cannabisnews.com: Salazar: Emphasis on Wrong Drug





Salazar: Emphasis on Wrong Drug
Posted by CN Staff on May 03, 2006 at 17:04:00 PT
By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
Source: Rocky Mountain News
Colorado -- America's drug czar is in Colorado this week to counter efforts to legalize marijuana, but Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said methamphetamine should be the focus.John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will release data from drug treatment programs and workplace testing that prove marijuana is a severe problem in Colorado.
"There is a general feeling that people who use marijuana are harmless and kind of funny," Walters said Friday in a telephone interview."There are people coming into the criminal justice system for marijuana and some are engaged in violent crimes," he said. "It doesn't just make you giggle."On Friday, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, urged President Bush to fire Walters for wasting millions on marijuana programs instead of tackling the more serious methamphetamine issue."It's political," responded Walters. "Over the last four years, the drug problem in American has gotten smaller. Youth meth use is also on the way down."Salazar spokesman Cody Wertz said Salazar won't ask Bush to fire Walters, but he would like to invite Walters to visit rural areas of Colorado."The rural sheriffs would say that meth is our biggest problem," said Wertz. "We do need to focus more on the methamphetamine scourge than marijuana." Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)Author: Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain NewsPublished: May 2, 2006Copyright: 2006 Denver Publishing Co.Contact: letters rockymountainnews.comWebsite: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/SAFER Pushing To Legalize Marijuana Statewidehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21638.shtmlPot Advocates Push Statewide Legalizationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21462.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by b4daylight on May 04, 2006 at 18:58:00 PT
Really
 "Over the last four years, the drug problem in American has gotten smaller. Youth meth use is also on the way down."What about the drug war getting smaller?
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on May 04, 2006 at 04:22:23 PT:
One tiny breath of truth: "It's political."
And that's all it has ever been. And what's so funny about it all is that the area Walters is visiting was amongst the first to engage in anti-cannabis laws...almost a century ago.From the following article at http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/history/whiteb1.htmThe first group of states to have marijuana laws in that part of the century were Rocky Mountain and southwestern states. By that, I mean Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana. You didn't have to go anywhere but to the legislative records to find out what had motivated those marijuana laws. The only thing you need to know to understand the early marijuana laws in the southwest and Rocky Mountain areas of this country is to know, that in the period just after 1914, into all of those areas was a substantial migration of Mexicans. They had come across the border in search of better economic conditions, they worked heavily as rural laborers, beet field workers, cotton pickers, things of that sort. And with them, they had brought marijuana. Basically, none of the white people in these states knew anything about marijuana, and I make a distinction between white people and Mexicans to reflect a distinction that any legislator in one of these states at the time would have made. And all you had to do to find out what motivated the marijuana laws in the Rocky mountain and southwestern states was to go to the legislative records themselves. Probably the best single statement was the statement of a proponent of Texas first marijuana law. He said on the floor of the Texas Senate, and I quote, "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff (referring to marijuana) is what makes them crazy." Or, as the proponent of Montana's first marijuana law said, (and imagine this on the floor of the state legislature) and I quote, "Give one of these Mexican beet field workers a couple of puffs on a marijuana cigarette and he thinks he is in the bullring at Barcelona."What's that old saying about the more things change, the more they stay the same? Then as now, it's always been political...with not a shred of science to stand on... 
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Comment #6 posted by whig on May 03, 2006 at 22:22:07 PT
runderwo
So let me get this straight. When marijuana is the focus of the drug war, drugs are a scourge and the biggest problem facing America. But if we refocus the drug war, the drug problem is suddenly small and getting smaller. ????The need to prohibit is inversely correlated with the actual dangerousness of the substance. Those substances with a higher risk of overdose and/or death (like methamphetamine) are Schedule II. Conversely, relatively safe substances like LSD are Schedule I. And of all possible things, that which is most harmless and least susceptible to cause harm is cannabis, which makes it something akin to Schedule Zero, the greatest scourge of all.While this might seem counterintuitive, it makes a peculiar sense. Lots of people will avoid dangerous drugs, so they don't really need a lot of enforcement to keep people away from them. Even relatively safe substances like LSD are hard to manufacture and difficult to obtain for the most part, so it is Schedule I but not the primary emphasis of enforcement. But cannabis, heck, it's so safe and so plentiful it's practically metastatic from the perspective of the prohibitionists.
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Comment #5 posted by runderwo on May 03, 2006 at 21:53:45 PT
walters
This guy could be a comedian."There are people coming into the criminal justice system for marijuana and some are engaged in violent crimes," he said. "It doesn't just make you giggle."Hey Walters, Christianity is highly associated with death row inmates - should we ban religion too?"On Friday, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, urged President Bush to fire Walters for wasting millions on marijuana programs instead of tackling the more serious methamphetamine issue. "It's political," responded Walters. "Over the last four years, the drug problem in American has gotten smaller. Youth meth use is also on the way down."So let me get this straight. When marijuana is the focus of the drug war, drugs are a scourge and the biggest problem facing America. But if we refocus the drug war, the drug problem is suddenly small and getting smaller. ????
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Comment #4 posted by freewillks on May 03, 2006 at 20:11:55 PT
war on drugs to recharge repub party. bring it on!
what did the R's do in the 70's to recover from nixon's fumble's. They declared a war on drugs! Problem is, when it comes to wars, this administration seems to screw things up. This is the begening of the end.  If they are so sure about the facts, why won't Walters attend an open debate about it? Tvert vs. Walters! A 20 something year old pot smoker vs US government's Top Drug expert. Why? Fear, thats why! They fear The Truth! “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” 
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on May 03, 2006 at 18:08:42 PT
The Cannabis Threat
As I've said before, if meth could provide food,fuel,fiber,
paper,plastics,building materials,medicine,etc. like the cannabis plant provides then the government would actually try to eradicate it also.Cannabis is a tremendous threat to those who profit from other's misery.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Professor Says ‘Cutter Charges’ Brought Down WTC Buildings:
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/cutter_charges_brought_down_wt.htmlUniveral shuts down it's message boards! (Hee-Hee!):
http://www.universalpictures.com/forum/index.phpTHE HIDDEN HISTORY OF 9-11-2001:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka/volume23.htmJudge Doubts Moussaoui's Claims About 9/11: 
http://tinyurl.com/p4fuxFILM PREMIERE: "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime":
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=855Rare German Photos Expose 9/11 Pentagon Hoax:
http://rense.com/general70/3o.htmEven More On 9/11 And Fortuitous Events:
http://rense.com/general70/more.htm
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Comment #2 posted by BUDSNAXZ on May 03, 2006 at 17:32:46 PT
B%LLSH T
Same old BS lies from the master. He really does need to go. Meth use and drugs in general are not going down. This is another lie to cover his ass to save his job. The article said "John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will release data from drug treatment programs and workplace testing that prove marijuana is a severe problem in Colorado" More BS, it only proves that prohibition and unconstitutional drug testing are making it a severe problem in there eyes. Proving people use cannabis does not constitute a problem for anyone except these stupid lying immoral greedy jerks.Peace all,
Mac
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 03, 2006 at 17:28:08 PT
A Comment About This Article
I found this article in an e-mail but I could only find the title in a google search and it isn't anywhere on the Rocky Mountain News. The title showing up in google says that the article was available but now it's no where to be found. I have decided what happened but I'll keep my thoughts to myself.
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