cannabisnews.com: An Old Soldier Never Dies, Damnit An Old Soldier Never Dies, Damnit Posted by FoM on November 05, 2000 at 07:54:55 PT By Chuck Thomas, Marijuana Policy Project Source: Liberty Magazine On Oct. 16, White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey announced that he will resign before the next president takes office. McCaffrey's drug war has been cruel, costly, and counterproductive. More than three million marijuana users have been arrested during his five-year regime, and his fight against medical marijuana has caused untold pain and suffering among the seriously ill. Indeed, a new FBI report released on Oct. 15 revealed a record number of marijuana arrests in 1999. According to the annual Crime in the United States report, there were 704,812 marijuana arrests in 1999 -- 88% of which were for possession, not sale or manufacture. Despite this all-out war, drug use in the United States has actually increased since 1995. Not surprisingly, McCaffrey is lying about his focus and accomplishments. For example, his resignation announcement says that he has "made prevention of drug use Goal One of this country's anti-drug strategy" -- yet the federal budget for domestic law enforcement is more than four times the budget for prevention. The mainstream media have responded to McCaffrey's announcement by gushing with praise, repeating his lies unchecked and overlooking the myriad of controversies he's been involved in over the years, e.g., paying television stations to influence the content of their shows, tracking Internet users who type certain drug terms into their search engines, and getting the United States involved in Colombia's bloody civil war. Perhaps McCaffrey's enormous expenditures for anti-drug ads in the popular press have bought him these undeserved accolades. Long gone is the time when a general who lost a war and caused such extensive havoc in his homeland in the process had only one way to resign with honor: hari-kari. Chuck Thomas Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org/Source: Liberty Magazine (US)Published: December 1, 2000 Author: Chuck ThomasCopyright: 2000 Liberty Foundation Address: Box 1118, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Contact: letterstoeditor LibertySoft.com Website: http://www.libertysoft.com/liberty/index.html Related Articles:Out with Barry, In With Common Sensehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7446.shtmlBye Bye Barryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7388.shtmlThe General's Farewellhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7377.shtml McCaffrey Says He Will Leave White House Post http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7364.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on November 05, 2000 at 08:39:40 PT: And for those who want to know how the Barry-ola fracas got started, I'd suggest you read "Citizen Dan"http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1655/a05.html?2648How Dan Forbes unearthed the scandal that is forcing Barry to split before he needs a pardon from Billy Boy Klinton. This is a major league stink: a US government official has been caught utilizing the power of government to force compliance of private organizations to disseminate government propganda. As clear a violation of the First Amendment as there ever was. Not only that, he had brought several of his tame mouthpieces such as Abe Rosenthal, together at a government facility, at taxpayer expense, to plot the devaluation of democracy in two Western States, nullifying a popular vote and for all intent and purposes, threatening doctors with losing their licenses to practice medicine for simply opining that cannabis might be good for their more desperate patients. A major breach of the public trust has been committed by someone who is supposed to be neutral in these matters. By someone who was not supposed to use the powers of his office in so partisan an endeavor. It is tanatamount to using Federal facilities and personnel to campaign politically for someone...or against someone. a clear violation of the Oath of Public Office.A tremendously dangerous precendent has been established here, and if not challenged, will lead to even more egregious abridgments of the walls meant to seperate the various powers of government.Barry ought to be in the very jail that he wants to put us, and force-fed his own propaganda. (I have visions of that 'heroin-waif' with the frypan flailing away at him with it.) Or perhaps we should just force him to care for some of his victims, cleaning up vomit and standing helplessy by as they die. But this worm, like the entire Klinton Administration, will likely go unpunished for the crimes against humanity they have perpetrated. By the way, it's "Hara-Kiri". And it's a bloody shame he won't, either. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: