Celebrities

This new DPA video featuring Sting was more than enough to drive Bill O'Reilly over the edge yet again:


As usual, every single "fact" presented here by O'Reilly is completely made up, as demonstrated in this fact-check from Jacob Sullum. But if Bill O'Reilly wants to spend his time on TV lying and complaining about drug policy reform in front of millions of people, I'm totally ok with it. Every stupid word he says about the drug war serves only to further legitimize the debate. People like O'Reilly are the reason we're winning, so the last thing we want from them is silence.

Kurt Schlichter at Big Hollywood is overcome with fury at this DPA video, featuring Sting. His entire pro-drug-war rant is an impressive exhibit in mindless prohibitionist arrogance, but if anything stands out, it's this:

Of course, there’s also the perennial "America imprisons more people than anywhere else in the world!" meme.  In fact, the only drug incarceration problem in America is that too few drug dealers are incarcerated.

Listen dude, I don't think you understand how this works. Putting drug dealers in prison doesn't change the number of drug dealers on the street. It never has, and never will. If you want to put more of them in jail out of spite, that's one thing, but I hope you don't seriously still believe we can arrest our way out the drug problem. Even the drug czar is beginning to doubt that.

It's one thing to daydream in smug self-righteousness of that magical day when every single drug offender is locked away forever. But even the idiots who say these sorts of things would be miserable if it actually happened. Why? Because the cost of doing that comes out of all our pockets, including Kurt Schlichter's. Unless you'd like to spend half your earnings every year keeping some guy in a cage and paying for all his food and clothing, then do us a favor and keep your mass incarceration fantasies to yourself.

Pete Guither and Tony Newman have more.

Jack Herer, author of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes," died this morning in Eugene, Oregon. He had been in ill health since suffering a heart attack at the Portland Hempstock Festival last Fall. Here's the report from the Salem News:

The Hemperor, Jack Herer has Died (SALEM, Ore.) - The sad news has been confirmed. Jack Herer, author of Emperor Wears No Clothes and renowned around the world for hemp activism, has died at 11:17 a.m. today, in Eugene, Oregon. Jack Herer suffered a heart attack last September just after speaking on stage at the Portland HempStalk festival. The last seven months have proven to be a huge challenge to the man, with several health issues making his recovery complicated. Jack Herer's health has been poor lately, this last week there have been reports of the severity, and an outpouring of prayers on his behalf. "It's shocking news, even after these last seven, trying months," said Paul Stanford, THCF Executive Director. "Jack Herer has been a good friend and associate of mine for over 30 years. I was there when he had the heart attack at our Hempstalk festival and I know he wouldn’t appreciate the quality of life he's endured these last months. Still he will be greatly missed. I honor his memory." "No other single person has done more to educate people all across the world about industrial hemp and marijuana as Jack Herer. His book is translated into a dozen different languages, it's a bestseller in Germany," added Stanford. "The Hempstalk stage will forever be the Jack Herer Memorial stage. And, a Memorial is planned to be built where he fell that day," Stanford said. "His legacy will continue to inspire and encourage for generations to come."

Celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky is someone I used to respect as a teenager. Too bad he sold-out and became a dangerous quack who'll say anything to make headlines:

While Lindsay Lohan continues to party until the wee hours of the morning, and her family and friends grow increasingly concerned for her, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is not treating Lohan, has some candid advice for the people closest to her.

The board certified addiction specialist tells RadarOnline.com, "If she were my daughter, I would pack her car full with illegal substances, send her on her way, call the police, and make sure she was arrested. I would make sure she was not allowed to get out of jail. I would then go to the judge  and make sure she was ordered to a minimum of a three year sobriety program." [Radar]

You see, Dr. Drew is really concerned about her safety:

"I absolutely wish no harm to her, but I just have a feeling that something awful is going to happen to her, like she is going to lose a limb. I hope Lindsay gets help before something terrible happens."

Something terrible? Like getting framed for a carload of drugs by your own family!? Maybe they don't cover this in medical school, Dr. Drew, but you should really make yourself aware of the fact that many people have been accidentally shot by drug cops, sexually assaulted in jail, and otherwise mercilessly screwed over by the criminal justice system in ways that you and your massive ego don't have the luxury of predicting.

Planting drugs on anyone is a serious crime that could go wrong in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Anyone who endorses screwing around like this has no business practicing medicine, parenthood or friendship. You can get people killed with this sort of idiocy, and as much as it would reveal about the stupidity of the war on drugs, "Hollywood Starlet Shot in Face by SWAT Team" is a story no drug policy blogger wants to write.

There is a real drug war going on in America and the men and women who come to save you from your "illness" don't wear white coats; they come in body armor bearing machine guns with the safety off. So when you sell Beverly Hills addiction therapy as pop-culture entertainment media, you forget that those same rules don't apply in Ohio and any parent taking Dr. Drew's reckless advice is putting their family in the drug war's deadly crossfire.

When drug cops start making their own rules, it's time to take away their badge and gun. When celebrity addiction doctors do the same, it's time to take away their license and, more importantly, their microphone.

Here's Jay Leno and Bill Maher discussing the effort to legalize marijuana in California:


Of course, it's a win just to have these kinds of conversations on The Tonight Show, and you can't look for perfect messaging from entertainers. But seriously, what the hell was Leno talking about with this:

Leno: Well, here's my thing, here's my thing. California, they spend all this money trying to get things on ballots. But federal law trumps state law.

Maher: Oh, Jay you're such a buzzkill.

Leno: Well, it's true. No matter what the state says, the federal government goes "sorry, it's a federal law. You lose."

Really, Jay? I wonder how far you'd have to walk from your studio in Los Angeles to find a dispensary selling marijuana in violation of federal law. Come on, man. We've moved way beyond that nonsense, and you don't have to be constitutional scholar to understand that state-level marijuana policies can be reformed dramatically by popular vote. All you have to do is read the LA Times any day of the week.

If the drug czar doesn’t even know what the hell the feds would do about this, I can't fathom why Jay Leno thinks he's got it figured out.

Sting's call for an end to the war on drugs is getting some good press, and it sounds like the drug warriors aren't too pleased about it:

"Sting should stick to singing and not meddle in matters he doesn't understand. We do not need pop stars coming out and making irresponsible statements like that," said a spokesperson for DARE, which teaches schoolchildren about the dangers of drug use. [Daily News & Analysis]

How classy. I think it's pretty telling that Sting, an A-list international celebrity, was proud to associate himself with this cause, while the DARE spokesperson who chides him for it chose to do so anonymously. It's obvious who is more embarrassed by their viewpoint.

Note to anti-drug zealots: if your argument sounds ridiculous even to you, to such an extent that you don't even want your name attached to it, then just don't talk to the media. I know it sucks to see the political climate changing before your eyes. I know you can’t bear the thought that mainstream entertainers can now come out against the drug war and get nothing but positive press. But your stupid ideas are what got you into this mess in the first place, so opening your mouth right now isn't going help at all.

DARE's only accomplishment here was to erase any doubt about whether Sting's announcement is a big deal.

Our friends at the Drug Policy Alliance have persuaded A-list rockstar Sting to join the drug policy reform movement. I'm not exactly gonna leap out of my seat every time a celebrity says the drug war sucks, but Sting is a big name and it was fun getting a mass email from him today telling me lots of things I agree with.

Hopefully we'll be seeing some more press on this, or better yet a wave of rockstars joining the cause and rocking out for justice. And can we please do one of those PSA-type ads where like 8 famous people take turns looking concerned and saying why some issue is important, except this time the issue is legalizing marijuana in California and the famous people are all super famous and not just cast members from various shows on whatever network you're watching?

If we can get Bono and Bill Clinton, we'll win with leaflets left over.

I don't usually cover celebrity pot-bust stories, but the repeated harassment of Willie Nelson's tour bus is ridiculous and it needs to stop:

The strong odor of marijuana wafting from the window of a Willie Nelson tour bus led to six members of the country singer's entourage getting busted in Duplin County for possession of marijuana and three-fourths of a quart of moonshine, law enforcement officials said. [News Observer]

Seriously, if anyone has a problem with what a bunch of aging musicians do in their tour bus, then don't go in there. If these guys were a legitimate threat to public safety, it shouldn't take a probable cause search to catch them. If they'd run a Church choir off the highway wasted on shrooms and moonshine, that would be a different story, but they're super old and it's clear by now that they can be trusted.
 
To dispel any confusion, I propose federal legislation clarifying the right of Willie Nelson and his associates to do whatever they feel is necessary in order to have an awesome time. The smell of potent cannabis emanating from their tour bus should be interpreted as a sign that everything is fine.