Slog
News & ArtsThursday, July 23, 2009
Drugs "Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine."
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Read it and weep, marijuana reform activists.
The federal government is not going to pull back on its efforts to curtail marijuana farming operations, Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Wednesday in Fresno. The nation's drug czar, who viewed a foothill marijuana farm on U.S. Forest Service land with state and local officials earlier Wednesday, said the federal government will not support legalizing marijuana."Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine," he said.
Kerlikowske said he can understand why legislators are talking about taxing marijuana cultivation to help cash-strapped government agencies in California. But the federal government views marijuana as a harmful and addictive drug, he said. "Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit," Kerlikowske said in downtown Fresno while discussing Operation SOS—Save Our Sierra—a multiagency effort to eradicate marijuana in eastern Fresno County.
The story goes on to detail expensive marijuana-eradication efforts that, like all such efforts, will fail.
Statewide, more than 5.3 million plants were seized in 2008, or two of every three confiscated in the United States, said Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
Slog readers in California: any of you guys down there have any trouble getting your hands on pot in 2008? Didn't think so.
2
Its gonna take state level activism. Make it legal and accepted in the states and the feds will have to follow.
5
"But the federal government views marijuana as a harmful and addictive drug, he said. "Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit,""
doesn't that contradict...everything studies have shown? i mean they can view it however they like but...studies have shown otherwise, haven't they?
doesn't that contradict...everything studies have shown? i mean they can view it however they like but...studies have shown otherwise, haven't they?
6
recently moved from the puget sound to the sf bay- there's more people openly smoking joints on the streets than cigarettes, seriously, it smells like weed everywhere.
8
Can anyone dig up Kerlikowski statements to the contrary from when he was Seattle's police chief? It would be nice to show him contradicting himself.
9
"Save Our Sierra", huh? Yeah, the feds were doing a great job of Saving Our Sierra when they leased National Forest land to logging companies. Hypocrisy on this level really, really sickens me.
10
Perhaps California is not the state we had all hoped would lead the charge on this issue... They have enough problems these days.
Hawaii? How would Maui like to have its favorite cash crop back? The mainland would like to ask you a favor.
What state should pick up the torch on this?
Hawaii? How would Maui like to have its favorite cash crop back? The mainland would like to ask you a favor.
What state should pick up the torch on this?
13
So, I'm all for letting people get high, but the farming of marijuana has made areas of the national forests simply unsafe for those who are unarmed.
I've heard stories from hikers who have stumbled upon highly guarded marijuana farms, nestled deep in the wilderness. It is becoming increasingly difficult to policy, and the crazy water-diversion tactics are damaging sensitive ecosystems.
Maybe if pot were legalized, you could grow it on hydroponic farms, like they do tomatoes and basil, and then you wouldn't have crazy folks hiding out in the woods, armed to the teeth. (Though, to be fair, the same thing happens with meth labs, too.)
I've heard stories from hikers who have stumbled upon highly guarded marijuana farms, nestled deep in the wilderness. It is becoming increasingly difficult to policy, and the crazy water-diversion tactics are damaging sensitive ecosystems.
Maybe if pot were legalized, you could grow it on hydroponic farms, like they do tomatoes and basil, and then you wouldn't have crazy folks hiding out in the woods, armed to the teeth. (Though, to be fair, the same thing happens with meth labs, too.)
14
Ok, he said he won't legalize it. But what about decriminalization - at least of use?
As for Kerlikowske and pot when he was Chief, this is the best I could find:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/399760_ke…
"A 1998 state law allows debilitated and terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana, but gives police departments wide latitude in whether to make an arrest.
Despite that, Holcomb said Kerlikowske's officers have "demonstrated compassion" in not arresting known growers and users in medical marijuana cases.
She also said his officers are respectful and tolerant when they patrol Hempfest, the city's annual celebration of drug-law reforms.
Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, a former chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said Kerlikowske would be an ideal drug czar.
"He is sort of a logical choice because he's someone who has been a police chief in a very progressive city, and he has seen how these approaches worked, and he's allowed them to mature," Licata said.
He added: "He's not on a platform arguing for decriminalization of drugs or radical drug reform measures.""
As for Kerlikowske and pot when he was Chief, this is the best I could find:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/399760_ke…
"A 1998 state law allows debilitated and terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana, but gives police departments wide latitude in whether to make an arrest.
Despite that, Holcomb said Kerlikowske's officers have "demonstrated compassion" in not arresting known growers and users in medical marijuana cases.
She also said his officers are respectful and tolerant when they patrol Hempfest, the city's annual celebration of drug-law reforms.
Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, a former chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said Kerlikowske would be an ideal drug czar.
"He is sort of a logical choice because he's someone who has been a police chief in a very progressive city, and he has seen how these approaches worked, and he's allowed them to mature," Licata said.
He added: "He's not on a platform arguing for decriminalization of drugs or radical drug reform measures.""
15
If marijuana is really dangerous and without medicinal benefit, shouldn't doctors who prescribe it be stripped of their licenses and prosecuted for malpractice? They do sign the medical marijuana certificates.
17
If the shit were LEGAL, there'd be no need for illegal grow ops in Federal forests, you fucking idiot! Marijuana's medical benefits are WIDELY known and documented.
Follow the money. There's powerful people wanting to keep things the way they are. Pharm companies, the prison industrial complex. Feds will support the policies of the people WE put in office.
Dammit, the old order's holding on by their teeth.
Follow the money. There's powerful people wanting to keep things the way they are. Pharm companies, the prison industrial complex. Feds will support the policies of the people WE put in office.
Dammit, the old order's holding on by their teeth.
18
if marijuana has no medicinal benefit, why does my optometrist tell me that pot temporarily relieves the pressure in the eyeball brought on my open-angle glaucoma?
19
Bottom line: any "legitimate" marijuana operation could serve as a cover for hard drug dealing. Where there's weed, there's crack.
21
"Its gonna take state level activism. Make it legal and accepted in the states and the feds will have to follow. "
Like Eastern Washington would ever let that happen.
Like Eastern Washington would ever let that happen.
22
@19: Any "legitimate" business of any kind could serve as a cover for hard drug dealing.
The ice cream man can deliver crack. That doesn't mean ice-cream should be considered dangerous.
What you just did there? That's called the "gateway drug" argument. It doesn't work.
The ice cream man can deliver crack. That doesn't mean ice-cream should be considered dangerous.
What you just did there? That's called the "gateway drug" argument. It doesn't work.
23
Obviously the new drug czar has not read Ryan Grim's excellent book "This is your country on drugs" which vividly explains why our drug enforcement policies, backfire and fail miserably. It's cheaper and safer to legalize pot than to eradicate it's use.
25
"The ice cream man can deliver crack. That doesn't mean ice-cream should be considered dangerous."
True story: when I was in high school (Wash DC), one of my friends got a job driving one of those ice cream trucks. A few days after he got the job he began dealing (pot and acid) along with the popsicles and ice-cream sandwiches and began a regular route at local high schools.
He was raking it in so much that he recruited others to join him and for one glorious spring they had pretty much every high school in northern VA and suburban Maryland covered.
It's the perfect cover while it lasts.
True story: when I was in high school (Wash DC), one of my friends got a job driving one of those ice cream trucks. A few days after he got the job he began dealing (pot and acid) along with the popsicles and ice-cream sandwiches and began a regular route at local high schools.
He was raking it in so much that he recruited others to join him and for one glorious spring they had pretty much every high school in northern VA and suburban Maryland covered.
It's the perfect cover while it lasts.
26
seattle druggo's would sell their mother's walking stick for cheap bud. they don't care if its made by MS13 or Ralston-Purina so long as they can 'medicate' themselves for lowest possible cost.
Lazy...and stupid...
Lazy...and stupid...
27
I wonder if the people of SOS realize that if marijuana was legalized, there wouldn't be any illegal farming on U.S. forest land. People would simply buy it from the store!
29
I wish these idiots would back the fuck off on this whole "pot is addictive" bullshit. I know all about "addictive." I could write the fucking book on "addictive." And pot is not addictive. Habit-forming? Sure, I'll give you that, but "addictive" is a whole different animal.
31
I voted for McCain
but
I read the paper every morning and say-
"hey! I thought my guy lost but evidently not..."
but
I read the paper every morning and say-
"hey! I thought my guy lost but evidently not..."
32
i'm all for legalization of pot.
but fucking growers don't have a "right" to take over forests to grow their crop. they don't "need" to use that land. that shit is ridiculous. they poison the land, steal water from nature, hurt native plants and animals, and run innocent hikers off with guns, dogs whatever. it is evil.
i don't care if the illegality of pot "causes" this kind of grow op, it is still plain old wrong. two wrongs don't make a right.
yeah, and the govt is a total hypocrite - selling off public land to loggers. that is wrong too. three wrongs don't make a right.
but fucking growers don't have a "right" to take over forests to grow their crop. they don't "need" to use that land. that shit is ridiculous. they poison the land, steal water from nature, hurt native plants and animals, and run innocent hikers off with guns, dogs whatever. it is evil.
i don't care if the illegality of pot "causes" this kind of grow op, it is still plain old wrong. two wrongs don't make a right.
yeah, and the govt is a total hypocrite - selling off public land to loggers. that is wrong too. three wrongs don't make a right.
33
I hate bullshit smack-talk from the government. If it's not in your vocabulary, how the fuck'd you just say it, you dumb fucking cunts?
Some fucking 'change', Barack.
Some fucking 'change', Barack.
34
Holy shit gnossos, I think that truck's still running the streets here. My friend and I always see this random ice cream truck late at night (like 10, 11 PM, way after kiddie-time), and even sometimes in the winter. Eastern Market is a fave neighborhood for it, which, if you've kept abreast of what DC is like these days, you know is now Yuppieville. Yay pot-smoking yuppies!
35
For all of you who doubt the czar's statement, I suggest renting 'Reefer Madness'! Try to not get the RiffTrax version, it detracts from the seriousness of the subject!
36
In Humboldt County you can grow up to 70 plants for your own "personal use" if you have a medical marijuana prescription.
37
"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit," Kerlikowske said in downtown Fresno
Bold face fucking lie from a coward. Fuck you Gil.
There is not one recorded case of anyone ever overdosing on marijuana, because its not even physiologically possible.
And what is the number one overdose method you ask: legal prescription pain killers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/th…
Bold face fucking lie from a coward. Fuck you Gil.
There is not one recorded case of anyone ever overdosing on marijuana, because its not even physiologically possible.
And what is the number one overdose method you ask: legal prescription pain killers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/th…
38
Legalization's been something that will have to happen on the state level, not the federal level, for... well, for as long as it's been a notion at all. It's just not politically feasible on a national level, all at once. Anti-drug propaganda is just too deeply entrenched in the national consciousness.
39
Well of course they're not talking about legalization on a federal level. That's going to take at least 20 years.
Right now, the medical marijuana community in California is setting a sales tax at the collectives. Not only that, but medical growing operations are subjected to numerous taxes as well. The government is working on a "show me the money" basis. Once they see the bottom line, they'll be motivated to legalize across the board. But, make no mistake, this is going to be a long fight for those who are pushing for legalization just in California alone.
Right now, the medical marijuana community in California is setting a sales tax at the collectives. Not only that, but medical growing operations are subjected to numerous taxes as well. The government is working on a "show me the money" basis. Once they see the bottom line, they'll be motivated to legalize across the board. But, make no mistake, this is going to be a long fight for those who are pushing for legalization just in California alone.
40
They grow on federal lands because of property seizure laws. They can take your property, and not even charge you with a crime. So why would growers risk growing on land that doesn't already belong to the govt?
If EVERYONE who believes marijuana (and hemp) should be legalized spoke out to their governmental represenatives, pot would be legalized sooner than it will if they just prattle on about it on web sites like this.
Personally, I give regularly to Marijuana Policy Project - an organization working diligently to reform marijuana laws (and no, I am not affiliated with them).
If EVERYONE who believes marijuana (and hemp) should be legalized spoke out to their governmental represenatives, pot would be legalized sooner than it will if they just prattle on about it on web sites like this.
Personally, I give regularly to Marijuana Policy Project - an organization working diligently to reform marijuana laws (and no, I am not affiliated with them).
41
Look, if all the Western states - Cali, Oregon, Washington - all defund any federal cooperation on the War on Drugs until they decriminalize MJ, it will happen.
We're 40 percent of the US GDP.
Without our help they got NOTHING.
We're 40 percent of the US GDP.
Without our help they got NOTHING.
42
The government views marijuana as dagerous and addictive.
So is tobacco and alcohol, but that we sell by the train load. Makes zero sense to me unless you want to argue that prohibiton doesn't work.
So is tobacco and alcohol, but that we sell by the train load. Makes zero sense to me unless you want to argue that prohibiton doesn't work.
43
I don't like genetically modified foods, but if someone could genetically modify some common, pervasive weed species to produce THC, it might be an excellent idea. Once THC became easily obtainable and undetectable by eyesight in a normal plant, there would be an instant end to prohibition.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (44) RSS