A Revealing Remark From the Deputy Drug Czar
Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns visited Arcata, CA last week to see "America’s grow house capitol" firsthand. After meeting with local authorities and accompanying police on a few marijuana raids, he said this:
…regarding enforcement, Burns seemed to offer a mixed message. While unyielding in asserting that federal law holds marijuana illegal under all circumstances and trumps all state and local medical cannabis laws, Burns nonetheless advised Arcatans to “defer 100 percent good judgment of the people who have been elected and appointed” while motioning to those present in the APD conference room. But most of them are working on guidelines under which medical marijuana may be safely cultivated and dispensed. [Arcata Eye]
I just cannot possibly point out often enough that the conflict between state and federal drug laws doesn't marginalize the value of state-level reforms. The deputy drug czar doesn’t arrive in California with a convoy of DEA super-narcs to slash and burn everything in sight. He can't do that and he knows it, as his remark clearly illustrates.
The federal war on medical marijuana is a political strategy designed to create the appearance of chaos in order to deter other states from implementing medical marijuana laws. Medical marijuana is more available than ever before, notwithstanding sporadic DEA activity in California. Yet we still hear folks suggesting that "the DEA will just swoop in and ruin everything" if we pass new marijuana reforms at the state-level. To be clear, the DEA has ruined many lives, but it has not ruined California's medical marijuana law. That should be obvious to all of us.
The DEA cannot overcome the will of voters and I'm tired of seeing the press and even some reformers helping them pretend they can.
Supreme Potency
Comment posted by ph0ed1n on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 10:57amWhy settle on 41% (or whatever fraction it is now)?
Try the DEA and FDA-approved drug called Marinol, which is synthetic THC.
Potency?
100%!
We?
Comment posted by ph0ed1n on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 11:06am"But every day we see examples of this hogwash, and I still wonder, why do we still believe?"
Because we are not the public majority.
There is one area in which the reform movement is still losing the battle (though the Internet is helping us), and that's the public image area.
Most people believe drug use and drug abuse are the same evil thing, and so any effort to oppose drug use to protect the children is better than nothing.
Now you'll say that drug prohibition does not protect the children, and I agree with you.
However, now you see the difference between being right and looking right.
The mainstream media, despite journalism Code of Ethics, doesn't report to the public majority that drug prohibition fails to protect children.
They still basically report that if you use drugs, you are a loser.
We need to fix our public image.
Keep pluggin away
Comment posted by sicntired on Sat, 07/26/2008 - 12:56amsicntired@mac.com,Vancouver,B.C.Canada This is the way it is and always has been.There has to be a way to demonstrate to these people(mainstream society)that using a drug doesn't make you a junkie.That,unfortunately,is the way all too many people seem to think.Read any treatment pamphlet and they always stress total abstinence.That's another issue.There has to be a way of demonstrating to people that most people use drugs like they do alcohol and with equal or less after effects.If anyone has any ideas we could all use them.Otherwise,we just keep plugin along.
Marinol is no answer
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sat, 07/26/2008 - 3:10pmBecause Marinol DOES NOT have the same effect and is too strong for most people.
You have to take a pill which takes a long time to enter the bloodstream.
Also, it's synthetic I think.
Public is evolving
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 12:05pmAnd evolution does at times require revolution. Big newspaper editorials (NY LA) have proclaimed "the drug war failure".Worry not, the end of tyranny is close at hand. Bring on the trials...
Note to the Deputy Drug Czar
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 12:48pmAmendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Amendment 10
Comment posted by toconnor53 on Sun, 07/27/2008 - 11:42amWith all due respect to the constitution, this current administration has not honored constitutional oversights within the federal government. With this as a backdrop why would the executive branch even consider a state's right to pursue a medical cannabis policy that might violate a federal statute?
Until such time that the US congress and the US judicial branch asserts their constitutional powers against the executive branch, we will have an executive branch that will run roughshod over state’s rights.
If an “aggrieved” state wishes to pursue any action against the federal government, where do they take their case? Do you have the confidence in a legal system that is intimidated by the executive branch?
The constitution is a tremendous document if used to check the power of the central government. It is just not happening right now.
marinol
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 1:35pmdoesn't work the same as marijuana as it lacks the other compounds which have great medicinal value when combined with thc. it also is very hard to get a prescription. i think it works well at giving an appetite but that's about it.
Why do be still believe?
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/24/2008 - 9:30amThis is one more example of the "government" BS. After 35 years of a totally failed "war on drugs", the main stream media still publish this crap without doing even basic research. Have any of them done any research to prove or disprove the "official line"? Apparently not, and we don't call them or the official mouthpieces on the lies. Take the potentcy of canabis, according to their figures, we should be buying at least 41%. How do I come to that figure? For the past thirty five years, we get a new warning about the "new" more potent pot, almost every year. In addition, how many times have we heard, "We are winning the war on drugs"? I don't think so. And maybe just as important, how much does it cost just in dollars, to carry out these raids? I know a few years ago it cost over $3500 per hour just to fly a chopper, wonder what that costs now? But every day we see examples of this hogwash, and I still wonder, why do we still believe? Oh thats right, I don't.