I'd have preferred someone from the public health/medical field, but, if nominated, as expected, and confirmed by the Senate, current Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will no doubt do a better job as the nation's "drug czar" than his predecessor.
John Walters, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, was a fanatic enemy of science and reason. His "reefer madness" misstatements on marijuana, his ill-conceived, mulish advocacy of drug testing in public schools, his refusal to listen to critics of the drug war (much less debate them) are all, gloriously, a thing of the past.
But what of Gil (or "Kerli," as his affectionate detractors call him)? Will the 36-year law enforcement veteran put the country on a path to more sensible drug policy?
I don't know.
Kerlikowske is president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a body whose members were helpful to me during my six years as Seattle's chief. He also chairs Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an inspired program meant to prevent children from becoming criminals. He's intelligent, putatively progressive, and more inclined toward research and evidence than your average police administrator.
But will he be open to candid conversation about what the drug war has wrought, and what tomorrow's drug policy ought to look like? What's his current take on the drug war? I'm with Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance who pointed out in a February 11 press release that, "While Gil Kerlikowske has not spoken out in favor of [needle exchanges, medical marijuana, the city's marijuana-as-lowest-enforcement-priority law, and the King County Bar Association's exploration of alternatives to prohibition], he is clearly familiar with them and has not been a forceful opponent."
I'm optimistic but the jury is out, and won't return until Senate confirmation hearings. At which time those who hunger for justice and common sense might want to think about joining the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and others to "ensure that the nominee for drug czar is thoroughly grilled at the confirmation hearings, and held accountable to the commitments and standards that President Obama has declared."
One thing I know for sure about Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske? If Michael Phelps had bent over that bong in Seattle and not in Sheriff Leon Lott's Richland County, SC, he'd have nothing to fear but a foolish and fickle cereal maker.
I spent 22 years in law enforcement, I saw hundreds of people go to prison for drug convictions, and I saw them when they were released, many of them damage irreperably from the experience, all of them marginalized. Despite 'paying for their crime' they are now a 'felon' largely unemployable, prohibited from most HUD housing. If they have children they may well accrue tens of thousands in child support arrears while incarcerated, money they can never repay, but it will follow them for years on their credit report; frequently resulting in their not being able to open a checking account or rent an apartment. The sad fact is that most people are content in looking the other way and allow this to continue ...
The "war on drugs" is a farce and should be abandoned. The "drug czar" position should be eliminated.
That we're not pursing this indicates to me that, one, there is no crisis, and, two, our representative government isn't interested in representing the people.
We need for the feds to take the first step toward common sense: decriminalize cannabis. It would be the most effective single action to de-fund the criminal operations which use pot as their source of income. It would also free up huge amounts of prison space, court time, law enforcement man/hours, etc., which could be redirected to productive use. It would have the additional effect of regrouping 120 million or so Americans back under the heading of "law abiding citizens", rather than encouraging American youth to adopt the trappings and thought processes of "outlaws" after discovering that the system is rigged to beat them down and put them in prison just for smoking a joint.
Either of these Congressmen would do a better job of changing a 50 year failed policy than a law enforcement official.
And growing hemp and pot would help provide jobs for Americans.
All Illegal Drug Use Combined: 17,000 die Annually
Cannabis: Zero
Cannabis Eradication Annual Budget: $10 Billion Tax Dollars
Is this Fiscally responsible?
Is this Just?
Is it Common Sense?
De-Schedule Cannabis and Stop the Nonsense!
Oh, and btw, folks, let's please not blame President Obama for the raid that happened just after his election? That was a Bush policy that President Obama had no real ability to change until it was too late.