VoteMatch

Marijuana is a gateway drug

 
BACKGROUND

2012 Drug War updated topics:
• Industrial hemp is a raw material commonly used for making paper, textiles, and other commercial products. In the United States, use of industrial hemp is banned because the plant is related to marijuana. Advocates of drug legalization push the issue of industrial hemp (and wear T-shorts made of industrial hemp) because it is a marginal issue that might gain support from moderates.

• Medical marijuana is legal or partially legal in 18 states as of 2012: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. Medical marijuana is also legal in numerous foreign countries. Medical marijuana alleviates symptoms associated with glaucoma, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and numerous mental diseases.

• The U.S. "partnership with Colombia" refers to the U.S. policy called "Plan Colombia." Under Plan Colombia, the U.S. provides international aid to the government of Colombia in exchange for aerial spraying of cocaine crops and other anti-narcotic activities. Opponents describe "Plan Colombia" as a disguised means of supporting the right-wing government of Colombia, and destroying local farmers to get at the left-wing rebels known as FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

• In March 2012, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said the government’s war on drugs has failed and so marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol. Robertson said, “Folks, we've gotta do something about this. We've just got to change the laws. We cannot allow this to continue. It is sapping our vitality. Think of this great land of freedom,” he said last week as host of “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network based in Virginia Beach, Va.

• Operation Fast and Furious refers to a federal ATF program that put guns in the hands of illicit gun purchasers as a way to track Mexican drug cartels. As a result of the program, hundreds of guns showed up in Mexico and one was found at where a U.S. border agent, Brian Terry, was killed. Attorney General Eric Holder was subpoenaed by Congress to testify on Operation Fast and Furious; Pres. Obama claimed executive privilege; and Congress found Holder in contempt, the first time ever for an Attorney General.

The updated 2008 drug strategy includes:
• Stopping Drug Use Before It Starts;
• Intervening and Healing America’s Drug Users;
• Tackling Transnational Threats;
• Disrupting the Market for Illicit Drugs;
• Ending illegal sales of controlled substances on the Internet.

The 2008 policy updates the basic 1999 drug policy, which includes:
• Expanding drug prevention and drug treatment;
• Establishing ‘drug courts’ and fighting drug legalization;
• Focusing on cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine;
• Increasing border shielding.

Obama's Drug Czar has called for an end to the War on Drugs, but as of 2012, the only serious changes are rhetorical.

Background information:
• Drug offenders who serve jail time or traditional probation have a recidivism rate of 45%. Of those who completed ‘drug courts’ monitored treatment programs, the rate was 4%.
• In April 2000, Hawaii's legislature passed a law permitting people to use marijuana as a medical treatment for AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy, and to alleviate cancer chemotherapy side-effects. There are five other states in which voters have passed initiatives permitting restricted medical use of marijuana, but Hawaii is the first state to enact a law. Users will be able to grow their own marijuana, limited to six plants.
• 60% of federal prison inmates are drug offenders, as are 22% of state prisoners.
• 20% of all felony convictions are for drug trafficking; another 12% are for drug possession.
• About 270,000 people are incarcerated on drug charges, up from 48,000 at the start of the ‘Drug War.’
• Direct federal spending on the ‘Drug War’ is currently $17 billion per year.

• The biggest components of the drug debate is how to reduce drug usage: by prevention or by punishment.
• Hard-line liberals and libertarians generally favor legalization. Look for buzz-phrases like "the failed Drug War" or "allow medical marijuana."
• Moderate liberals and libertarians will generally favor prevention of drug abuse. Look for buzzwords like "more treatment" or "reduce demand."
• Describing drug use as a health problem (instead of a crime problem) is a buzzword for treatment. Seeking to reduce "prison overcrowding" by means such as "drug courts" (as opposed to building more prisons) is a call for drug tolerance or legalization.
• Conservatives and populists generally favor punishment for all aspects of the Drug War. Look for buzzwords like "death penalty for drug dealers" or "the scourge of drugs."
• Moderate conservatives and populists favor punishment while paying lip-service to other aspects of dealing with drugs. Look for buzzwords like "reduce drug supply" or "protect our borders."
• Centrists nowadays are Drug War advocates -- the New Democrats (led by Clinton and Gore) support maintaining funding for the War on Drugs.
• Equating alcoholism with drug abuse is a buzzword for marijuana legalization, as is pointing out the hypocrisy of respecting the right of self-harm with alcohol but not of self-harm with drugs.