cannabisnews.com: Anti-Terrorism Efforts Mean Changes for DEA





Anti-Terrorism Efforts Mean Changes for DEA
Posted by FoM on November 09, 2001 at 07:05:07 PT
By Tim McGlone, The Virginian-Pilot
Source: Virginian-Pilot
Drug enforcement agents have pulled out of Afghanistan border towns, losing ground in the central Asia drug war for the new fight against terrorism. ``We had to leave,'' said Asa Hutchinson, the new head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The problem, he said, is indicative of drug and law enforcement efforts worldwide as agents in most federal agencies have been reassigned to counterterrorism duties since the Sept. 11 attacks. 
Hutchinson told law students Thursday at Pat Robertson's Regent University that despite the shift, drug enforcement efforts continue to have successes, such as the recent extradition of the No. 2 man in a Colombian drug cartel. ``People ask me, `What in the world has this impact of terrorism, the Sept. 11 event, going to have on the DEA?' Well, it's going to have some,'' he said. It's unclear how the change has affected drug investigations in Hampton Roads, where the DEA has an office and undercover agents in Norfolk. Hutchinson did not address local efforts, and local agents could not be reached Thursday afternoon to respond to their boss's comments. However, local agents recently broke up an Ecstasy lab in Chesapeake, arresting two people. Hutchinson said the DEA's mission has shifted to helping the FBI ``target the right people and prevent future attacks down the line.'' With the move, agents have targeted the drug traffickers who work with terrorists, sharing their bases, resources and money, he said. In Afghanistan, which produces 70 percent of the world's opium, the key ingredient in making heroin, drug farmers are based around the terrorist camps of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network, Hutchinson said. He said the Taliban are believed to receive ``taxes'' from the opium trade as well. Most of the opium is sold in Europe, but some makes its way to the United States. Hutchinson said earlier this week that the FBI has diverted agents from narcotics cases for counterterrorism duties, which has further caused his agency to be stretched thin. He said it's possible the FBI may withdraw permanently from the drug war to fight terrorism. Hutchinson, 50, was tapped earlier this year by President Bush to head the DEA, the nation's primary narcotics enforcement agency. A former Republican congressman from Arkansas, Hutchinson was one of the House managers at former President Clinton's 1999 impeachment trial before the Senate. When House leaders asked him to head the case, he thought the move would be political suicide. His hometown newspaper ran an editorial cartoon showing Hutchinson stabbing Arkansas in the back. In the end, he said, the citizens and the Democrats must have understood his role in the impeachment trial because no one ran against him in the next election. Hutchinson is a graduate of Bob Jones University, a controversial South Carolina school that banned interracial dating until recently. He and other legislators have taken heat for speaking there and receiving honorary degrees. During his hourlong speech Thursday in the moot courtroom at Regent University's Robertson Hall, Hutchinson sprinkled in references to God and Christ and quoted Scripture. ``Scripture says: God's habitation is justice and justice is the habitation of his throne. He lives and he breathes justice,'' Hutchinson said. ``If we can be servants of justice in our lives, then is that not truly being in the environment of God?'' he asked the young crowd of about 200. Following his talk, students asked questions. One asked if Hutchinson agreed with Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision that drugs supplied by the federal government can no longer be used to assist suicide. Hutchinson called it ``the right position.'' Another student asked why the DEA won't support the legalization of marijuana, ``a victimless drug.'' Hutchinson said there are many victims of marijuana use, including the user who exposes himself to carcinogens and does not become a productive citizen. He also said marijuana users can become child abusers, but did not cite any data supporting the claim.Complete Title: Anti-Terrorism Efforts Mean Changes for DEA, Chief SaysSource: Virginian-Pilot (VA)Author: Tim McGlone, The Virginian-PilotPublished: November 9, 2001 Copyright: 2001 The Virginian-PilotContact: letters pilotonline.comWebsite: http://www.pilotonline.comRelated Articles:DEA Resources Are Stretched Thin http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11285.shtmlWar On Drugs Loses Out To War on Terrorhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11280.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by Toker00 on November 10, 2001 at 07:31:52 PT
Bologna.
Hutchinson said there are many victims of marijuana use, including the user who exposes himself to carcinogens and does not become a productive citizen. He also said marijuana users can become child abusers, but did not cite any data supporting the claim.Because there is no data supporting the claim. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, politicians, artists, musicians, etc., etc., who smoke cannabis, are not productive citizens? Even the average Joe, who works hard, pays taxes, and relaxes at the end of a hard day with a doobie, these are ALL non-productive citizens? Brah-ha-ha-ha! Give me a f***ing break. I cannot name you a single parent, in my group of cannabists, who abuse their children. This is total and unadulterated hypocracy, with only a single interest in mind. Protect the Korporations from Cannabis competition! Period.Peace. Realize, then Legalize.
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Comment #10 posted by freedom fighter on November 09, 2001 at 22:30:55 PT
What would the
young crowd of 200 think of this animal?Let's just tar and feather this fool..ff
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Comment #9 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 09, 2001 at 14:01:21 PT:
E_Johnson
Would you be willing to contact me? Just run your mouse over my green name. Thanks.
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Comment #8 posted by Zero_G on November 09, 2001 at 13:58:01 PT:
Drug Free America?!?
Silly concept, of course. We wouldn't want to deprive the kiddies their ritalin, or soda pop, now would we...For myself, I'd prefer to see a Free Drug America, with health benefits thrown in for good measure. Provided, I can make informed, intelligent choices about courses of treatment.But, even the language "Drug Free America" brought to you by Alcohol money, it boggles the mind...But then, I recall a poster from the Anslinger years that was sponsored by the Brewers Association.
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on November 09, 2001 at 13:03:22 PT
A MAJOR Freudian slip, that's what it was
That was the most telling comment in his whole bullshit commentary.Marijuana leads to child abuse. Yes, marijuana has become the flag that is waved by people who feel a need to control and abuse their children.The number one danger to children in this country is THEIR OWN PARENTS and that's a statistical fact.I can keep my kid drug free. I'll just beat the shit out of him and if he runs away, I'll have him kidnapped and sent to a boot camp run by former prison gaurds and religious psychos.Yup, good old Drug Free America.No mental health care for children or teens -- but we'll keep them off drugs!
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Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on November 09, 2001 at 12:57:00 PT
How marijuana leads to child abuse
When I was young, my little brother was caught using marijuana by my alcoholic father, and my father threw him out of the house. My brother had to live on the street, where he was severely abused, because he was only a kid and not suited to living on the street.He still has not recovered from the abuse he suffered back then.And that is the number one link between marijuana and child abuse that I can see in our society.Watch American Beauty, it's all there.
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Comment #5 posted by Normllaw on November 09, 2001 at 12:25:52 PT:
mj users become child abusers?
Hutchison has no sense of irony -- priests can (and do!) become child abusers. Where does he get his info?
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Comment #4 posted by fivepounder on November 09, 2001 at 08:57:03 PT
May someone force feed this guy a joint
There is nothing worse then one of these purianical, do-gooder, holier than thou therefore I am better then you, a**holes, Asa (are you out ther listening?) Hutchinson being a prime example. Its just so easy to scapegoat pot smokers he just can't pass up the opportunity. The so called war on terror may actually keep him away from us all though he is probably plotting against us.
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Comment #3 posted by Zero_G on November 09, 2001 at 08:03:57 PT:
Beyond Comprehension?
Only if you expect the truth from these folks."Hutchinson said there are many victims of marijuana use, including the user who exposes himself to carcinogens and does not become a productive citizen. He also said marijuana users can become child abusers, but did not cite any data supporting the claim."Of course, marijuana users *can* become child abusers, just as they *can* end up as Vice President or President (if they are too stumped to inhale).Come to think of it, many of our policies, foreign and domestic, constitute child abuse and human rights violations.Having grown up during the Vietnam era, remembering the prospects of the draft, (being born in '57 it ended just as I was becoming eligible) I find the whole "for the children" argument laughable. This country sent scores of its children to their deaths...and continues to export death around the world.Nowadays, of course, at 18, the age you were forcibly inducted into the service of military lunacy during that era, you aren't even considered adult enough to have a beer.Let alone be trusted with Cognitive Liberty.Zero G
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on November 09, 2001 at 07:31:31 PT:
Ignorance, thy name is Asa
(Shaking head while resting on hand) Oh, Lord, where to begin?When I heard that ol' Asa had been contemplating attending a rave with his kid, I thought that there might, there just might be a tiny glimmer of intelligence within that neo-conservative cranium of his; that total ossification hadn't set in yet. When he bowed out after the DEA had told him to (instead of he telling them to bugger off and he'll make up his own mind, thank-you-very-much!) I figured the political animal had taken over.Just how much of a political animal he's [proven to be is illustrated by his remarks:"Another student asked why the DEA won't support the legalization of marijuana, ``a victimless drug.'' 
Hutchinson said there are many victims of marijuana use, including the user who exposes himself to carcinogens and does not become a productive citizen. He also said marijuana users can become child abusers, (Emphasis mine -k.) but did not cite any data supporting the claim.Yep, he's swallowed the lies, with nary a blink at their damage done to his credibility or a wince at the taste. And I thought Barry was pathological liar.
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Comment #1 posted by SirReal on November 09, 2001 at 07:28:37 PT:
***Clap-trap***
Asa! Asa! Save me from a carcinogen induced beating from my dad!He said he was gonna flog me with his footlong from subway!
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