Drug
Czar's
Public
Affairs
Director
Thrown
Off
Microphone
At
Campus
Politically
Correct
Appearance
11/10/00
As the Office of National Drug Control Policy Director ("Drug Czar") Barry McCaffrey prepares to leave office, one of his key staffers may be losing not only his job, but his mind. Bob Weiner, sometime ONDCP press secretary and currently Director of Public Affairs, made quite a scene at a George Washington University appearance of the popular TV show Politically Incorrect last week. The event included host Bill Maher and other celebrity guests, but was held only for the campus audience at the DC school, not broadcast. Brian Gralnick, co-National Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (http://www.ssdp.org), was chosen as the student participant in Maher's panel. Just prior to the show, Gralnick noticed a student backstage holding a card reading "Executive Office of the President," which he recognized from an encounter with Weiner at a previous event. The student was surprised when Gralnick asked her if it was Bob Weiner's business card. Knowing Weiner was in the audience, Gralnick decided to call him out. On stage, Gralnick explained to the audience that "The Director of Public Affairs of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who is in this audience, accused me of being high on illegal drugs when we were on this same stage a month ago, and it's a shame people resort to personal attacks when discussing drug policy." Gralnick told DRCNet, "He then started yelling from the crowd, from his seat, 'that's not true, that's not true.'" Host Bill Maher told Weiner that if he wanted to ask a question, he should go to the microphone. Weiner ran to the microphone and said, "That's not what I said," at which point Gralnick broke in with: "I'll clarify: You said, 'Your eyes look kind of hazy. You're probably on drugs right now.'" Weiner responded, "You can't take a joke?", and proceeded not to ask a question, as Maher had invited him, but to rattle off statistics along the lines of why the war on drugs isn't being lost as Students for Sensible Drug Policy claims. A staffer from the production company managing the Politically Incorrect campus tour, and a student helping with the event, took the microphone from him. Many reformers have had encounters with Bob Weiner. DRCNet Executive Director David Borden recounts, "I've had two phone conversations with him. He hung up on me both times. I'm not a rude person, but he kept avoiding the questions and I kept asking them." According to Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights, "Based on feedback I've gotten from reporters, Weiner's reputation with the media is of being very ill-tempered and impatient." "I remember one radio debate," said Fratello, "where the subject was medical marijuana, and Weiner insisted on a format where I would speak for half of the time, after which he would speak for half the time. He was unwilling to debate me directly." "Unknown to Weiner, however, the host kept me on the line through his presentation, and at a certain point I broke in to correct one of his points," Fratello continued. "Weiner started screaming at me, saying I'd had my time. Then he started attacking the station and the host -- all live on the air." Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project told DRCNet, "There were a few reporters I spoke with who were about to call McCaffrey's office, and wanted to know if there were a few questions that would be good to ask. I suggested they ask ONDCP, should patients be arrested for medical marijuana? Then, if they try to circumvent the question, to ask it again." "On at least two of those occasions," Thomas continued, "the reporters -- both of them from well known publications -- told me later that they spoke with Bob Weiner and that he became argumentative and started screaming at them and accusing them of being on drugs." "Now I make a point of specifically telling reporters to ask for Bob Weiner by name," concluded Thomas.
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