Dominic- You have a profound misunderstanding of the way Criminal Law works in this country. Obama can't "legalize" any drug. It is up to state and federal legislatures. There are three branches of government, young man. I strongly suggest you attend a middle school Civics course.
Dear hilarious person @ 5) I encourage you to read the second-to-last paragraph, where I list four things Kerlikowske could do as drug czar. And obviously, Obama can't pass a law himself (he can make executive orders). Nor could the drug czar. But, speaking of a good civics course, I'm sure the classes of which you speak address the influence of the executive branch on Congress, right?
Does the Drug Czar have a real title? I mean, is there an "Office for Problematic Substance Policy" or somesuch - or is there really a US executive branch position called this? Because that is really a funny title (this is me, focusing on the issues at hand. Yup. Focused.)
When it comes to making progressive reforms, you gotta start somewhere. Kerlikowske is -- by far -- the most progressive-minded and reform-oriented person to hold this position, and for that, Obama gets a tip of the hat.
Sure, the hippies will bitch and moan that Cheech Marin wasn't tapped for the job. But let's pry the lips from the old bong for a second and face this groovy thing called "reality": Cheech (or anyone viewed as soft on crime, pro-drug, anti-law-enforcement etc) wouldn't have any cred in DC and would be unable to accomplish anything.
IMHO, Kerlikowske has what it takes to lead the nation out of the nightmarish quagmire that the War On Drugs has become. Policy reform is all about the baby steps, and I think that Baby is waddling in the right direction. Especially when you consider that just a few weeks ago, Baby was looking and acting a lot like the baby in Eraserhead.
As was I Smith. I'd disagree with a little of your comment, but largely it's spot on.
Just reread this post and the comment from James Apa makes it sound like the Health Dept runs the nation's largest syringe exchange. That honor belongs to Chicago Recovery Alliance. Seattle does have two of the largest exchanges in the country (3 and 5) as of 2007.
Dominic, you've turned me from being disappointed that Obama nominated a cop (well, a cop manager) instead of someone with a public health, medical, or generally scientific background to feeling optimistic about the situation.
What do you think, as it pertains to Kerlikowske's potential appointment, of this analysis of the 1998 ONDCP Reauthorization Act that says it requires the ONDCP director is required to take action to oppose any effort to legalize any illegal drug? I understand that both he and Obama are very unlikely to support legalization, but what about others' efforts?
Pete Guither, the author of the blog post I cited wrote:
Now, let's take as a simple example, the issue of medical marijuana. If the government finds that marijuana Has "currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" or "accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision," then by law, marijuana cannot remain in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, which would immediately legalize it for medical purposes.
But by law, the drug czar must oppose any attempt to legalize the use (in any form).
Therefore, despite the fact that there is extensive evidence of medical marijuana's safety and effectiveness (including the fact that even the federal government supplies it to patients), and clearly the drug czar would know about all this information, he is required by law to lie about it.
The job description also means that since he must oppose any attempt to legalize, he has no choice but declare that the drug war is working, that legalization would fail, etc., regardless of any... facts.
He goes on to describe Congressman Ron Paul having asked GAO to investigate the misleading nature of ONDCP's lobbying activities, and after quoting the response, summarizes it as, "Since lying is in the job description of the ONDCP, there's no point in bothering to see whether they're telling the truth," and writes, "The next drug czar, even if appointed by a President who tepidly supports certain reform measures, will be constrained by the same job description defined by Congress."
Not a bad call... a close call, too. The Right call would have been ex-chief Stamper... who has put time, $$ & brain cells to work on the continuously failing "War on Drugs" (except for the ones from the registered corporations). ^..^
Stamper is an outsider, idiot who can't manage to velcro his own shoes. Just because he is pro-legalization does not make him qualified to do shit!
Do I need to remind you that he is responsible for the entire debacle that is/was WTO-Seattle? He sat in a 4-star restaurant and in a 'safe' office tower out of touch from the commanders on-scene during WTO and provided no leadership whatsoever. That is why he was thrown the fuck out.... way too late!
Stamper was never fit to be in charge of anything other than a freeform class at TESC!
Love Gil or hate Gil he's gone. Stamper would be lucky to be considered for a footnote in the Obama administration. Let's concentrate on making sure Gil's replacement is worthy!
This is a strange post. It gives credit to Kerlikowske for a series of things he didn't do, and then posits some revolutionary motive behind his inaction. It avoids mentioning bad things he did do-- expanded use of buy/ busts, undermining attempts to discipline cops who used excessive force during drug arrests. And then it overlooks the single biggest reason that Kerlikowske was appointed: friends with Holder, the new AG.
Altogether, a very strange exercise in wishful thinking about Kerlikowske being a closeted revolutionary. Like many of Obama's center-right Cabinet appointees, Kerlikowske has not personally espoused any strong leadership or new ideas for change, and he has shown an aversion to making choices that might get him criticized. Maybe he'll reverse a few Bush-era paleocon policies. But don't expect any radical shift where it matters-- more than token funding for alternatives, or any kind of action to reduce racial disproportionality, reform the criminal justice system, and end the mass incarceration of poor people for non-violent offenses.
Obama, as president, has the power to effectively legalize marijuana at the federal level. All he has to do is use his constitutional pardon power to issue a blanket pardon for all marijuana crimes in the past and in the future. Ron Paul promised to do so if he had been elected president.
Gil is a step forward. By the sound of some of these comments, I'm suprised they could even read... Some people are simple ignorant to reality. Keep up the good work Mr.Holden. Gil wont be perfect, he will be better than John Walters...
And, Don't respond bit*#ing about my spelling it just proves my point...
Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property.
Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another.
Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property.
In vices, the very essence of crime --- that is, the design to injure the person or property of another --- is wanting.
It is a maxim of the law that there can be no crime without a criminal intent; that is, without the intent to invade the person or property of another. But no one ever practises a vice with any such criminal intent. He practises his vice for his own happiness solely, and not from any malice toward others.
Unless this clear distinction between vices and crimes be made and recognized by the laws, there can be on earth no such thing as individual right, liberty, or property; no such things as the right of one man to the control of his own person and property, and the corresponding and coequal rights of another man to the control of his own person and property.
For a government to declare a vice to be a crime, and to punish it as such, is an attempt to falsify the very nature of things. It is as absurd as it would be to declare truth to be falsehood, or falsehood truth. continued...
"One may well ask: How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others? The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
This pick is a baby step, Dont condem him yet. Our police are like children, (who do not know how to admit they have been wrong,) Lets support them and help them grow up, I tell everyone I know to visit the NORML site,(LOCAL NEWS PRESS) Its amazing how many anti-marijuana people come back and say they never heard the other side of the story. Support and educate our DEA children, As hard as it is on us. beating These children is like current law enforcement policy,(A loosing war) not an open minded Education.
Dont condemn him yet. Our police are like children, (who do not know how to admit they have been wrong,) These children is like current law enforcement policy,(A loosing war) not an open minded Education.
I favor the tiger theory of Rodney Dangerfield, eating their young or abortion as citizens, forfeiting their BOR like they do peoples houses. I used to say in the 90's before prop 215, when we passed measure A, that the cops don't come out of the box trained in not busting pot tokers, give em time. For almost 20 years as a hospice home health aid cannabis caregiver whatever, I've never had a problem with cops. They sometimes come with the coroner and I tell them the patient used Ganja and its not a problem. Never in 40 years of almost daily toking have I had a problem with cops, never busted because I don't sell it and I try to keep my name out of the headlines. So I know they aren't totally void of compassion or sense. They choose stupidity as a way around the initiatives. So if local cops can "see" then highly trained narkoslut DEAth Merchants can too. Times way up. Any moron can see Ganja has medicinal value, isn't addictive and poses no threat to society and still for 40 years they continue the lie. I don't believe anyone is that stupid and if they are they certainly shouldn't be toting live weapons.
Kathleen Parker: Snap, Crackle, Pot
Washington Post OpEd about Phelps, Lott, and the drug war, and she speaks with Howard Wooldridge of LEAP.
Drink and drive and it's grrrrrrrr-eat! Smoke pot and your flakes are frosted, dude. So seems the message from Kellogg's, which has decided not to renew its sponsorship contract with Michael Phelps after the Olympian was photographed smoking marijuana at a party in South Carolina.
That's showbiz, of course, but the cereal and munchie company had no problem signing Phelps despite an alcohol-related arrest. full story...
Durring a news conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said there is not enough evidence to prosecute anyone involved in the Michael Phelps marijuana case. Monday's news conference puts an end to speculation if Phelps would be charged with smoking marijuana in Richland County.
@26 -- agreeing that Stamper has been a great FORMER chief ... his drug enforcement policies and approach to misconduct investigation were no better than those under chief Kerlikowske. For someone who has such a sweeping critique of the War on Drugs, he ran it in standard fashion while he was chief. Haven't seen anyone asking Stamper hard questions on the issue of why HE didn't figure out a way to do it differently.
=
dweeb.
5 seconds on google.com, you stoner!
When it comes to making progressive reforms, you gotta start somewhere. Kerlikowske is -- by far -- the most progressive-minded and reform-oriented person to hold this position, and for that, Obama gets a tip of the hat.
Sure, the hippies will bitch and moan that Cheech Marin wasn't tapped for the job. But let's pry the lips from the old bong for a second and face this groovy thing called "reality": Cheech (or anyone viewed as soft on crime, pro-drug, anti-law-enforcement etc) wouldn't have any cred in DC and would be unable to accomplish anything.
IMHO, Kerlikowske has what it takes to lead the nation out of the nightmarish quagmire that the War On Drugs has become. Policy reform is all about the baby steps, and I think that Baby is waddling in the right direction. Especially when you consider that just a few weeks ago, Baby was looking and acting a lot like the baby in Eraserhead.
This is their reward: Obama will let them "conduct business" as they see fit.
Next step: he will start releasing prisoners to increase his voting public.
Great choice - and - the first needle exchange in Seattle months were an ACT-UP project, which made the Health Dept. very angry.
After the very successful 6 month trial, the Health Dept stepped in and funded and pushed the project.
Of course, they take all the credit - despite the early angry objections and threats and angry bull shit. ... I was there on the inside.
Just reread this post and the comment from James Apa makes it sound like the Health Dept runs the nation's largest syringe exchange. That honor belongs to Chicago Recovery Alliance. Seattle does have two of the largest exchanges in the country (3 and 5) as of 2007.
What do you think, as it pertains to Kerlikowske's potential appointment, of this analysis of the 1998 ONDCP Reauthorization Act that says it requires the ONDCP director is required to take action to oppose any effort to legalize any illegal drug? I understand that both he and Obama are very unlikely to support legalization, but what about others' efforts?
Pete Guither, the author of the blog post I cited wrote:
He goes on to describe Congressman Ron Paul having asked GAO to investigate the misleading nature of ONDCP's lobbying activities, and after quoting the response, summarizes it as, "Since lying is in the job description of the ONDCP, there's no point in bothering to see whether they're telling the truth," and writes, "The next drug czar, even if appointed by a President who tepidly supports certain reform measures, will be constrained by the same job description defined by Congress."
Find some way to X the DEA. Number 1.
By letting the "turn 'em loose Bruce" Mayor McCheesy Nickles drone police chief run Washington, gangbangers will have access to the chicken coop.
Do I need to remind you that he is responsible for the entire debacle that is/was WTO-Seattle? He sat in a 4-star restaurant and in a 'safe' office tower out of touch from the commanders on-scene during WTO and provided no leadership whatsoever. That is why he was thrown the fuck out.... way too late!
Stamper was never fit to be in charge of anything other than a freeform class at TESC!
Love Gil or hate Gil he's gone. Stamper would be lucky to be considered for a footnote in the Obama administration. Let's concentrate on making sure Gil's replacement is worthy!
Altogether, a very strange exercise in wishful thinking about Kerlikowske being a closeted revolutionary. Like many of Obama's center-right Cabinet appointees, Kerlikowske has not personally espoused any strong leadership or new ideas for change, and he has shown an aversion to making choices that might get him criticized. Maybe he'll reverse a few Bush-era paleocon policies. But don't expect any radical shift where it matters-- more than token funding for alternatives, or any kind of action to reduce racial disproportionality, reform the criminal justice system, and end the mass incarceration of poor people for non-violent offenses.
Did you hear they are getting David Duke to head the Civil Rights Commission.
Also brilliant.
And Rosie O'Donnel to chair the Council on Physical Fitness.
A natural.
Kerlikowske: The empty holster
Actually we give them to each other all day. No journalism. Just a lot of sucking. Can you tell?
And, Don't respond bit*#ing about my spelling it just proves my point...
The comments have 'sound' because you are moving your lips while you read.
Nixon lied to schedule Ganja #1.
Vices Are Not Crimes by Lysander Spooner…
I. A Vindication Of Moral Liberty
Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property.
Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another.
Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property.
In vices, the very essence of crime --- that is, the design to injure the person or property of another --- is wanting.
It is a maxim of the law that there can be no crime without a criminal intent; that is, without the intent to invade the person or property of another. But no one ever practises a vice with any such criminal intent. He practises his vice for his own happiness solely, and not from any malice toward others.
Unless this clear distinction between vices and crimes be made and recognized by the laws, there can be on earth no such thing as individual right, liberty, or property; no such things as the right of one man to the control of his own person and property, and the corresponding and coequal rights of another man to the control of his own person and property.
For a government to declare a vice to be a crime, and to punish it as such, is an attempt to falsify the very nature of things. It is as absurd as it would be to declare truth to be falsehood, or falsehood truth. continued...
Jury Nullification
"One may well ask: How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others? The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
seriously dude, you should stay away from the keyboard when you're stoned...
I favor the tiger theory of Rodney Dangerfield, eating their young or abortion as citizens, forfeiting their BOR like they do peoples houses. I used to say in the 90's before prop 215, when we passed measure A, that the cops don't come out of the box trained in not busting pot tokers, give em time. For almost 20 years as a hospice home health aid cannabis caregiver whatever, I've never had a problem with cops. They sometimes come with the coroner and I tell them the patient used Ganja and its not a problem. Never in 40 years of almost daily toking have I had a problem with cops, never busted because I don't sell it and I try to keep my name out of the headlines. So I know they aren't totally void of compassion or sense. They choose stupidity as a way around the initiatives. So if local cops can "see" then highly trained narkoslut DEAth Merchants can too. Times way up. Any moron can see Ganja has medicinal value, isn't addictive and poses no threat to society and still for 40 years they continue the lie. I don't believe anyone is that stupid and if they are they certainly shouldn't be toting live weapons.
New drug bizczar
Michael Phelps, Hypocrisy, & American Dr…
'Insane' Sheriff... with a Tank
Boycott Killoggs (Michael Phelps thread)
Canada joins Boycott / MMM 5.2.9 \ D.C. Convergence 7.4.9
Kathleen Parker: Snap, Crackle, Pot
Washington Post OpEd about Phelps, Lott, and the drug war, and she speaks with Howard Wooldridge of LEAP.
Drink and drive and it's grrrrrrrr-eat! Smoke pot and your flakes are frosted, dude. So seems the message from Kellogg's, which has decided not to renew its sponsorship contract with Michael Phelps after the Olympian was photographed smoking marijuana at a party in South Carolina.
That's showbiz, of course, but the cereal and munchie company had no problem signing Phelps despite an alcohol-related arrest. full story...
Monday, February 16, 2009
Durring a news conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said there is not enough evidence to prosecute anyone involved in the Michael Phelps marijuana case. Monday's news conference puts an end to speculation if Phelps would be charged with smoking marijuana in Richland County.
phelpsboycott,jpg
insaneleonputz.jpg
Marijuana: The Miracle Drug