Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
In a bout of rhetorical excess unusual even for the nation's drug czar, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) head John Walters called California marijuana growers "violent criminals" and "terrorists" who wouldn't think twice about helping foreign terrorists enter the country to cause mass casualties. Walters made his remarks at a June 12 press conference in Redding, California as he lauded paramilitarized teams of law enforcement personnel conducting raids on marijuana grows on public lands in Shasta County.
People need to get over their "reefer blindness" and realize that drugs "fund terror and violence," Walters said in remarks reported by the Redding Record-Searchlight. As for pot growers tending crops on public land in the area: "These people are armed, they're dangerous," Walters said, calling them "violent criminal terrorists."
Upon reflection, the ONDCP noted the following day in its blog that Walter's comments were all good. "Do you have Reefer Blindness?" the blog post asked, qualifying the Redding Record-Searchlight story as "a good story" and displaying no second thoughts about Walters' incendiary rhetoric.
Unfortunately, no reporters present at the Walters press event challenged him on the role of marijuana prohibition in promoting violence or pushing marijuana growers onto public lands. Nor did anyone challenge him to present the least scintilla of evidence for his claim that marijuana growers would happily aid and abet Al Qaeda-style terrorists in attacking their fellow citizens. That is a good thing for Walters, because there simply isn't any.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Drug War Funds Terrorists
It's the war on drugs that make drugs illegal that are the basis for funding terrorists. As a result of the drug war, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban get about $500 billion a year in funding.
On the History Channel, Ben Laden said the US was paying him to do terrorists acts. And how is the US paying him? By making drugs and the non-drug cannabis illegal.
So it's the US government who is ensuring that terrorists have adequate funding. That's so the US government can instill fear into the American people.
Domestically grown and sold cannabis cuts into the money that the drug cartels would otherwise get if only drug cartel cannabis could be bought.
Legalize everything cannabis and the financial aid to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban would be significantly cut. That would severely limit the activities of terrorists.
â Thomas Jefferson
In reply to Drug War Funds Terrorists by David Dunn (not verified)
Thomas Jefferson also grew
Thomas Jefferson also grew marijuana in his private garden dickhead. Nice irony in that quote, huh?
Czar Press Conference
Maybe if you weren't smoking so much weed you would have had more time to check your facts. The press conference was JULY 12, not June 12. I think you may suffer from refer blindness! Nice reporting Chris Hanson!
In reply to Czar Press Conference by Anonymous (not verified)
'refer' blindness???
anon, that was pathetic.
In reply to Czar Press Conference by Anonymous (not verified)
Czar Press Conference
Must be nice to be so friggin perfect, huh, Anonymous?
Yea, everbody that mis-quotes a date must be high, ya know could be that you guys lie and make so many mis-leading statements, so fucking often who the heck can keep track of the dates . In other words if truth be told, were probably giving some full of crap speech to somebody on june 12 as well as july 12. Why don't you go rig (days of this crap are short also) an election somewhere?
"refer" blindness
Anonymous' post is typical straw man tactics. Using a wrongly posted date to imply that smoking reefer causes confusion and then misspells "reefer". That is an old tactic, one of many of the obfuscatory methods used by a crowd that refuses to engage in productive dialogue on the subject of recreational drug use. I am seventy years old and have not renewed my drivers license, do not own a car because I like an occasional beer or two and I know that my alcohol-induced confusion just might tempt me to climb behind a wheel. While I would not consider the reenactment of a new Volstead Act a wise move, more attention should be focused on ways to prevent drinkers from driving and use the drug war money on things that really matter, like new schools and an increase in teacher's pay.
Politicians; State Vermin. . .
Politicians, it seems to me, have this *thing* about booze; they think it's wonderful and want its blood-soaked monopolistic position to remain unaltered.
Marijuana has always been alcohol's biggest threat and Walters knows that only too well.
Fuck him and fuck all who think like him! 'Better for everyone if they'd never been born!
Maybe?
If the stupid anonymous 12.17 had a few tokes he'd be less of an asshole.
I fucking hate ignorant morons like him. 'Hope he likes hospital food, in case I'm unlucky enough to ever meet him.
Yeah. . .
I'd like to bump into him, too; at about 80mph.VOXRET
stupid czar / stupid reaction to anonymous
Obviously growers aren't terrorists and they aren't going to help terrorists kill people, but it is fucked up to grow on public land, its bad for the enviroment and its not your land. Of course they wouldnt grow it there if it were legal. That said I would still like to know that my weed was'nt grown on public land. So ya czar is right about the criminal thing and not just because of the drug laws. But dead wrong on violent terrorists.
The response the the earlier, stupid an nitpicking post about the date was stupid. When some one is an idiot and trys to insinuate your a dumb stoner because you made a typo its best to ignore him and hope he goes away I dont think threatining hims a great idea.
comprimising the situation
Why are some of you people out there so against marijuana. Alcohol is surely a worse drug. First, your control of all skills are either disbanded or your brain kicks into a mode where your discussions and actions are not thought over at all. I mean come on , people get drunk,and now at this point, you can't stand them. Then all of a sudden their screaming and gettin` completely out of control.\Have you ever seen a stoned ass m-fer get angry out of controland so defensive to every word you speak? I have'nt, marijuana is not a depressant like alcohol. And unlike alcohol, marijuana usually has the same effect on everyone: symptoms; hungery,happy, and sleepy! Finally, to directly follow all of the criticism/oppinions anyone else may see or feel about marijuana,\ especially for medical use. Put yourself in their ill position. Would'nt you be grateful that there was something to ease your mind and kill your pain? Put yourself in the shoes of the suffering ones before you become part of the crowd who lies behind hypocrisy. When you have a head ache do you not take asprin or tylenol to make yourself feel better? Everyone has ther own life to live. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their complications, and the last thing we need on our mind is worrying about what the next person feels about them or how they cope with each passing moment!
Add new comment