|
In
a
Strong
Reversal,
Congress
Prohibits
Drug
Czar
from
Running
Ads
Against
Ballot
Measures
and
Candidates
6/6/03
(press release from Drug
Policy Alliance, http://www.drugpolicy.org)
In a surprising vote, the
House Government Reform Committee voted to turn-back sweeping anti-drug
measures that a House Subcommittee had approved just weeks ago. If
enacted, the anti-drug measures would have, among other things, spent millions
of dollars in local and state law-enforcement funding to arrest AIDS and
cancer patients that smoked marijuana for medicinal reasons and given the
Bush White House the unprecedented ability to spend over a billion dollars
in taxpayer money to try to defeat medical marijuana ballot measures and
pro-reform candidates for public office. Committee Members not only
repealed these provisions, they passed many other important drug policy
reforms.
"This is a major victory
for the majority of Americans that favor a more compassionate and less
expensive national drug policy," said Bill Piper, Associate Director of
National Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Members of this committee
should be thanked for working to ensure that federal bureaucrats don't
use taxpayer money to tell taxpayers how to vote, that states that adopt
medical marijuana laws are not financially punished, and that former drug
offenders are not denied student loans."
The bill under question,
the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2003,
was ultimately approved by the Committee with significant changes.
If enacted by the House and Senate, it would renew the Office of National
Drug Control Policy (the so-called drug czar's office) for five more years
as well as continue the office's billion dollar anti-drug advertising program.
The House Government Reform
Committee:
-
Repealed provisions allowing
Drug Czar John Walters and the Bush White House to spend up to $195 millions
a year in taxpayer money to defeat medical marijuana ballot measures and
pro-reform candidates;
-
Added new provisions prohibiting
the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign from ever being used to defeat
pro-reform candidates, legislation, regulations or ballot measures;
-
Eliminated provisions allowing
the drug czar's office to run anti-drug ads without telling voters the
ads were paid for by the government;
-
Restored requirements that anti-drug
ads include specific information on prevention or treatment resources for
viewers within specific local areas;
-
Repealed provisions allowing
the drug czar to divert millions of dollars away from local and state law-enforcement
agencies to federal agencies to arrest medical marijuana patients and their
caregivers; and
-
Supported a provision requiring
the Drug Czar to decertify the federal budget if the Department of Education
blocks school loans and grants to certain former drug offenders.
Although very important, drug
policy experts believe the Committee's reforms do not go far enough.
For example, the reform of the ban on providing people convicted of drug
offenses with financial aid still leaves tens of thousands of poor and
middle-class Americans without the ability to go to college, if their offenses
occurred while they were in school receiving financial aid. However,
it was the first ever rollback of the controversial program blocking aid
to students who received drug convictions. Drug Policy Alliance thanked
Representatives Mark Souder (R-IN) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for the step
but also vowed to continue fighting for full repeal.
Recent rulings by the US
Office of Special Counsel indicate that the Committee's attempt to reign
in the power of the drug czar to lobby and campaign at taxpayer expense
doesn't go far enough. The US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recently
ruled that the Hatch Act, a federal law designed to keep federal officials
from campaigning at taxpayer expense, does not apply to ballot measure
campaigns. OSC ruled that Drug Czar John Walters could legally use
the power of his office to campaign against local and state drug-related
ballot measures he doesn't like, including spending taxpayer money on campaign
trips. OSC even ruled John Walters could use the threat of withholding
or giving federal funds to state agencies to coerce state officials into
opposing certain ballot measures.
-- END --
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Issue #290, 6/6/03
Editorial: Courage and Perseverance | Thousands Rally in NYC to Demand Repeal of Rockefeller Drug Laws | Medical Marijuana Cultivator Rosenthal Sentenced to One Day, Plus Probation | DEA Uses RAVE Act Threats to Block Montana NORML/SSDP Benefit | Dems on Drugs: The Presidential Contenders and Their Drug Policies | In a Strong Reversal, Congress Prohibits Drug Czar from Running Ads Against Ballot Measures and Candidates | Newsbrief: Texas Governor Signs Bill Freeing Tulia 14 | Newsbrief: Sentencing Reform -- No in Oklahoma | Newsbrief: Sentencing Reform -- Yes in Missouri | Newsbrief: Feds Reject MPP Complaint Against Drug Czar | Newsbrief: The Next Prohibition? Surgeon General Supports Banning Tobacco | Newsbrief: Belgian Marijuana Decriminalization Now in Effect | Newsbrief: DEA Can't Kidnap People in Other Countries, Federal Court Rules | The Reformer's Calendar
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