Obama administration drug policy director Gil Kerlikowske, along with his predecessors, John Walters, Barry McCaffrey, Lee Brown, Bob Martinez, and William Bennett, have joined in opposition to the marijuana legalization initiative that will be voted on by Californians in November. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, the sextet of drug czars reject the arguments that "legalizing and taxing marijuana would generate much-needed revenue, and that legalization would allow law enforcement to focus on other crimes."
"Despite the millions spent on marketing the idea, legalized marijuana can't solve California's budget crisis or reduce criminal justice costs," say the current and former officials. "Our combined opposition to this ill-considered scheme spans four different administrations and represents the collective wisdom of a former secretary of Education, a governor, a mayor and teacher, an Army general, a drug policy researcher and two police chiefs. Our opposition to legalizing marijuana is grounded not in ideology but in facts and experience."
Posted by malcolm kyle
Friday, August 27, 2010 12:56
Prohibition is a sickening horror and the ocean of censorship, hypocrisy incompetence, corruption and human wreckage it has left in its wake is almost endless.
Prohibition has decimated generations and criminalized millions for a behavior which is entwined in human existence, and for what other purpose than to uphold the defunct and corrupt thinking of a minority of misguided, self-righteous Neo-Puritans and degenerate demagogues who wish nothing but unadulterated destruction on the rest of us.
Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious reading on the subject of past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation.
By its very nature, prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity, and rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model – the international Drug Trade. Any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are then left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous and ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved. Thus, the allure of this reliably and lucrative industry, with it’s enormous income potential that consistently outweighs the risks associated with the illegal operations that such a trade entails, will remain with us until we are collectively forced to admit the obvious.
A great many of us are slowly but surely wising up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco, clearly two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to your absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society.
There is therefore an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. Anybody ‘halfway bright’, and who’s not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem, it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand. If you are not capable of understanding this connection then maybe you’re using something far stronger than the rest of us. So put away your pipe, lock yourself away in a small room with some tinned soup and water, and try to crawl back into reality A.S.A.P.
Because Drug cartels will always have an endless supply of ready cash for wages, bribery and equipment, no amount of tax money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safe again. Only an end to prohibition can do that! How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?
If you support the Kool-Aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, tortured corpses, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, economic tribulation, unemployment and the complete loss of the rule of law.
“A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”
Abraham Lincoln
The only thing prohibition successfully does is prohibit regulation & taxation while turning even our schools and prisons into black markets for drugs. Regulation would mean the opposite!
Posted by Trevinho
Friday, August 27, 2010 05:38
Even if it was not harmless, there’s no reason to prohibit it. Indeed, this would be one more reason to regulate it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KLy150NR_U
Posted by gin
Friday, August 27, 2010 02:19
hey, you do know that legalizing IS regulating…right? if its legalized then the gov’t will regulate it like alcohol or tobacco. and we all know what happened when they prohibited alcohol….. same thing here, but they are too blinded by $$$ to see whats up…
odds are all the politicians are in the cartel’s collective pockets.
Posted by Jerry Donnley
Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:36
Very concisely written Jillian. Keep using your writing talent for the cause.
Posted by Concerned Parent
Thursday, August 26, 2010 08:06
I have been reading about this prop19 issue since it has been introduced. I am supporting the legalization because I believe what we are doing is not working. we have spent a lot of money yearly and all we have accomplished is more financial responsibility because of court costs and incarceration fees. in California a prisoner cost about $34,000 dollars yearly. multiply that by the prison population and it is a lot of money going out and nothing coming in, Do we need more debt? I don’t necessarily want my kids exposed to any drugs but I would like them to grow up in a reasonable world. It just seems that the government is not listening and it seems when the government ignores reasonable argument it is because changing may cost them. I have always wondered how much money the federal drug czars are making by keeping the Prohibition in place. I have seen a interview just last week with Jesse Ventura and he has further inflamed my suspicions that our government (CIA) is using the sale of drugs to fund their clandestine operations. he points out that the money made from those drug sales is off the books so they do not have to report it to the public. So if that is true they don’t have to disclose the operations they are conducting. why would they want to hide things like that, I am not implying that we should have public notice of their operations but we should be at least assured that someone is holding them accountable. I have also been to counties like Canada that have chosen to legalize marijuana and provide health care solutions to treat other drug addictions and society has not fallen apart. So I ask you, why is the government still wanting to keep Prohibition in place$$$$$$$$$$
Posted by Concerned Parent
Thursday, August 26, 2010 07:29
I have been reading about this prop19 issue since it has been introduced. I am supporting the legalization because I believe what we are doing is not working. we have spent a lot of money yearly and all we have accomplished is more financial responsibility because of court costs and incarceration fees. in California a prisoner cost about $34,000 dollars yearly. multiply that by the prison population and it is a lot of money going out and nothing coming in, Do we need more debt? I don’t necessarily want my kids exposed to any drugs but I would like them to grow up in a reasonable world. It just seems that the government is not listening and it seems when the government ignores reasonable argument it is because changing may cost them. I have always wondered how much money the federal drug czars are making by keeping the Prohibition in place. I have seen a interview just last week with Jesse Ventura and he has further inflamed my suspicions that our government (CIA) is using the sale of drugs to fund their clandestine operations. he points out that the money made from those drug sales is off the books so they do not have to report it to the public. So if that is true they don’t have to disclose the operations they are conducting. why would they want to hide things like that, I am not implying that we should have public notice of their operations but we should be at least assured that someone is holding them accountable. I have also been to counties like Canada that have chosen to legalize marijuana and provide health care solutions to treat other drug addictions and society has not fallen apart. So ask you why is the government still wanting to keep Prohibition in place$$$$$$$$$$
Posted by Mac D
Thursday, August 26, 2010 06:31
Let’s get rid of those neighborhood street dealers by legalizing. Just like we got rid of the Al Capones after ending alcohol prohibition. Let’s take away 50 percent of cartel profits by regulating marijuana in the US. Any Violent deaths are a direct result of prohibition.. Saint Valentine’s Day massacre being a great example of the violence prohibition unleashes.. If cigarettes were illegal, people would start killing in a tobacco drug war too.Raiding peoples homes, cars, lives for a plant then jailing them is a form of kidnapping and terrorism by the U.S. government.. In conclusion, I believe using something safer than alcohol and tobacco should be a freedom for all Americans.
Posted by reeferman
Thursday, August 26, 2010 06:10
The ONLY People who are against legalization are those who’s jobs are at stake.
These are people who are supposed to serve US not themselves.
Your opposition to legalizing it is based NOT on facts. Remember?
You don’t know the facts. At least that’s what your types have claimed since you criminalized a plant.
You (and your predecessors) believe it is better to put someone in jail and ruin their lives than allow them to smoke a plant that HAS been proven over and over and over again to be harmless. THAT is a fact that is grounded in science, not idology.
Posted by Joe Riley
Thursday, August 26, 2010 05:30
The Libertarian Party is shady.. First off they do everything they can to do away with Social Security, even for the people that need it. They want the govt out of your life to the EXTREME – like no more financial aid extreme. I support what Facebook is doing for two reasons – It protects the interests of capitalism in CA by interfering with that stupid Firedog Lake campaign. I DO NOT WANT MARIJUANA LEGALIZED!!!!! I WANT IT REGULATED!! Trademarks, .COM domain names, Interstate Commerce, Patents on Strains, Online Vendors, Bars, Pubs, Tourism, Hospitality, the whole 9 yards. I do not want to see cannabis just become some diluted weed that anyone can pick out of their back yard like all these hippy rebels want(‘MERP’ model etc). You’re a farmer and you grow corn – you bought the land to grow the corn, the tractors and equipment to harvest it, and you pay out the * for marketing, legal fees to protect your patented hybrids, organic/government certifications, etc – do you just give your corn away for free? Keep it CALI first, so we have our NAPA of Cannabis. Worldwide and world renown. Let it then spread to other states SLOWLY, such as NV and CO. That way we enforce a regulatory model and keep pirates out of the business.
Cannabis should be an industry where anyone can get a business loan and put together a great plan, whether it be a bar, a shop, a restaurant, or any type of company. Slap your logo on that bch, call it BuddRuckers.com, pay for a trademark, pass State/Federal marijuana inspections hire employees, pass out fliers, and bon appetit! The DEA should be a quality assurance agency, like the USDA.
CALI IS KING! Mendocino Grown™.
Posted by tony
Thursday, August 26, 2010 02:10
Wow big surprise that the head of the DEA doesn’t want pot to be legal… then there would be no reason to pay him. Prohibition is not a regulated system. That’s simply taking the easy way out. Also what is this crap about years of collective wisdom. I do believe Nixon formed a research team to look into marijuana and determined there was no reason to prohibit weed. Sooo… back to the same ol same ol with politicians lying.
One last thing you can not legislate morality!!!!!!
Posted by Concerned Voter
Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:13
Do you care about this issue? If you do…
Google your state name and “voter registration”.
There will be an online form, or a print-and-mail form, or some other info about how to register, depending on your state.
Do it now, so you can get registered in time to vote in November.
Register. Vote. Change things. Spread the word.
Posted by malcolm kyle
Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:09
We can either ask the Tooth Fairy to stop people taking drugs or we can decide to regulate them properly. Prohibition is not regulation, it’s a hideous nightmare for all of us and our families, except of course for the lowest lifeforms amongst us.
Because Drug cartels will always have an endless supply of ready cash for wages, bribery and equipment, no amount of tax money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safe again. Only an end to prohibition can do that! How much longer are we willing to foolishly risk our own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?
Debating whether a particular drug is harmless or not is missing the whole point. Is marijuana dangerous? I simply don’t care if it is or isn’t. If someone wants to destroy their lives with drugs, thats their business, not anybody else’s. Their lives aren’t ours to direct.
Why on earth does anyone think it’s acceptable to want to control certain behaviors, such as the bedroom habits or choice of poison of fully grown adults? Isn’t it high time we evolved enough to get past this crap? Surely we need to accept, that the only way to truly be free, is that you agree, in return, to allow other people to be free, even if it offends your personal sensibilities. What’s more; if it’s not directly hurting you and you forbid it, then you can be sure that it will create unforeseen circumstances, which WILL have an adverse affect on YOUR wellbeing! — Actually, a large proportion of those arising circumstances may not come as such a surprise to those of us who are capable of paying due attention to historical precedent.
If you support prohibition then you’ve helped trigger the worst crime wave in history.
If you support prohibition you’ve a helped create a black market with massive incentives to hook both adults and children alike.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to make these dangerous substances available in schools and prisons.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped raise gang warfare to a level not seen since the days of alcohol bootlegging.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped create the prison-for-profit synergy with drug lords.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped remove many important civil liberties from those citizens you falsely claim to represent.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped put previously unknown and contaminated drugs on the streets.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to escalate Theft, Muggings and Burglaries.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped to divert scarce law-enforcement resources away from protecting your fellow citizens from the ever escalating violence against their person or property.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped overcrowd the courts and prisons, thus making it increasingly impossible to curtail the people who are hurting and terrorizing others.
If you support prohibition you’ve helped evolve local gangs into transnational enterprises with intricate power structures that reach into every corner of society, controlling vast swaths of territory with significant social and military resources at their disposal.
Posted by Conservative Christian
Thursday, August 26, 2010 09:36
California, you’re up to bat:
Register to vote (fill out the form and mail it in): http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
College students in California: Check this out and help change the world:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/admin/press-releases/prior/2006/06_058.pdf
You can even vote by mail (request a ballot now and skip the election-day crowds)
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_m.htm
Other states: Just google your state name and “voter registration”.
Spread the links!
Posted by Jillian Galloway
Thursday, August 26, 2010 07:56
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S. and because of the prohibition all of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. According to the ONDCP, two-thirds of the Mexican drug cartel’s money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., and they protect this cash flow by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering thousands of innocent people.
Instead of preventing people from smoking, the prohibition creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand – this is where the cartels get the incentive and ability to pay their hitmen.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so now, but if we can’t then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match.
One way or the other we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate two-thirds of their income – no business can withstand that!
Posted by Mark
Thursday, August 26, 2010 07:22
To serve and protect……our jobs.
Posted by tij
Thursday, August 26, 2010 07:14
The drug war will NEVER go away even if marijuana is legalized. I repeat, NEVER. That’s the nature of life. The gangs and cartels will just move on the next substance. First it was alcohol, then 90 years later, marijuana. Next 90 years, it will be cocaine coming from a natural coca plant. As long as there are addicted users, there will always be underground dealers making cash. The ONE and ONLY solution to this problem is to follow the Portugal drug policy. Drug dealers and sellers are still illegal, but the drug users are sent to treatment centers or pay a hefty fine/do community service rather than jail. The more you send drug users to treatment centers, the better. I repeat, the drug war will never end. People will always find or invent a new drug that will be the next forbidden fruit.