cannabisnews.com: CAGW Report Exposes Futility of Drug Policy










  CAGW Report Exposes Futility of Drug Policy

Posted by CN Staff on May 12, 2005 at 07:54:44 PT
Press Release 
Source: PRNewswire  

Washington, D.C. -- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released "Up in Smoke: ONDCP's Wasted Efforts in the War on Drugs," an in-depth and ultimately unflattering probe into America's drug policy. The report details the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) expensive drug control programs that have failed to produce any meaningful results after 17 years."Up in Smoke" shows how ONDCP wastes millions of dollars annually on media advertising and combating state-level legislation.
In fiscal 2005, ONDCP's $507 million budget will fund recurring programs aimed at cracking down on medical marijuana, subsidizing local law enforcement agencies, and eradicating coca crops in Latin America, all of which have failed to achieve ONDCP's stated goals of reducing the use, manufacture, and trafficking of illegal drugs."While ONDCP has good intentions, it has become yet another example of the government's belief that more money will solve the problem," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "The administration needs to remember that the nation's drug policy is ultimately beholden to the taxpayers for funding, and therefore must exist to serve and protect them -- not to fund wasteful programs or extraneous agendas."The report, part of CAGW's ongoing series of investigative reports entitled Through the Looking Glass, highlights the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program as an especially wasteful project managed by ONDCP. The program's funds were originally targeted to high-intensity areas, concentrating on five "gateway" areas for drugs entering the U.S.: Los Angeles; Houston; New York/New Jersey; South Florida; and the Southwest border. But as a result of the overly broad distribution of funding -- there are now 26 high-intensity areas, including the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and the Appalachian Region (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia) -- success in the most vital states has been negligible. The program has devolved into another method for members of Congress to secure federal tax dollars for pork projects in their districts. HIDTA dollars are spread so thinly that they offer little help to anyone."The High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program was started to combat drugs entering our borders," Schatz continued. "But, with non-border states like Colorado and Nebraska receiving money, insufficient dollars are moving to the most at-risk states like Arizona, California, and Texas."Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government."Up in Smoke: ONDCP's Wasted Efforts in the War on Drugs" is available at: http://www.cagw.org/Source: Citizens Against Government WasteComplete Title: CAGW Report Exposes Futility of National Drug PolicySource: PRNewswire (NY)Published: Thursday, May 12, 2005Copyright 2005 PRNewswire Website: http://www.prnewswire.com Contact: rachel_asche prnewswire.com CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml

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Comment #13 posted by FoM on May 18, 2005 at 18:12:14 PT

Related Article from MensNewsDaily.com
Report Claims National Drug Policy Futile Jim Kouri is Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police Thursday, May 19, 2005 By Jim Kouri, CPPCitizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) recently released "Up in Smoke: ONDCP's Wasted Efforts in the War onDrugs," an in-depth and ultimately unflattering probe into America's drug policy. The report details the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) expensive drug control programs that have failed to produce any meaningful results after 17 years."Up in Smoke" shows how ONDCP wastes millions of dollars annually on media advertising and combating state-level legislation. In fiscal 2005, ONDCP's $507 million budget will fund recurring programs aimed at cracking down on medical marijuana, subsidizing local law enforcement agencies, and eradicating coca crops in Latin America, all of which have failed to achieve ONDCP's stated goals of reducing the use, manufacture, and trafficking of illegal drugs."While ONDCP has good intentions, it has become yet another example of the government's belief that more money will solve the problem," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "The administration needs to remember that the nation's drug policy is ultimately beholden to the taxpayers for funding, and therefore must exist to serve and protect them -- not to fund wasteful programs or extraneous agendas."The report, part of CAGW's ongoing series of investigative reports entitled Through the Looking Glass, highlights the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program as an especially wasteful project managed by ONDCP. The program's funds were originally targeted to high-intensity areas, concentrating on five "gateway" areas for drugs entering the U.S.: Los Angeles; Houston; New York/New Jersey; South Florida; and the Southwest border. But as a result of the overly broad distribution of funding -- there are now 26 high-intensity areas, including the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and the Appalachian Region (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia) -- success in the most vital states has been negligible. The program has devolved into another method for members of Congress to secure federal tax dollars for pork projects in their districts. HIDTA dollars are spread so thinly that they offer little help to anyone."The High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program was started to combat drugs entering our borders," Schatz continued. "But, with non-border states like Colorado and Nebraska receiving money, insufficient dollars are moving to the most at-risk states like Arizona, California, and Texas." Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/kouri/2005/05/report-claims-national-drug-policy.html
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Comment #12 posted by Jose Melendez on May 13, 2005 at 03:27:41 PT

high school reporter exposes Army recruiters
http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/2770/Military_Official_Warns_of_Strains_on_US_Forces A 17-year old high school student, David McSwane, recently exposed the methods of the recruiters by pretending to be a potential recruit, while secretly taping his encounters with Army officials for his school paper. McSwane recorded the recruiter advising him to create a fake high-school diploma as proof of graduation, after McSwane told him he was a high school dropout. When McSwane told the recruiter that he had a marijuana habit, the recruiter advised him to purchase a detoxification kit and personally took him to a place where he could get one.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/02/eveningnews/main692497.shtmlhttp://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4430901/detail.htmlhttp://www.gnn.tv/headlines/2637/Recruiters_Bending_Enlistment_Rules_to_Fill_Quotas
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Comment #11 posted by jose melendez on May 12, 2005 at 16:05:47 PT

say no to waste: eat or plant those seeds
from: "It's time for you to grow marijuana" http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4330.html "Even if you get caught, you fight the charges. You do what you have to do to repair the damage that prohibition does to your life. You take the consequences as a badge of courage, just like civil rights protestors do when they get smashed in the face by police batons, when they get arrested for protesting against war, racism, injustice. Taking the chance of being hurt while fighting for freedom is a sign of maturity, strength, and conscience. After all, growing pot is a revolutionary act. Somebody has to have the guts to stand up to the government. If you don't do it, who will?"
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Comment #10 posted by mayan on May 12, 2005 at 15:58:55 PT

FAILURE
Unfortunately, this system rewards failure. This report is pretty damning. We've known for some time that the war on drugs is a futile effort but now it is clear for ALL to see. If only politicians were against government waste. Congress just decided to spend 83,000,000,000 more of our dollars on the "war on terrorism" which was started by the U.S. government on 9/11. They are getting pretty bold and I am getting pretty pissed.
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Comment #9 posted by Taylor121 on May 12, 2005 at 14:27:51 PT

I just read through it
A great report. I was actually a member of Citizens Against Government Waste a couple years ago but my money goes just towards marijuana policy now. I still follow through on their action alerts.CAGW taking a stand against Federal waste on medical marijuana is a great thing. You have REpublican leaders such as Mccaine closely allied with the group. It has to make some Republicans think twice about opposing the states right to medical marijuana act.Anyways I do highly recommend you read the report. It is very good news, CAGW has around 1 million members, many of them fiscal conservatives.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 12, 2005 at 11:28:38 PT

Sam
I sure agree with you. 
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on May 12, 2005 at 11:26:13 PT

Comment #5
Oh, we should definitely listen to the guy from "DAMMAD". I really want my medical decisions based on input from "DAMMAD". What do they know about chronic illness & herbal medicine? What is their credibility? Why are they even commenting? I'm not surprised that no significant media outlet has even printed their babble.
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Comment #6 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 12, 2005 at 10:33:52 PT

From the Drug Policy Alliance (Scary stuff)
We're in the fight of our lives in Washington, DC. High-ranking members of Congress want to take the war on drugs to a whole new level. They want to increase penalties for every drug offense. They want a mandatory 2-year prison term for anyone who knows someone is selling marijuana on a college campus and fails to report it to the police within 24 hours. They want a mandatory 5-year prison term for someone at a party who passes a marijuana joint to someone who has been enrolled in drug treatment at some point in their life. They want to expand the federal "three strikes and you're out" law to include new offenses, including mandating life imprisonment (with no possibility of parole) for anyone convicted a third time under the RAVE Act. Take Action Here These and other horrible provisions are inside Congressman Sensenbrenner's H.R. 1528 entitled "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005". You helped us derail this bill last year, but now it's back - and it's longer and more draconian. 
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/051105sensenalert.cfm
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 12, 2005 at 10:16:13 PT

Newswatch Article
News Update - Anti-Drug Group Calls For Testing Of Medical Marijuana Alternatives A New York anti-drug group is calling for Albany to institute what it calls a “pharmaceutical solution” to the medical marijuana debate. DAMMADD founder David Steiner stated he would like to see marijuana-based pharmaceuticals tested and safely administered. He points to the recent Health Canada approval of Sativex, a marijuana-derived spray that has shown good results in clinical trials. Steiner also called on legislators to counter what he calls the “medicine by popular vote” trend by encouraging more research into alternative medicines. http://www.newswatch50.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=07491D8A-82E3-43C7-B28C-8FC86F0EF395
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 12, 2005 at 08:29:58 PT

 global_warming 
You very well could be right.Up In Smoke: ONDCP's Wasted Efforts -- In the War on Drugshttp://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_drug

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Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 12, 2005 at 08:24:06 PT

DPA: Compassionate Use Making Progress
Compassionate Use Making Progress, Keep Pressure On - Connecticut OnlyThursday, May 12, 2005Connecticut's compassionate use medical marijuana needs a push to get through the Senate. SB 124, sponsored by Rep. Penny Bacchiochi (R-Somers), has only two more committees to pass through before it is voted on by the whole Senate, but time is running out in Connecticut's legislative session. Senators need to know that this bill is important to their constituents, and that is where you can make a big difference! Below are steps you can take to act on behalf of the 83% of Connecticut residents who support access to medical marijuana with a doctor's prescription:1) Send a message to your senator through our action center to let them know you support compassionate use for Connecticut and ask them to keep the bill moving.Take action now:http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25271&MS=ctmmj051105-ip2) Certain districts are especially important - if you live in one of the towns listed below, call your senator! When you call, leave a message with the legislative assistant who answers the phone (these messages do get passed on to the senator - elected officials take great interest in what their constituents have to say). Identify yourself as a constituent and say you want the senator to know that you strongly support SB 124, the medical marijuana bill that will help seriously ill people gain access to medicine. Ask that the senator support SB 124 as well.East Haven, North Haven, Wallingford:
Senator Len Fasano - District 34
(800) 842-1421Easton, Fairfield, Newton, Weston:
Senator John McKinney - District 28
(860) 240-8805Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington: Senator John Herlihy - District 8
(860) 240-04283) Tell other people to take action! Lawmakers realize that most people do not take the time to send an email or make a phone call to express their views, so for every person they do hear from, they know there are hundreds more with the same position. By forwarding this message to your friends and family and urging them to call or email their senators, you can help the state Senate realize there is extremely strong support for this bill.Thank you so much for your continued involvement! Together we can strengthen patients' rights and make compassionate use a reality in Connecticut. Take action now. 
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/051205ctmjalert.cfm
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Comment #2 posted by global_warming on May 12, 2005 at 08:22:43 PT

The first nail in the coffin of ONDCP
This article has finally and clearly revealed the waste of the ONDCP and might also explain why JPee has been acting weird of late.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 12, 2005 at 08:07:56 PT

Through the Looking Glass: A CAGW Special Report
Up In Smoke: ONDCP's Wasted Efforts -- In the War on Drugshttp://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_drug
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