A recent article, which was featured in the 2/22 'Morning Report', detailed how the current United States Drug Czar from the Obama administration stated that the feds would be "going after" distributors of marijuana in Colorado and Washington state. This came as a surprise to us as the administration has previously stated that they would not concern themselves with the goings-on in CO and WA regarding pot legalization. We decided to look into things and came across with a better understanding of the situation that, while it may not necessarily change the trajectory of the remarks, should provide context to Mr. Kerlikowske's statement. Read our opinion report below:
Mr. Kerlikowske is, as he is statutorily required to do, doing (and saying) whatever he needs to to prevent the legalization of cannabis. It's codified into his job description and duties.
So, when he says:
"I think a patchwork of policies would create real difficulties. We still have federal law that places marijuana as being illegal. The administration has not done a particularly good job of, one, talking about marijuana as a public health issue, and number two, talking about what can be done and where we should be headed on our drug policy."
This is true. The White House, and for that matter the DEA, ONDCP, DHHS and a myriad of other Federal agencies continue to insist that cannabis is more dangerous than cocaine, methamphetamine prescription opiates, alcohol and tobacco. They assert cannabis is a gateway drug, despite statistics that show 91% of users never go on to harder drugs. And they all work actively together to cage people, deny them health and welfare benefits, take children away and all manner of oppression. So yeah, no one in government has any credibility on the issue. Kinda happens when you lie openly for forty years.
"I don’t look at marijuana as a human right, or a civil right, or even in the same venue as gay marriage. This is a public health issue. There are significant health concerns around marijuana from all the science, not ideology. I don’t see the legalization of drugs and making them widely available as a good thing, and I don’t think locking everyone up is a good thing either."
I've yet to see a cop of any kind on active duty who thinks cannabis is a human right. That doesn't mean it is not a human right. History has NEVER ONCE shown an example of laws prohibiting people from doing what they want with their bodies and lives. No, at the very core, a Prohibitionist is motivated purely by ignorance, envy, greed or hatred.
"Our Congress has made it very clear on these issues that if we feel we lack sufficient legislation, given what we've suffered from, the deaths—particularly in poverty-stricken areas of Appalachia—then we should ask for additional authorities.
What we've done is to say once the problem has been identified and been well-publicized, then our elected officials have been very helpful."
Translation: "Whenever a new substance is invented or discovered, we quickly push to make it illegal. We would rather codify into law a criminal market, absent regulations for quality and safety. We would prefer to enrich criminals, and fight with them. We will make sure we block all requests for research, and will conduct powerful raids with automatic weapons, attack helicopters, and maybe even a fighter jet or two if a kingpin gets too out of line. We will also rev up the propaganda machine and ensure that no one is looking at our massive failure to effect supply or demand of any substance. And we can sucker unwitting politicians into this trap EVERY SINGLE TIME! Look how quick we got everyone to lay down immediately on synthetic marijuana. They didn't even ask if cannabis prohibition itself was the cause of this stuff. It's like shooting fish in a barrel they're so stupid and shortsighted."
"We arrest about 2.4 million people in this country a year for alcohol. We arrest less than 700,000 people for marijuana—and for all drugs, only 1.3 million. Alcohol is perfectly legal. So making drugs available without any sanction would only lead to more abuse."
To come to that conclusion, a person has to willfully ignore the results from Portugal, where we have 10 years of decriminalization of ALL drugs, not just cannabis. The results? Significant decreases in overdose deaths, HIV/hepatitis infections, long term dependency, usage by adults in all age categories, and most importantly among youths. There have also been marked declines in petty crime such as theft and vandalism, and a voluntary treatment program is resulting in better long term recovery rates. Did I mention the savings reaped from fewer arrests, court cases and incarcerations?
Of course, Kerlikowske is on record as saying he doesn't think the experience of Portugal will be matched here. Apparently, basic human behavior is different in Portugal than in the rest of the world.
"The other part is if people go into drug treatment—and the research bears this out clearly—if they knock on the door and say, look, I have a drug problem and I need help, or if they go in with handcuffs on—the outcomes are pretty similar. The criminal justice system, if it has the right resources, can be incredibly helpful at getting people into treatment."
The same miserable results: 1 in 20 who enter addiction treatment remain abstinent for two years or longer. It's doesn't matter what the addiction is by and large. And I seriously doubt any cop, judge or prosecutor is qualified to determine what a person medically needs. It's a statement on the arrogance of Prohibitionists to presume they know what's best for people and how they should live. And he's lying when he says he doesn't think we should lock people up. If that were the case he'd ask his officers to ignore dispensaries. He wouldn't say in one sentence they aren't targeting individuals while they work diligently to remove the supply.
"In the U.S., we really pushed our pharmaceutical industry to develop the abuse-resistant formulas. But if they are easily accessible in Canada, you will see them here. Our first seizure of these was in Milwaukee. So we are keeping a close eye to see if we see others."
'Pushed' is the proper term for these goons. And to the net result that opiate addiction is still a major problem. Only, the goons have scared ethical physicians into not prescribing needed pain medication, leaving patient's legitimately suffering and having to find relief in the black market, or through pain clinics, where the entire regime is designed to keep the pills flowing without the DEA knocking down the doors. Patient care and long-term outcomes are way down the list of priorities, with physician profit being at the very top of the priority list.
To keep the DEA from kicking the doors in and shutting them down, they run drug screens and will kick anyone out of the program that tests positive for 'illicit drugs'. Remember, they are beholden to the police first, thanks to guys like Kerlikowske and his lack of concern for human rights. So naturally, that includes cannabis. Never mind the VAST bank of peer-reviewed studies showing analgesic and other specific benefits for pain. Never mind that patients CONSISTENTLY report having to use less opiates when they use cannabis. Never mind that cannabis has been shown a highly effective strategy to help opiate-dependent patients reduce their intake of opioids. None of those things matter. It's a Schedule I narcotic, and even though no one has ever died from cannabis in recorded history, and even though these myriad of promising medical benefits exist, guys like Mr. Kerlikowski insist otherwise. So if you test positive for any illicit drug, you are not entitled to painkillers in the program. And they wonder why they have no credibility in the public eye.
"Yes, they’d injected safely and hadn’t overdosed, but there was nothing else for them but to continue to get other drugs. I’m sure this will be a controversial statement."
Well, when you don't see this as a human rights issue, I guess you will still find some way to twist that into the notion that prohibiting something will reduce harms. Here's a clue Mr. Kerlikowske: you and your ilk have done nothing but CAUSE harm. You and those like you have endorsed, enforced, and participated with vigor in a program and Prohibition that has resulted in MILLIONS upon MILLIONS dead and suffering, lives ruined and turned upside down. It's resulted in $1 TRILLION of our tax dollaers being wasted. It's resulted in a public that sees the police and Feds as corrupt oppressors, and the public is correct. It's resulted in disrespect for the law (given 100,000,000 Americans have used cannabis in their lifetimes). And it's resulted in a cemented racial and class divide, with people of color and the poor being forever trapped in their situation because of this stupid law.
Every last lawmaker and law enforcement person who supports or enforces this law has an unconscionable legacy. Whether they accept it or not, their hands are stained with the blood of their citizens and the cries of agony for those denied relief. That's the truth.
