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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)
Bull crap. There is so much that is wrong with this response.
Liberals who still support Obama after this trifecta (The drug war, Gitmo, and Afghanistan) clearly have not disengaged their Obamatron Heuristic Algorithm Unit (TM)
Liberals who still support Obama after this trifecta (The drug war, Gitmo, and Afghanistan) clearly have not disengaged their Obamatron Heuristic Algorithm Unit (TM)
So liberals shouldn't support Obama because he's conservative?
So liberals shouldn't support Obama because he's conservative?
Neo-con-munist. There is no way he's conservative. But, if you try to draw a square using just the x coordinate on the Cartesian plane I can understand the confusion.
Neo-con-munist. There is no way he's conservative. But, if you try to draw a square using just the x coordinate on the Cartesian plane I can understand the confusion.
There are so many lies in that letter I don't know where to begin.
Overdose Death Rate Surges, Legal Drugs Are Mostly to Blame | Drugs | AlterNet
"Drug death rates are currently more than twice what they were during the peak years of crack cocaine mortality in the early 1990s, and four to five times higher than the rates during the year of heroin mortality peak in 1975".
Where is the outrage? When crack-cocaine use was in its peak years, entire cities were destroyed by massive imprisonment and the nonsensical 100 to 1 rule. It is time for a crackdown on pharmaceutical companies and doctors prescribing medication simply for a cutback. It is time for the legalization and expanded medical treatment of marijuana.
Liberals who still support Obama after this trifecta (The drug war, Gitmo, and Afghanistan) clearly have not disengaged their Obamatron Heuristic Algorithm Unit (TM)
And Republicans will be any better? There was an article I read that said a few Republicans were proposing a bill that would make it mandatory to try terrorism suspects in military tribunals.
On most of the issues I strongly disagree with Obama (usually civil liberty and war issues) the Republicans are the same or worse. Did you notice that most of the Republican candidates declared themselves opposed to Obama's plan for withdrawing most of the troops from Iraq because wanted the troops there longer? President Bush originally negotiated a withdrawal at the end of 2011 and they want to go further?
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