Tweet
Below is what I received from the White House on a petition I signed; read it and weep.
What We Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana
By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug’s effects.
According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world’s largest source of drug abuse research – marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health – especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20′s. Simply put, it is not a benign drug.
Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition.
As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use.
That is why the President’s National Drug Control Strategy is balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering our communities. Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences in America. And, as we’ve seen in our work through community coalitions across the country, this approach works in making communities healthier and safer. We’re also focused on expanding access to drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today. And through our work with innovative drug courts across the Nation, we are improving our criminal justice system to divert non-violent offenders into treatment.
Our commitment to a balanced approach to drug control is real. This last fiscal year alone, the Federal Government spent over $10 billion on drug education and treatment programs compared to just over $9 billion on drug related law enforcement in the U.S.
Thank you for making your voice heard. I encourage you to take a moment to read about the President’s approach to drug control to learn more.
Resources:
* National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
* Marijuana Facts (ONDCP)
* Drug Abuse Warning Network (HHS)
* Treatment Episode Data Set (HHS)
* National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS)
Check out this response on We the People.
Stay Connected
Stay connected to the White House by signing up for periodic email updates from President Obama and other senior administration officials.
“We the people”; yeah,right.
“land of the free, home of the brave” stopped being long ago.
14 Comments
It would be nice to hear a statement by the administration on Marijuana Legalization that didn’t come from the ONDCP.
I may have been a little late to the party, but I didn’t find out until not too long ago, that the Drug Czar/ONDCP is required by its Congressional charter to oppose all attempts to legalize any ‘illicit’ drug – regardless of evidence.
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/drug-czar-required/
“Marijuana…causes Severe…Irreparable…BRAIN DAMAGE!!!”
–from Reefer Madness, US Government propaganda film, 1930′s.
Obama should be saying, “The legalization or decriminalization for marijuana would have potentially adverse consequences on the profits of the major pharmaceutical companies, which would cause a loss of American jobs, which is why my Administration has misinterpreted all of the scientific evidence about the harmless effects of marijuana. Besides, this is an election year, and I need all of the financial help I can get in order to continue my agenda to increase Wall Street profits, because what is good for Wall Street and the major corporations is good for America, and anyone opposed to this agenda is opposed to America, and I represent ALL of the American and allied corporations, not just a few.
“Now, any of you young people or others out there criticizing my unscientific marijuana policies are free to do so, just remember that the Republican will be even worse than I come November. Thank you, and God Bless America.”
Barry, you’re a corporate whore. Admit it!
I heard this on TV and it made quite an impression at the time so this is a fairly accurate quote, but no link, so take it with however many grains of salt you wish.
Carter was asked if the 1980 election had taught him anything or something to that effect and his reply was: “One thing I learned is that you can’t win reelection as a Democrat without the left wing of the party.”
No shit, Sherlock.
Of course, I’m a fucking retard, so you don’t want my vote anyway, right? Because I would have to be a fucking retard to support you again.
Thanks, I never knew this. The info ought to be headlined,circulated far and wide.
“According to Title VII Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998: H11225:
Responsibilities. –The Director– [...]
(12) shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that–
1. is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and
2. has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration;”
“The GAO responded (pdf):
Finally, apart from considerations of whether any particular law has been violated, you have asked whether the Deputy Director’s letter disseminated misleading information in connection with statements relating to the debate over legalization of marijuana. [...]
ONDCP is specifically charged with the responsibility for “taking such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use” of certain controlled substances such as marijuana —- a responsibility which logically could include the making of advocacy statements in opposition to legalization efforts. The Deputy Director’s statements about marijuana are thus within the statutory role assigned to ONDCP. Given this role, we do not see a need to examine the accuracy of the Deputy Director’s individual statements in detail.
Translation: Since lying is in the job description of the ONDCP, there’s no point in bothering to see whether they’re telling the truth.”
PS: What a shock. Enjoy the rest of your term, Obama; you have lost the support of millions of the good citizens you treat as criminals for behaving just like you did – except that most of us stay away from that dangerous drug, cocaine.
So if we fail to support you, we will get someone who protects the torturers, the criminal bankers, and other upper class miscreants, while making deals to ship American jobs overseas – like Bushes three trade deals. Of course, Bush couldn’t get those deals past the Democrats in congress – and you did. And how many torturers and banker/fraudsters have you indicted?
Now I’m confused; explain again to me why the hell I should vote for you?
Glad I could help. I thought I was fairly well versed in the MJ Legalization/Drug War department, but like I said, I didn’t find this until fairly recently.
Educate. Legalize. Regulate.
Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children .
And if it’s ok for someone to be cannon fodder for the government or vote for elected officials, it would seem only right and fair to allow them the choice of whether they want to possibly negatively affect their brains.
But that would mean there is liberty and justice for all and obviously there isn’t.
“As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem.”
This is contradictory to all the solutions this tool goes on to suggest.
Old argument I know, but for those under 20, pot is much easier to get than alcohol, because it is regulated. Once you go to prohibition, you lose control to the black market you automatically created through…prohibition.
They all know this, it is not rocket science. Just remember though that both of the groups that profit most from prohibition, the dealers and the police, are heavily armed and won’t give up their profit center without a fight. Public safety is a joke to BOTH parties.
obama is hopeless
So my take on controlling addiction. It can’t be done without causing more collateral damage. I have been married to an alcoholic drug addict for 20 years. It was only when I stopped trying to control him, and shame him that he quit on his own. Our desire to control what we cannot control is causing more problems that the addiction itself. My experience in 12 steps programs is that there is a lot of serenity in using them. That these 12 steps are used in almost every country across the world. That maybe, if we were to let go of controlling the disease…(which is where the violence comes from) and let go…and put our resources into taxing and treating the disease…we might just end up with the most enlightened country on the earth…
Let go and let god…live and let live…it works…attraction, not promotion.
“Carter was asked if the 1980 election had taught him anything or something to that effect and his reply was: “One thing I learned is that you can’t win reelection as a Democrat without the left wing of the party.”
I wasn’t around when Carter was president, but I would venture a guess that Obama has been more aggressive in dissing his own base than Carter was.
56% of adults have tried marijuana – I believe that’s a state from several years ago, so the number is surely higher now. How insane is it that we criminalize something most people have done? Criminalizing human behavior is, of course, the essential activity of the police state.
Of course, someone will point out that we criminalize hitting people, though most folks have done it. The difference, of course, is obvious. One has to wade deep into the realms of abstraction to try to show that use of marijuana causes harm to others, and by that point, one is judging by standards that would make most things criminal. Hitting is, of course, the epitome of harming others, the very essence of it.
Of course, of course, of course drug prohibition is insane, vicious and absolutely essential to the black economy indulged in on both sides of the law, and equally essential to the police state.
If we want this nonsense drug war to end then we’re going to have to do what works! 10 States ended alcohol prohibition before the Federal government did. This movement has to come from the bottom up, not from the top down. Once enough cities legalize States will follow and then the Federal government will be forced to legalize too.
Did you know marijuana has been LEGAL in Denver since 2005? Do what they did in Denver in your city!
How To Make Pot Legal in Your Town, USA
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4659.html
The drug warriors are going to fight it based on State and federal law but just keep adding cities until we win!
The key is EDUCATING the voters! Get as many people as you can to read:
THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES, Jack Herer
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/
Prohibition is making a lot of rich people richer. That’s why Obama favors it.
Marijuana is not a drug. It is a naturally occurring herb. It does not need to be taxed or regulated any differently than tomatoes or basil.