cannabisnews.com: Drug Czar Criticizes Nevada Proposal To Legalize

Drug Czar Criticizes Nevada Proposal To Legalize
Posted by CN Staff on October 12, 2006 at 16:22:35 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
Las Vegas -- Backers of an initiative to legalize small amounts of marijuana are trying to conduct "a social science experiment on the families of Nevada," a Bush administration official said Thursday. John Walters, the administration's drug czar, said the initiative on Nevada's November ballot is supported by outsiders who want to take advantage of the "blind spot people have about marijuana."
"It has addictive qualities and especially in the hands of young people and teens ... has caused, as you well know, quite a loss of life," Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in an interview with the Associated Press. Walters appeared Thursday with U.S. Rep. Jon Porter to speak out against the initiative, known as Question 7, and announced $500,000 in federal funding for a Clark County anti-drug program. Backers of the measure protested Walters' visit to Nevada, which included speeches and media interviews, saying he was using tax dollars to campaign against the initiative. Question 7 would allow people 21 and older to posses 1 ounce of marijuana in their homes - the same amount allowed under Nevada's medical marijuana law. The measure also directs marijuana growers, distributors and retailers to be licensed, taxed and regulated. And, it doubles penalties for selling or giving pot to minors and for vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It is backed by The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, a group that has pushed legalization measures in several states with funding from the Washington D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. The group argues that the legal system is bogged down by low-level marijuana offenses. It claims that taxing and regulating pot would put drug dealers out of business while freeing law enforcement resources to pursue violent crime. Neal Levine, executive director of the committee says anyone who wants marijuana can get it already, so it makes more sense to put it into a tightly controlled and regulated environment. Walters defended current drug laws. "The laws are working. The fact of the matter is we have lower rates of substance abuse now than we did several years ago," he said. He said new drug courts that handle only nonviolent drug-related offenses are succeeding in diverting drug users out of jails and into treatment centers. He said that a change in the law would send the wrong message to young people. "The law is an important expression of what people take seriously," he said. Complete Title: Drug Czar Criticizes Nevada Proposal To Legalize Marijuana Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: October 4, 2006Copyright: 2006 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Regulate and Control Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/Drug Czar Says Question 7 Work of Rich Outsidershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22238.shtmlReligious Leaders Making Case for Legalizing Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22234.shtmlBallot Initiative: Internal Poll Finds Support http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22190.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by muthu on November 14, 2008 at 09:55:45 PT:
RE: Drug Czar Criticizes Nevada Proposal To Legal
The above poster said, when debating pro-drug law folks, we should insist then that alcohol be included in prohibition.. but every time I mention alcohol being made illegal while drugs are illegal, I always get the same response...
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Muthu
south dakota drug rehab
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Comment #12 posted by whig on October 13, 2006 at 11:09:11 PT
Weights and measures
I don't even know how to roll a joint, to be honest. I'll hit it if someone passes it to me, but I prefer to vaporize or use a small pipe at home.In the entire time I've been in Berkeley, I've only gone through something like a quarter of an ounce. Just saying. I don't need much, one hit every so often and I'm wonderful.
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Comment #11 posted by mayan on October 13, 2006 at 03:56:02 PT
b4daylight
1 ounce = 28.3495231 gramsAn international troy ounce is a little over 31 grams.Ounce:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce
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Comment #10 posted by b4daylight on October 13, 2006 at 01:21:21 PT
video
I don't own a tv.
niceThe Suv he rides in, The plane he flew in, and the gas he omits from himself, sends the wrong message while giving the children no future at the same time.32 grams make a ounce. So .4 * 80 = 32
.4 grams a joint.Wow that is the smallest joint ever. Good Rebuttal
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Comment #9 posted by b4daylight on October 13, 2006 at 01:00:35 PT
Pwatler
He said that a change in the law would send the wrong message to young people.So what does legalizing alcohol and tabbaccoo message send to our youths. How about bic macs and shakes? Get fat, drunk, cancer, and dead. But hold off on the weed kid.
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Comment #8 posted by whig on October 13, 2006 at 00:09:04 PT
Tried an experiment
I'm always feeling pretty high lately, but my wife wanted to go out for a burger at a local brewery, so I thought I'd see what happened if I had one beer.About an hour later, back home, drifted off for a short nap, and then realized when I woke that I was no longer high. First time in awhile.Fixed that right quick, and all is well. But it was a good thing to learn.
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on October 12, 2006 at 21:53:47 PT
Choice #2
"People have a choice to make." Neal Livine "Choice is not a privilege; it's a right." Ford 150 advertisement
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Comment #6 posted by potpal on October 12, 2006 at 18:57:12 PT
social experiment
What about the "social science experiment" called prohibition? A police state requires a criminal class, prohibition makes 25 million Americans criminals. Perfect.
The experiment continues.Whaaaa?
..."has caused, as you well know, quite a loss of life"
What a sleazy turd Walters be.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 12, 2006 at 18:30:20 PT
Mafia
When our government goes and offers money it reminds me of how the Mafia worked or how I thought it worked. Favors require return favors. No gift is string free.
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on October 12, 2006 at 18:25:09 PT
BRIBERY
Walters appeared Thursday with U.S. Rep. Jon Porter to speak out against the initiative, known as Question 7, and announced $500,000 in federal funding for a Clark County anti-drug program.So this is their new tactic. BRIBERY!!! Let's start initiatives in every state possible and watch the feds try to bribe all of those states with our tax dollars! That will go over real well!THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...BELLAMY CLAIMS 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB:
http://www.pr-inside.com/bellamy-claims-9-11-was-an-inside-job-r21931.htmSouth Park Episode Hits Mark For Toilet Humor, But Misses On 9/11 Skepticism:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20061012111819409911 Fairy Tale from Hell Part 7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHZEGutg1FM&NR
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 12, 2006 at 17:40:57 PT
Press Release from Focus on the Family
Marijuana Initiatives on the Ballot in Three States ***By Steve Jordahl

October 12, 2006 Americans consistently vote down the measure, but it doesn’t mean advocates have stopped trying to make the addictive drug legal. The logic from supporters of Colorado’s effort to legalize marijuana is simple: if the drug is legal, people will choose to smoke a joint rather than drink alcohol, according to Mason Tvert with SAFERchoice. “I don’t think it would be like a sharp decline, like everyone would all of a sudden stop, but all of a sudden people would be able to make a choice.” But it would surely cause a sharp increase of marijuana smokers... and those who mix the drug with alcohol. Nonetheless Tvert is hoping for a new public service message. “It’s about time that this country stops telling people to drink responsibly and starts telling them to party responsibly.” Colorado ’s initiative would allow adults to legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana. That might not seem like much, but, in reality it makes between 30 and 60 joints. US Drug Czar John Walters says legalization will inundate our drug treatment centers. “We have more teens in treatment nationwide for marijuana dependency and abuse as teens than for all other illegal drugs combined. We have more teens seeking treatment for marijuana dependency than for alcoholism.” Similar efforts are on the ballot in Nevada and South Dakota. Currently 60 million Americans smoke and 126 million use alcohol; Walters shudders at the thought that many people are smoking pot. “What kind of devastation to academic performance, to carnage on the highways, to kids getting into trouble and to having families damaged?” Marijuana use is also linked to depression, schizophrenia and thoughts of suicide. Copyright: 2006 Focus on the Familyhttp://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0042282.cfm
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 12, 2006 at 17:25:38 PT
Related Article from KLAS
Fight to Legalize Marijuana Escalates War of Words***Edward Lawrence, ReporterOctober 12, 2006
The nation's drug czar John Walters, the National Drug Control Policy Director, was in Las Vegas Thursday urging voters to say 'No' to ballot Question 7. The initiative would make the possession of a small amount of marijuana legal. Here are the provisions.The measure would allow the sale, use and possession of one ounce or less of marijuana for people at least 21-years of age. It imposes a tax on the sale of the drug.The measure would double the prison sentence from 20 to 40 years for those who cause death or injury while driving under the influence of marijuana.For Brittany Faber legalizing marijuana will always be a very personal battle. She says ten years ago the drug took from her the most important person from her childhood."My dad had just dropped my sister off at middle school and he was on his way to work," Brittany Faber, a Las Vegas resident, says.Her father never made it. An 18-year-old, high on marijuana, traveling 85 mph in a 45 mph zone hit her dad's car."He hit my dad on the drivers side. He hit him so hard. My dad's head shattered the passenger side window," Faber says.Brittany was 8 years old at the time. To this day, she's angry at the teen who took her father's life and received only house arrest. In 1997, there was no driving under the influence of drugs law in the state.She fought to help get one passed in the memory of her dad."He would always make me milkshakes and we would sit and watch TV and eat milkshakes together. He was such a good dad. He was such a good father," Faber says.The debate over legalizing marijuana brings up long buried feelings. She joined the national drug czar in Las Vegas to oppose legalizing marijuana."The willingness to say well it's only on ounce. Letting people walk around with 60 or 80 joints, that's what it amounts to really, becomes kind of a drug dealer protection act," John Walters, National Drug Control Policy Director, says.Not everyone welcomed John Walters.A dozen protesters let him know they approve legalizing marijuana. "People have a choice to make. Do we want marijuana in a tightly regulated and controlled system, or do we want the current free for all that we have now. As a parent, I want it in a tightly regulated and controlled system," Neal Livine from the Committee to Regulate & Control Marijuana says.Voters will decided on the issue on November 7. Meantime, Walters announced a $100,000 to the Las Vegas anti-drug coalition. The money will be used to prevent drug use among local teens.Send your feedback to Reporter Edward Lawrence at: elawrence klastv.com

http://www.klas-tv.com/global/story.asp?s=5533026
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 12, 2006 at 17:21:02 PT
Opposing Sides Discuss Legalization of Marijuana
Videos: http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5531541&nav=15MV
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