all, was to be left undisturbed. "If someone even raises the subject of marijuana legalization, shut him down. That topic is not now, nor will it ever be on the agenda."
Was that the future Czar Gil sitting in the first row, feverishly taking notes?
One of the great promises of the Obama presidential campaign was a commitment to intellectual integrity, rigorous scientific inquiry, and open dialogue with and on behalf of the American people.
So, when President Obama allows to go uncontested a statement on his behalf that a common sense drug strategy is not to be discussed "under any circumstances," he puts himself in league with the colorful former LAPD police chief, a cop who once argued that even casual drug users should be "taken out and shot."
We can do better. I suggest we use the administration's embargo on truth (watch the Czar's inspired answer on the same topic from Tom Angell, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition's crackerjack media relations director) as a rallying point for strengthening our devotion to a national vocabulary that always makes room for science and sanity.
Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize
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Yet another ignorant "Drug Czar" who needs a job, big paycheck & distortion of facts to justify his existence. Cannabis prohibition has caused millions of Americans real suffering for no good reason except to empower police who need a steady supply of "perps". The entirely false & ridiculous claims about the effects of marijuana use since “Reefer Madness” are still used by the ignorant or greedy to eliminate business competition or maintain their jobs.
Millions of Americans including Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong & Carl Sagan have had extraordinary lives & used Cannabis. We need more people like them & less like this ignorant tool of a "Czar" and his goons.
Cannabis is a healthful herb that has many benefits including treating cancer, MS, diabetes, circulatory & other diseases. Industrial Hemp (IH) has hundreds of uses & could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in agriculture & new industries. Hemp requires little or no cancer-causing pesticides to grow & is very “green”. Hemp makes the best paper & cloth among its hundreds of varied uses.
The continued prohibition of IH & recreational Cannabis is an utter waste of many billions annually to enforce & eradicate; money we could use to fund health care & education instead of cops & Czars. Obama needs to get his spine stiffened on this & other environmental issues, & dump this dim-bulb “Czar”.
RESIST THE PHONY WAR ON CANNABIS! LEGALIZE IT!
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-284.html
http://americanmarijuana.org/Guzman-Cancer.pdf
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=748
Norm:
Every article you write is another example of why the wrong police chief from Seattle was chosen for the job.
Keep up the good work, there are a lot of us behind you.
70% of the Mexican drug cartels revenues come from the sale of Pot in the US. Decriminalize Marijuana and we hurt the Cartels in the pocket book and generate billions in tax revenues for California and Kentucky.
Mexico is holding presidential elections in 2012. if we lose Mexico to the Left, kiss America's future as a global power good-bye. Over the past 10 years, Castro has succeeded in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador and almost in Honduras last week.
Wake up America we are losing LatAm to the Left before our eyes.
You'll find no drug "Czar" who admits that the bureaucracy he runs has no purpose anymore. Bureaucracies WANT to live forever -- not only would he lose his job, but everyone else who works within it would too....
People have been using cannabis for thousands of years for reasons including relief of symptoms of illnesses. Cannabis is not toxic nor is it addictive in any physical sense.
I notice that some of the comments on this post have begun to bring in the old stereotypes based on comedies and myths. Stereotypes and myths are exactly how cannabis was made illegal in the first place, and how many other wrongs have been perpetrated against certain groups of people.
The issue is about people being criminalized and possibly imprisoned for use of an herbal therapy.
Some advocates of marijuana usage make it sound like it's some kind of sacrament or that it gives it's users insights. But we all know that it's nothing more than a way to get high, or a distraction from boredom. Anyone who's been around chronic stoners or weedheads has observed how dopey they can sound and unmotivated they can become. And we want to encourage THIS.
Chronic abusers of McDonalds or Burger King and Starbucks are just as likely to become unmotivated and sound dopey. Not to mention alcohol
It's not how the drug is used (and yes, for some, food can be a drug), it is how it can be abused that is the problem
YES encourage the gov. to stay away from individual choices specially when it is proven that those individual choices are not affecting the collective ones.. And if the gov. is really interested in the citizens’ safety, I would suggest that they start with far more obvious problems like, obesity, alcohol, cell phone while driving, eating while driving, firearms, etc etc etc. Death and collective damages are proven in these cases but the response is none.
Punishing families by jailing their pot-smokers relatives, laying the operations fields for the narco-dealers and gangs, boosting the private jails business, benefiting the alcohol business, protecting the pharma business ...THESE are not supposed to be the gov's occupations but these are what they are doing right now.
No JEP57, you're wrong.
Most serious advocates of marijuana legalization cite it's important medicinal properties as a positive and the amount of cash it generates for criminals as the negative. Medical research has proven that it does not cause cancer and it is not addictive. You can smoke a joint of marijuana in the evening and wake up in the morning in time for work or school feeling absolutely fine. Yes, like any other substance, overindulgence can have negative side effects, much like alcohol, over eating, watching too much television, driving too fast, et cetera.
We don't "all know" it's nothing more than a way to get high. IT has many uses and what people choose to do with their own time with a non addictive and relatively safe substance is up to them. You should take your righteous attitude somewhere and reevaluate it before making such preposterous and uninformed statements such as the one you just made.
Do an internet search using "marijuana addiction" and you will find many sites that deal with this addiction. Another search will show you that marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than cigarette smoke. Sorry, those are the facts.
What we want to encourage in this country, during times of enormous debt and an ever swelling prison populations (yes, we have the highest per capita rates of imprisonment in the world) is the responsible use of our tax dollars and law enforcement resources. In an age where marijuana is number one cash crop generating billions of dollars for organized crime and terrorist organizations while severely overburdening are courts and corrections systems, it is time to decriminalize it. Look at the state of California, nearly bankrupt, yet if marijuana were legalized, the generated tax revenue would provide immense fiscal help. Don't fret, the studies and research have been done and have concluded that legalization would certainly not cause everyone and their mother to go out and start habitually smoking marijuana.
I'm a full time student enrolled in 5 classes on track to make Dean's list this summer semester. I'm achieving this while working 35 hours a week for the school of law. I'm a musician and a volunteer. I have plenty of goals and aspirations many of which I am sure I will achieve. In my spare time, I like to smoke a little marijuana and relax and listen to or play music. I also like to smoke while I read occasionally.
This ludicrous misconception that people make about smokers is absurd and needs to be stopped. People like you contribute nothing to honest debate because you have little to know idea about what you're talking about.
Not just the highest per capita rate of imprisonment; we have the highest total number of people behind bars, even more than China which has a repressive government and over a billion people.
Hey, you are so right. Look at Michael Phelps and how unmotivated he is. All he ever wants to do is swim back and forth in a pool everyday and then win a bunch of medals. How unproductive is that? And don't even get me started on Bill Maher. Here's a guy who gets paid to make fun of our wars, politics, religion and sex. And who cares if he talks about issues on his show that most networks won't even touch--why should a stoner be making all that money!
Norm Stamper for President in 2012!
Free speach yes, opened mind never.
One of the deaths ignored this week was 29 year old Theresa Anthony in Texas, jailed for cannabis possession. Died in custody.
Theresa deserves the concern of the public and a demand for a real investigation of her death. The mealy mouthed politicians and the brutal thugs who enforce their oppression need to answer and be brought to justice.
If anyone ever did an in depth study of ALL the prisoners that have died while in custody in Texas there would be an outcry heard round the world.
I have read of many,many cases of "suicide" while in custody for such minor things as a traffic violation,or drug possession, or unarmed robbery. And then there are the unexplained deaths such as Ms Anthony's.
Do we think we'll ever find out? Nope.
Politicians need someone or thing to hate in order to motivate the masses with misguided populism and lies in order to retain their power and maintain their ability to get re elected over and over again even though with each term they slider further and further away from representing those who voted for them and ulitmately only protect the interests of their most favorite special interest.....themselves.
Everything that ails America has a magic cure and its called term limits.
Hemp is illegal and appointed officials are titled Czar. Hemp was (and likely could still be) an important resource if we allowed ourselves the option to utilize it instead of demonizing it. Calling a single person king and putting him or her in total control of a government agency seems truly unAmerican and yet we do it regularly by appointing Czars.
czar
–noun
1. an emperor or king.
2. (often initial capital letter) the former emperor of Russia.
3. an autocratic ruler or leader.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/czar
Of course, what's in a name. No reason to get upset about the use of words. Heck, what did our founding fathers know about the importance of words. Sticks and stones may break bones but words will imprison you.
I wish people would stop using the "Weed vs. Alcohol" argument. It is VERY misleading.
Here is why: when you say that weed is so much safer than alcohol (and it is) what you are not saying is that the alcohol problem will still be there. The comparison is hollow as weed usage won't lower alcohol consumption and, in the short term, may increase it.
Think honestly: of the young adults you know, how many will quit alcohol if weed was legal ?? Probably not many. Probably do both.
So a rethug sees it as roads full of stoned drunks, not just stoners.
And what facts do you base your assumptions on?
Legal Marijuana has been shown to reduce Marijuana use.
Strange sounding aint it, but its true. in A-dam, where you can buy Marijuana at the age of 16, Marijuana use is 1/2 of what it is here, and was there before legalization.
it is time to start separating the facts and myths around Marijuana.
Kerlikowske and Obama are full of FAIL
Legalize, tax, and regulate drugs. PERIOD. THE. END.
Hemp, another plant although guilty by association, was once viewed as so evil that George Washington grew it at Mt. Vernon. I agree, we aren't that smart.
What’s The President Afraid of This Time?
President Obama misspoke when he said, “There is no silver bullet to lead us to energy independence.” He has not been apprised of the benefits of Cannabis (Industrial) Hemp. What he has signaled is that every form of energy has a legitimate claim for the taxpayer’s dollar. His use of the “shotgun” approach for the allocation of appropriations has explicitly abandoned the objective of setting real priorities based upon the smallest carbon foot print dooms us to continued control by the “Fossil Fuel Fascists”, Private Banksters....like the Fed.
We have a silver bullet at our disposal but cannot unshackle ourselves from the shibboleths of the 100 year war of lies and phobias constraining cultivation of industrial hemp—- Cannabis Sativa L.
The catch to all of this is obvious: The energy companies and banks, have considerable sway over politicians, the media, the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, you and me. Because industrial hemp is a successful competitor, fossil fuel interests want it banned forever. The same is true of lumber, and producers of synthetics, like I.E. Du Pont. These powerful forces will continue the ban they started in 1937 at all costs.
If it turns out that we are ok with $7-$14/g gas and infinite debt which brings reductions in health care services, etc., then we obviously, have relegated this and all future generations to industrial and debt slavery.
Obama is gutless on this topic. We have now had three consecutive presidents who used 'illegal' drugs, but none have been able to summon the courage to end this stupid fakin prohibition.
You're going to have to find a new donor and a new campaign worker Obama -- you won't work for me, I don't work for you.
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