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The Drug Czar Shows Weakness in the Marijuana Legalization Debate

There's been much discussion recently about the Drug Czar's request to meet with the Seattle Times editorial board in an apparent response to this editorial endorsement of marijuana legalization. You can read here about how that meeting went, but I think this video more perfectly captures the absurdity of the situation:

If anyone thought he had the ability to intimidate the press and chill the debate, just watch as he instantly loses control of the discussion by insisting pathetically that the timing of his meeting with the Seattle Times was a mere coincidence. Disoriented and defensive, the Drug Czar can scarcely even explain what he's doing in Seattle, let alone offer a spirited rebuttal to the stinging editorial that initiated this series of events.

Kerlikowske is crippled by the distracting strategic necessity of having to avoid admitting that everything he does is just a response to the movement for legalization. He can't admit that we're setting the pace in the debate, so instead he must claim preposterously that his request to meet with the Seattle Times two days after their pro-legalization editorial actually had nothing to do with it. That is actually less humiliating than acknowledging that his real job is just to wag his finger at us.

The whole episode has descended into an embarrassing exhibit in impotence and confusion, as the Drug Czar deploys damage control to the best of his ability and accomplishes nothing other than to legitimize and empower the argument for reform.

Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
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the most disturbing part was

the most disturbing part was right at the end when he tried to smile.

BEST COMMENT EVAR!!! HE

BEST COMMENT EVAR!!! HE  "tried" to smile bwaaahahahahahahahhaha this czar is OVER!

No the most distrubing part

` Is the fact that through their control over Doctor's and the market  I suffered 4 bad back operations and spent 13 years

in bed 3 1/2 not able to do anything because The Doc was afraid he would get into trouble for prescribing me a few Percocet now , to be able to stand on my feet for a little while every day I  take way more and am terrified my Doc will 

end up in Jail and I will be back flat on my back for the rest of my life , as it is I spend 17 to 18 hrs every day in bed . The problem isn't just with me , I bet there are millions of us . That's why we  use so much prescription medicine and why we are quite. a few car wrecks constant pain and millions of hurt people . We must end this drug war now. we must also fix our Health Care Industry . 

PAIN

What you might see as more ironic, is being a person who broke his back last November, ending up with a painful condition called Cauda equina syndrome.  Ironically, I was one of those pain management doctors who lost his practice for trying to treat chronic pain patients compassionately with enough medication to keep them at a more normal lifestyle.  Now my QOL sucks, just like yours does. I also spend 85% of my time in bed because some ass of a doctor is afraid he will lose his license for treating my severe pain with adequate amounts of medication, like I did!

 

I guess that is what happens when you let law enforcement (the DEA) decide the best way to treat chronic pain patients.  They know so much more than us doctors!

marijuana legalization

The drug czar is a moron when it comes to the legalization of marijuana.

I am going to smoke it legal or not.

If it was legal the cheetos people would make a lot of money.

Get the cheetos I have the muchies I be smoking.

Educate the voters on the TRUTH about marijuana!

'If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.' ~Thomas Jefferson

The fact is, Federal marijuana prohibition is illegal! When alcohol was prohibited at the Federal level, that required an amendment to the US Constitution because the Constitution gives NO authority to the Federal Government to regulate drug use! There has been no amendment allowing marijuana prohibition!

Here’s an example of what happens when We The People allow Government to ignore the Constitution and get out of control: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/video-outrage-utah-police-kill-marijuana-...

What % of marijuana consumers beat their wife because of the effects of marijuana? What % of marijuana consumers go to a marijuana party and end up in a fight? What % of marijuana consumers get in a drunken stupor and spend the night in a gutter? What % of marijuana consumers pass out and stay right where they fell long after they soil their pants? What % of marijuana consumers end up choking to death on their own vomit? Exactly 0% ! Marijuana is no different than alcohol? Who are you kidding? No one that knows the truth!

The prohibitionists have been running around thinking they were saving the world from the “evil weed”… a plant that’s safer than aspirin and every other over the counter drug on the market. The so called ”potheads” have been enjoying life, staying under the radar, ”maintaining” and waiting on the drug war’s money to run out, the prisons to fill up, the courts to get so clogged they’re a joke ORRRRRRR for the majority of the voters to learn the truth about marijuana and marijuana prohibition and put an end to the prohibition.  

This war was won by the so called "dumb potheads" before it ever started and the "dummies" knew it all along! LOL!!! 

The really funny thing is the prohibitionists have been calling the so called “potheads” stupid, crazy, lazy, dumb and every other demeaning name they could think of. I wonder if they’re going to need a few rolls of paper towels to wipe all that egg off their faces?

I know we haven’t quite won the drug war yet but just like we always knew… one day we will and that day seems to be getting closer very quickly.

The trick is going to be honoring those like Jack Herer and so many others that have fought for unregulated, untaxed, unrestricted use of this natural plant for all purposes by FREE people. The beer and wine model is the right way to go! Grow all you want for your personal use and regulate sales fairly! Without the right to grow your own, unrestricted, unregulated and untaxed, you’re still going to have a black market because uncle Sham will get greedy if he’s allowed to be the only legal source available.

The movement doesn’t need to cave and opt for ridiculous restrictions, regulations and taxes. It’s already been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that, if necessary, the so called “dumb, lazy, crazy, unmotivated, potheads” will find a way to get their herb, untaxed, unrestricted and unregulated, even if uncle SHAM declares an unconstitutional violent war on them and keeps it going for 40 years… not too shabby for a bunch of “lazy dummies”. I read an article the other day about people flying pot into prison on carrier pigeons! There's a multi-million dollar annual marijuana trade INSIDE the prison system! One guy I read about gets busted on purpose because he can make so much more money selling pot in prison than he can on the street! Marijuana prohibition is closer to the free market system that made this Country great (before the banksters got in control) than the communist/socialist system the DEA and the pharmaceutical companies are trying to ram down our throats.

SOOOO, ladies and gentlemen of the prohibitionist's persuasion… are you still feeling all brainy and superior?

This will be the only war uncle SHAM ever lost on the home field and a bunch of “dumb potheads” will win, imagine that! Which brings a tune to mind that everyone should listen to at least once… ESPECIALLY THE PROHIBITIONISTS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_u-VFdd8_k  Okay two songs: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/880bb91cb1/devil-went-to-ja ...and a cop story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW5trBzVAzE&feature=player_em …and a great report about a major eradication operation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_hrR_oDlGU 

Can’t we all just get abong?... YET?

No matter where you stand on the issue of legalizing marijuana everyone should read: MARIJUANA AND HEMP THE UNTOLD STORY, Thomas J. Bouril, WHY IS MARIJUANA ILLEGAL, Pete Guither and  the free online book: The Emperor Wears No Clothes, The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and The Conspiracy Against Marijuana. Click the links to those titles on this webpage:
Internet Explorer web browser: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home   
All Other Browsers: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html 

If you think marijuana prohibition has anything to do with the imaginary, false, fabricated, alleged harms from using marijuana as a recreational drug, YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED!

Don't fail to educate the public honestly about marijuana and driving either! It's time to concentrate on truly IMPAIRED drivers, instead to trying to monitor what someone has in their system! Millions of people drive SAFELY and LEGALLY everyday under the influence of far more mind altering substances than marijuana! 

The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine document that MARIJUANA DOES NOT CAUSE DANGEROUS DRIVING: http://peaceandloveism.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4692 (read the article not just the link!) 

Google MARIJUANA DRIVING STUDY. You'll see 2 common findings:
1. Drivers under the influence of marijuana are VERY SLIGHTLY impaired.
2. Unlike those under the influence of alcohol, marijuana consumers are aware they are VERY SLIGHTLY impaired and they CONSISTENTLY ADEQUATELY COMPENSATE by slowing down a little and being a little more cautious. That doesn’t mean they get in the fast lane on the interstate and drive 15 miles per hour. Marijuana makes you cautious, not crazy! Those Cheech and Chong movies were comedies, NOT documentaries!

http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-four/  
"In the 1920s and 30s, Hearst's newspapers DELIBERATELY MANUFACTURED a new threat to America and a new yellow journalism campaign to have hemp outlawed. For example, a story of a car accident in which a marijuana cigarette was found would dominate the headlines for weeks, while alcohol-related car accidents (which outnumbered marijuana-connected accidents by more than 10,000 to 1) made only the back pages. This same theme of marijuana leading to car accidents was burned into the minds of Americans over and over again..."

The only marijuana/driving issue that matters is: Does using marijuana cause accidents? The answer is: NO! and that’s a SCIENTIFIC FACT not an opinion!

Want to quickly return this Country to the Constitutional rights and liberties it was founded on? Put Ron Paul in the Whitehouse in 2012 or sooner! Search his name on youtube and listen to his words straight from his own mouth! He represents the Constitution and We The People better than any Federal representative we have and his voting record proves it!
 

The American Drug War is a total failure!

 

The American Drug War is a total failure! It is high time (pun intended!) to end the insanity.  It's all about greed, power and control... The government and law enforcement lose more credibility every day that they maintain their irrational, greedy, narrow minded stance against legalization. We The People need to stand up and speak out for full legalization of marijuana and industrial hemp... Marijuana should be legalized for several different, good reasons.  We need cannabis hemp for medicine, food, fuel and fiber. Marijuana really is good medicine for many different ailments and lately has been shown effective against cancer. We should stand up for our rights.  We should be allowed to light up a joint for relaxation and recreation. What we do in privacy is our own business, not Big Brother's...  No one has ever died from a marijuana overdose; it is not toxic to the human body. Alcohol and tobacco ARE bad for you, and addictive too... but still they are legal.  Think about how many people die each year due to alcohol and tobacco use.  Cannabis is no more addictive than coffee! Ever wonder why marijuana is illegal? Greed, yellow journalism, racism, outright lies and vicious, misleading propaganda were used by W.R. Hearst, the DuPonts, the Rockefellers and our government to get hemp banned in the first place. They were afraid of the competition then and they still are!  The Drug Czar at the time The Marihuana Tax Act was passed, Harry Anslinger, used outright lies, racism and underhanded politics to further the agenda of the Rich and Powerful. Every Drug Czar since then has followed in Anslinger's footsteps.  Nowadays, 18 billion dollars is wasted each year on the American Drug War.  Our government forces marijuana prohibition on other nations, causing hardship and increased crime. Want to talk about addiction?  Our government is addicted to the profits from the Drug War.   It is a sad fact that our own government no longer has the best interests of the American People at heart.  The federal government's insistence that we must not grow hemp because there is no way to discern industrial hemp from marijuana is absurd; they have different growth habits and appearance.  Inspectors in other nations which do grow industrial hemp have no problem figuring out the difference. The federal government is admitting to ignorance if they pretend otherwise. Stand up for your rights. The Powers That Be who are pulling the strings that control our federal government are doing everything they can to keep knowledge about the benefits of marijuana and industrial hemp from you because Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Lumber, Big Law Enforcement, Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol realize their cash cow (the lost Drug War) is at stake. Big Pharma knows marijuana is good medicine but they don''t want you to have it unless they can control it; they're after the MONEY. But they can't patent a natural plant.  Many medical organizations agree that marijuana is good medicine for a wide variety of ailments.  Big Brother knows that legalization would put the power and the money back in the hands of the people and they hate the very thought of that happening.  They are quite willing to be heavy handed, to use blackmail and to lie to the American public in order to keep marijuana from being legalized.   All those hundreds of thousands of men and women (many of them very young) who have been incarcerated for cannabis should be released so that they can resume their productive lives. Within three or four years, we can be making enough alcohol from hemp to allow us to almost completely quit using gasoline. Fuel prices will go way down.  Hemp oil is an excellent lubricant.   Big Oil fears cannabis hemp mightily. It will cause them to lose their stranglehold on us and nations of the world.   Hemp will grow anywhere, from deserts to mountains to rain forests... It is much better for our environment than other crops, such as cotton and makes much better products.  Small farmers will have a way to make a better living. We can stop cutting down our old growth forests.  The huge amount of money being made by organized criminals will suddenly be cut off, crime will decrease, Mexico can finally be allowed to legalize. The drug cartels in Mexico will lose 80% of their business overnight. Crime down there will decrease dramatically. Mexico DID LEGALIZE IT a few years back but backed off quickly from that after much pressure was applied by the U.S. government... I could go on and on. If you still are not sure whether cannabis should be legalized, do the right thing, inform yourself; study everything you can find out about it, then you will be convinced that legalization is The Right Thing To Do... God put this herb on the earth for us to use. Let's use it wisely. Legalize it, regulate it, tax it at a reasonable rate. Keep it illegal for minors, just like alcohol. This new income would provide a much needed boost to our economy. Be wise. Pray about this. Listen to your heart. Then support legalization. Your country needs this. The world needs this. Our damaged environment needs this desperately. Support NORML, The Marijuana Policy Project and other organizations working for legalization. Contact your representatives in the legislature (state and federal) and let them know how you feel. The time to stand up is now. It is no longer a question of IF cannabis will be legalized but WHEN...Big Brother is scared and getting desperate!  Thank you for listening.

nice work

i couldn't have said it better myself.  I could have, but i realised that, i didn't need to and had another "hot one"

It's Over!

 

 

Apparently you didn't get the memo - that the war on drugs ended two years ago.  So why is this site still here?  It's over.  Turn out the lights and lock the doors.  Take a well-earned vacation. Congratulations!

BTW, who won?

Gil.....

Your fired, pack your bags and leave the white house. We no longer need your so called "Services" and we will gladly take our tax dollars that go to you back :)

2 must see movies & a 3rd which explains our built in pot system

http://watch.montanapbs.org/video/1825223761/

http://marijuanamovie.org/  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp633lcU9F8 The first two are just under an hour, each, the last is less than 10 minutes.  But you will learn a lot.  Help make them go viral and the war on pot will be over before we know it.  Then the war on other drugs will soon follow.

Free Market Hemp

A New Economic Foundation,

 Renewable Energy and the Social Contract

 

We have an opportunity to create a new economic foundation based on renewable natural resources, yielding thousands of green jobs, producing a sustainable replacement for oil and the restoration of social consent and confidence in the body politic. All of that and more made manifest by a stroke of the pen, simply by properly classifying hemp as the medicine and beneficial resource that over 100,000,000 Americans already know it is. Hemp, cannabis is good.

 

The social benefit of a rational hemp policy would be to restore social consent and confidence in the body politic. Currently, over 100,000,000 Americans have used marijuana and have decided that it is a good thing, not dangerous and should be free, not used to ruin peoples lives by arrest, confiscation and disenfranchisement. Thinking people do their own research and many times conclude that the laws against marijuana are arbitrary, unjust, wrong and that the only people who support them are either uninformed or their jobs depend upon the mandatory acceptance of marijuana prohibition.  This is the true silent majority, citizens who think that the marijuana laws are irrational and are afraid of persecution and discrimination if they express their opinions publicly.

 

Industrial hemp production could provide a domestic and renewable source of fuel, fiber and jobs. Hemp can be grown, produced and processed all across the land by thousands of urban farmers using land, lots, parks and public lands lying fallow and unused. These green jobs are about the growing, harvesting and processing of locally grown organics for food and fuel and could constitute the bedrock of a truly independent economy, intrinsically secure, renewable and stable, sustainable and most importantly doable.

 

The benefits of a rational hemp policy are financial, social and moral.

The economic impact of is three fold; first is the creation of Jobs based on a sustainable, clean source of fuel, fiber and medicine, estimated at over One Trillion dollars. Good jobs that produce energy and tax revenue that can not be exported.

The second is the savings to taxpayers by eliminating the money spent on law enforcement, the courts and prisons, estimated at over 8 billion a year. The third is the cost to individuals and families who are criminalized by a system that encourages law enforcement to arrest people, fine them, confiscate their property, and disenfranchise them from the vote, healthcare, professional licenses and credit. This cost is measured in the billions of dollars. All totaled the war on marijuana and the lost opportunities to develop hemp; combined with the needless suffering of those persecuted is over 2 Trillion dollars a year.

The moral benefit is simple; the truth will set us free.

 

We need to decriminalize marijuana and repel the effects of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act to restore the production, development and use of the most sustainable, renewable natural resource recorded in history.  Hemp production can replace the use of oil as a fuel quickly, efficiently and at low cost. Hemp is a renewable crop that can be grown on land not used for food, improving the land and providing a carbon neutral source of fuel. Hemp production and processing will create jobs all across the land while providing a local and domestic source of energy.

The use of marijuana for medical purposes is the oldest and most universally documented use of any substance in medical history. 13 states have decided that marijuana is a beneficial plant and it is time allow and encourage the use and investigation of medical marijuana and industrial hemp.

 

Hemp production was the economic foundation of colonial America because it was readily grown and used for over 25,000 different purposes; Hemp was grown for sails, rope, oil for lamps, clothing and high quality paper. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper by Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of hemp for commerce, medicine and recreation. George Washington was one of the largest hemp growers in the colonies and the renewable income produced by this plant sustained our first president and his family before, during and after the revolution. It is fair to say that the spirit to be free and independent was made possible by the ability of our fore fathers to be economically independent and free. Hemp production was the backbone of liberty, freedom and economic independence for colonial America and could once again be the keystone of a renewable, sustainable and yes, Independent economy.

free energy

Although the social benefit of a rational hemp policy would be to restore social consent and confidence in the body politic. It is not still enough to be the reason to make marijuana illegal. I never thought that , over 100,000,000 Americans have used marijuana and have decided that it is a good thing, not dangerous and should be free, not used to ruin peoples lives by arrest, confiscation and disenfranchisement. All I can say is too much of something will cause everything.


 

Oppressive Government

A government that legally oppresses it's own people because they decide to smoke a little grass.  Blasphemy.

Weak Interview Gives Shelter to Kerlikowske’s Fictions

QuestionWe have availability though of alcohol, and I could somewhat argue that alcohol is as much a problem in our society as the drug problem is…and that marijuana is nowhere near a problem as alcohol might be?

KerlikowskeWell you know, I don’t try to tier which is worse and which is less harmful….

The interviewer fails to follow up with a “why not” on why the Drug Czar either doesn’t desire to, or seemingly can’t tell the difference between problematic drugs and those that are comparatively benign.  If the drug czar really can’t tell the difference, he’s unqualified to involve himself in any drug issue, much less be the czar.  Or if the whys-and-wherefores are too damned embarrassing to admit to, as they no doubt are, then the public needs to know it.

Kerlikowske continuing:  I think the San Diego newspaper summed it up very well and said: “why would we want one more mind altering substance readily available…?”

Smoking gun.  Kerlikowske said he wasn’t coming to Seattle to bully the Seattle Times.  Here he implies a newspaper in San Diego had a better summary of his mind altering ONDCP propaganda; which immediately infers that the Seattle Times’s summary was not so good.  He certainly doesn’t quote the Seattle Times.  San Diego newspaper good; Seattle Times newspaper bad.

Again, the interviewer fails to ask a question involving some exemplary reasons why a far superior mind altering substance might be an option and a useful alternative to legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco. 

The whole interview is a puff piece that comes across showing a fear of authority on the part of the interviewer.  In the realm of truth, Kerlikowske’s power rests on thin air.  The Drug Czar is effectively a PR man for the cartels.  The next interviewer needs to be much more aggressive.

Giordano

Gil needs to be sued in a court of law

Unless and until these salaried mendicants are hauled into a court of law and placed under oath and questioned as to the basis for their 'facts' regarding cannabis prohibition, we'll keep getting this bull.

There have to be penalties for lying...and that's all that prohibs do is lie.

Kerlikowske not disoriented, merely dissembling

 

I've watched this interview a couple of times. I have also heard Kerlikowske speak in person.

I don't share Scott's assessment at all that he was disoriented or defensive.

I think he was lying, and the slight nervousness or hesitancy he exhibits most likely reflects that even as an experienced liar he is still nervous. He said he was not surprised by the editorial because people have been advocating or predicting the legalization of marijuana since 1979. Huh? How does this mean he was not surprised by the editorial?  He was obviously lying when he said that the request to meet with the editorial board, made two days after the pro-legalization editorial, had nothing to do with the pro-legalization stance of the editorial. It may be that the editorial reminded his staff that since he was going to Seattle to talk about drugs that it would be an appropriate opportunity for him to meet with the editorial board. But to insist that there was no connection was an obvious lie.

In the interview, he lied about federal anti-drug spending and the relative amount of drug enforcement spending versus treatment and prevention spending, claiming that the focus is no longer on enforcement, interdiction and international efforts. Here's a link to a one-page summary at his webpage: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/11budget/table1.pdf  (And it is worth noting that those numbers do not include about $3.4 billion for the cost of federal imprisonment of about 100,000 federal drug offenders, as well as other costs.)

His statement was completely in line with what I have observed over thirty years of watching top federal officials talking about drugs, namely, their unrestrained, unembarrassed, even enthusiastic willingness to tell preposterous lies.

Of course they tell lies about the effects of drugs. They insist upon exaggerating the harmfulness of the illegal drugs, and as Kerlikowske did in this interview, minimize the relative harmfulness of alcohol, and his concern about it. They disregard the limitations of the data when there is evidence of harmfulness, such as the increased risk of psychosis or schizophrenia due to very heavy use by very young users.

Tragically, when it comes to "sending a message" to the young, government officials such as Kerlikowske are oblivious to the counter-reaction of their bald-faced exaggerations, misrepresentations and lies. The bottom line of their "message-sending" is, "we don't respect you enough to tell the truth, we think you are too stupid to tell when we are bull-shitting you."

Of course they tell lies about almost every statistic regarding drug enforcement. They habitually exaggerate the value of their seizures, for example. When they seize a ton of cocaine, its real value, as a loss, is what it will cost the owner to replace the ton.  Plausibly one can describe the loss in terms of the unrealized sale by the owner to various buyers (brokers and wholesalers) at a large-quantity import price. But it is absurd to describe its value in terms of the sum of more than a million 1 gram, 1/2 gram, 1/4 gram retail street purchases. No one, for example, talks about the dollar loss to a rancher when a steer dies in a blizzard in Nebraska by computing its value as the sum of the retail sales of thousands 4 or 8 ounce hamburgers that could be formed from the weight of the entire steer ground up (including skin, bones, hooves, entrails, etc.).

Government officials habitually lie about government programs and their effectiveness. For example, without any data to support it, Kerlikowske has repeatedly lied in other contexts to claim that increases in the rate of young adults using marijuana is because of the public discussion about the medical value of marijuana. And he compounds this lie by repeatedly ignoring plausible explanations for the increase which are the repeatedly confirmed scientific findings -- funded by his office -- that the ONDCP national youth media campaign was counterproductive and that the Safe and Drug Free Schools program was an ineffective waste of money, and should no longer be funded.

I wish that Scott were right in his observation of Kerlikowse's mannerisms in this interview, but I did not see a disoriented, defensive drug czar. Maybe I am so used to expecting the drug czars to lie, that was all I was able to see in this interview.

Re:

Eric, yes, he lied repeatedly throughout the interview and I could have put more emphasis on that, but it's so typical that I didn't really feel like writing another "Drug Czar is a liar" type post. I think it's fascinating that he denies any association between the editorial and the meeting request, and yes, I'd argue that he's being defensive when he struggles to distance himself from the appearance that he's attempting to insert himself into the legalization debate.

I learned years ago, from you in fact, that one of the central tactics of our opposition is to behave as though there's no legitimate debate to be had, and to avoid direct exchanges with us at all cost. That's becoming increasingly difficult as the discussion of reform becomes ubiquitous. Forcing the Drug Czar into a reactionary stance is a remarkable achievement and I find the circumstances of this event more interesting than the predictable dishonesty he displayed. I may have overstated the case, but I wanted to soften the fears I've seen around the web that the Drug Czar's recent actions could somehow intimidate the press. I think the opposite is true.

Not intimidating!!

Scott, you are right on target in noting that this drug czar is not intimidating. The panic that Gil Kerlikowske would intimidate the Seattle Times editorial board -- into retracting their editorial, or anything else -- was silly.

Is there any point in organizing a campaign to try to replace Kerlikowske for nonfeasance or for his consistent falsehoods, especially his misrepresentation of the Administration's budget?

Eric

The answer to your question of nonfeasance and lying as a reason to get rid of Gil is simply "NO".  The job description for the job he holds REQUIRES that he lie to the American people, constantly.  Frankly, I cannot conceive of any reason why any truly honest person would willingly take a job like that, therefore it is my conclusion that he was never an honest man to begin with.

Jesus said...

Jesus said to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us. None of us would want our child thrown in jail with the sexual predators for using a little marijuana. None of us would want to see our parent's home confiscated and sold by the police for growing a couple of marijuana plants to ease the aches and pains of growing older. It's time to stop putting our own families in jail. It's time to let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards, and it's nice to see our culture coming to terms with this in a more wholesome fashion. This will go a long way toward putting the criminal drug gangs out of business for good!

From the LP on the Drug War

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 9, 2011

Contact: Wes Benedict, Executive Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 202-333-0008 ext. 222

War on Drugs leads to gun smuggling nightmare

WASHINGTON - According to CBS, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been involved in undercover operations to smuggle high-powered weapons into Mexico, probably as some sort of tracking operation. Now many of those weapons are in the hands of ruthless drug traffickers, which they are using to intimidate and kill people.

Libertarian Party chair Mark Hinkle issued this statement today:

"This is another sad chapter in the long story of the terribly destructive War on Drugs. Now our own government is apparently involved in smuggling weapons to drug lords in Mexico. This story is as bizarre as it is depressing.

"The War on Drugs has caused far more death and destruction than it has prevented. The War on Drugs is a failure in almost every measurable way. The War on Drugs should end.

"It's becoming more and more unclear whether the U.S. government even wants the violence to decrease. More drug violence means more jobs for federal drug agents. More drug arrests mean more jobs for prison construction and management contractors. There are a lot of people whose income depends on a big, thriving, unsuccessful War on Drugs.

"If the War on Drugs were halted, there would no longer be any such thing as 'drug trafficking.' Violence in Mexico would decrease very dramatically, as drug lords would quickly go out of business.

"A lot of liberals and libertarians were hoping that President Obama and a Democratic Congress might at least tone down the War on Drugs, but they have done nothing of the kind. They have kept this war going as strong as ever.

"It looks like those of us opposed to the War on Drugs can forget about help from the Democratic Party. Only the Libertarian Party will fight to end the misguided, wasteful, and destructive War on Drugs.

"One of the things that saddens me is that our foolish and unjust drug laws are leading to the deaths of thousands of Mexican citizens. Those Mexicans can't vote in our elections to change our drug laws -- they just have to wait and hope they aren't the drug lord's next victim.

"We Libertarians call for an end to the War on Drugs: an end to federal prohibition of the possession and sale of narcotics. Would that lead to increased drug abuse? It's hard to know -- probably not much -- but nothing could be worse than the death and destruction our government has unleashed with its War on Drugs."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

Drug War = Slave Enforcement

Kerlikowske's mission appears to be to say as little as possible while appearing alert and concerned.  Similarly Obama and Democrats aren't bad guys-- they try to do what's necessary to  keep from getting shot. 

In @Clodhopper's list of bigs-- Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Lumber, Big Law Enforcement, Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol-- who will use Koch Bros. Cash or whatever else they can get their hands on to revenge themselves on any bureaucrat or politician who lets cannabis get legalized, pay special attention to TOBACCO.  This "Industry" has a worldwide empire of 1.2 billion slave puffsucker addicts (of which 45 million in USA), and continues to the present day to employ an auxiliary Slave Control Enforcement Industry (now known as the Drug War) essentially similar to that which flourished for centuries in the USA until 1863.  Example: in New York 3 or 4 times as many blacks as whites per capita are arrested for cannabis, i.e. the "Drug War" alias Corrections is a creature of habit and even attacks mostly the same class of victims as it did 150 years ago under Fugitive Slave Laws.

Slaveowners are the most vindictive class of human being; legalizing cannabis in the face of Big 2WackGo today is the equivalent of founding a free-soil Cannada or Cannecticut to which a slave could escape then.  Obama and Kerlikowske diddle around and say No no no today for the same reason Lincoln did until a couple of battlefield victories persuaded him the coast was clear to issue the Emancipation Proclamation (1863).

@ Moonrider: For Greens and Libertarians, the first step toward breaking the two-party Duopoly's "Captive Primary" system: promote changing election law in this country to an Open Primary/Runoff system (several types proposed-- study them!).  The enlightened cannabis users of tomorrow will be intellectually capable of casting 1-2-3 preferential votes in a Presidential Primary.

The so-called war on drugs

The so-called "War On Drugs" isn't a war on drugs, it's a war on marijuana. And more specifically, it's not a war on marijuana, it's a war on stoners, on heads, on people that use reefer: YOU and ME - peaceful, job holding, tax paying, otherwise law abiding citizens. "Alcohol is OK, reefer is BAD"; that's the message that's been pushed in America for the past several decades, and mainstream America has drunk the kool-aid. It's time for change. http://partyseeking.blogspot.com/2011/03/war-on-drugs.html

USA drugs Culture wants political freedom to use drugs and sell

USA drugs Culture wants political freedom to use drugs and sell drug

Drugs political freedom for our culture to use drugs to benefit life. I offer freedom of safe use for our people in the world Who Wants to join in this battle for liberty and political rights. The right for our people.
The rights have and use drugs. Their drug laws take a way these rights by say people can't do drugs when they are using them . People want their rights and freedom of choice. So lets put a light on the drug laws that in slave the culture of people and make the abuse . .Make the drug illegal that way people can't see how it used. Vote Carl Caswell for a better way . For your freedom to use drugs safe
Join the political party
Freedom fighters do we have to spark up liberty flame To show them the light to see that by keep drugs illegal . That they can have drugs use wrong and not right. Feel the warmth of liberty light and give our people their rights!! Vote for a better way


Massachusetts Drug Reform Community Meeting
March 20, 2011, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Abbot Public Library Meeting Room
235 Pleasant Street
Marblehead, MA 01945

The purpose of this meeting is for political freedom of the drug culture, to
stop drug abuse and for freedom of safe use. Free food and soft drinks

Abbot Public Library is not a sponsor.

If you want people to pay attention to you

You need to get someone who speaks American English fluently who also has excellent editing skills to write your speeches and edit your writings.  Your post, here, is difficult to read for the grammatical errors.  This is intended as constructive criticism; I'm not putting you down, I want your effort to succeed.  The more reformers who succeed, the better for ALL of us.

MARIJUANA wants to rewrite history

We have been raise in a culture that is against prohibited drugs, that it does not promote a better life.  Never ever in our history shows essential contribution of this so called prohibited drugs, in this issue that would be marijuana. 

But as we move the hands of time, this plant that was attached to an image of violence and crime is slowly creating its importance.  Medicine was the strongest stand it holds until now, that many lives have had been save because of marijuana components.

However, legalizing and letting "innocent" public access can never ever be essential.  Disadvantages is always preying on those weak and vulnerable, doors for the risk of youth engaging to crimes, increasing drug abuse will be open widely if this will push through.

fletch's picture

He's A Keeper

Look, he is not a real zealot and his wishy-washy style is just fine. Mr. Kerlikowski is the known enemy. And besides, anyone who even looks a little bit like Fred Willard can never be taken seriously. Let him be the drug czar we could do a whole lot worse.

fletch's picture

He's A Keeper

Look, he is not a real zealot and his wishy-washy style is just fine. Mr. Kerlikowski is the known enemy. And besides, anyone who even looks a little bit like Fred Willard can never be taken seriously. Let him be the drug czar we could do a whole lot worse.

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