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 veggie
Registered: 07/26/04
Posts: 13,985
Loc: 
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 Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies 
#8885105 - 09/06/08 03:33 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies
By Paul Armentano
September 6, 2008 - AlterNet
Joe Biden authored the laws establishing the White House drug czar and random drug testing of public employees, among others.
Voters who hoped that Barack Obama's call for "change" would include revamping U.S. drug policy are finding themselves with reasons to be skeptical.
First there was Obama's flip-flop-flip-flop on the subject of decriminalizing marijuana. Speaking at Northwestern University in January 2004, Obama called America's so-called "war on drugs" an "utter failure," and recommended, "(W)e need to rethink and decriminalize our (nation's) marijuana laws." (Obama's candid remarks, though out of step politically, echo public sentiment. Nearly 3 out of 4 Americans endorsed the policy in a 2002 CNN/Time Magazine poll, and 12 state legislatures have already enacted versions of pot decriminalization -- replacing criminal penalties with fine-only sanctions.)
Nevertheless, Obama reversed his pro-pot position during a televised November 2007 MSNBC debate, raising his hand to indicate his opposition to the policy. Following the debate, a spokesman for Obama claimed that the candidate had misunderstood the moderator's question and declared that Obama had, in fact, "always" supported decriminalization. Hours later, however, when presented with video footage of Obama's 2004 statements, the campaign reversed course once again, stating to the Washington Times that the Democratic nominee opposed decriminalizing weed.
Since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Obama has voiced almost no criticism regarding America's punitive drug policies (despite his previous "utter failure" evaluation). As senator, Obama has championed popular anti-drug legislation like the "Combat Meth Act" and has lobbied in favor of increased funding for drug courts and U.S. drug interdiction efforts south of the border.
Nevertheless, many progressives believe -- perhaps rightly -- that Obama's prior admissions of illicit drug use (which the candidate now describes, without further elaboration, as a "mistake"), coupled with his apparent nonideological, holistic approach to public policy, indicates a willingness to move American drug policy away from the moralist, "do drugs, do time" attitudes associated with the Bush administration. If so, then the sudden pairing with Democrat drug war hawk Joe Biden becomes that much more distressing.
During his 35 years in Congress, political observers note that no Democrat has sponsored "more damaging drug war legislation" than Joe Biden. Biden led the charge in the Senate for passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which -- among its numerous notorious provisions -- re-established mandatory minimum sentencing for drug crimes, expanded the use of federal asset forfeiture laws, and established the racially biased 100-to-1 sentencing disparity for the possession of crack versus powder cocaine. (During the mid-'80s, it was hardly unusual for "liberals" such as Biden to endorse punitive drug policies, which at the time enjoyed virtually unanimous support from Congress.) Biden recently offered a mea culpa regarding his former support for the disproportionate sentencing provision, rationalizing, "Our intentions were good, but much of our information was bad."
Biden was also a key architect of the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which enacted mandatory sentences for minor crack cocaine possession (five years in prison for possession of more than 5 grams), redefined low-level drug mules as drug "conspirators" (allowing these defendants to face the same penalties as drug kingpins), instituted random workplace drug testing programs for public employees, and established the multibillion-dollar anti-drug propaganda wing of the White House known as the Office of National Drug Control Policy (the federal agency responsible for creating the television ads that claimed that pot smoking sponsors international terrorism -- or at least makes you pregnant). The executive director of the ONDCP, dubbed by Biden as America's "drug czar," was eventually elevated in 1993 to that of a presidential Cabinet position -- arguably the only U.S. Cabinet position that, by law, is mandated to lie to the American public.
More than three decades in Congress have done little to quench Biden's drug war lust. In 2001, Delaware's senior senator grilled then drug czar appointee -- now acting drug czar lunatic -- John Walters for several hours over concerns that he might not be tough enough to spearhead America's drug war. Biden also sponsored federal anti-paraphernalia legislation forbidding the interstate sale of glass pipes, bongs and rolling papers. (In 2003, Hollywood actor and comedian Tommy Chong was sentenced to nine months in federal prison for violating the statute. Nevertheless, in an August interview on the "Dr. Drew" syndicated radio show, Chong admitted that he supports the Obama-Biden ticket -- a decision that, if nothing else, illustrates the view among many reformers that regardless of how bad the Dems might be on the drug issue, a McCain-Palin administration would undoubtedly be worse.)
More recently, Biden authored the so-called RAVE Act (aka the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act) -- clandestinely enacted into law in 2003 as a rider to federal "Amber Alert" legislation -- which permits federal law enforcement to prosecute business owners and event organizers who hold concerts where illicit drug use takes place. The congressman was also instrumental in the passage of the domestic COPS program, which sought to add some 100,000 new law enforcement officers to the state and federal payrolls, as well as expend funding for the Department of Justice, the FBI and the DEA.
Biden is also a staunch supporter of U.S. anti-drug efforts abroad, such as Plan Columbia and Plan Afghanistan, and has even espoused for the use of mycoherbicides such as Fusarium oxysporum -- a genetically engineered fungal plant killer -- in illicit crop eradication efforts. (Fortunately for the planet, more rational minds -- at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, of all places -- nixed the idea, deciding that the deliberate spread of such toxic pathogens would be unsafe for the environment.)
In recent months, Biden has called for a nationwide smoking ban, demanded stricter penalties for those who violate "drug free school zone" laws, and spoken out against efforts to lower the national drinking age to 18. (On the flip side, Biden -- like his running mate -- has expressed verbal support for ending the federal prosecution of state-authorized medical marijuana patients and providers, though both candidates continue to express skepticism regarding the drug's therapeutic use.) Finally, this past July, Biden introduced one of the more laughable pieces of anti-drug legislation in congressional history: Senate Bill 3351, which seeks to crack down on drug traffickers who captain unregistered submarines in international waters. Fortunately, unlike many of his previous efforts, SB3351 lacks the ability to put tens of thousands of Americans -- particularly those of color -- in prison.
So should progressives cite Obama's tapping of Biden as reason to abandon all hope for drug law reform? Not necessarily, though the notable absence of the subject at the Democratic National Convention will likely give some folks -- this author included -- yet another reason to be cynical.
Bottom line: No administration since the Carter administration has proactively taken steps to liberalize federal drug penalties, and there's little indication that Obama and Biden will possess either the desire or the political will to buck this long-running trend.
Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for the NORML Foundation in Washington, D.C.
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 Coaster
Baʿal
 
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: veggie]
#8885107 - 09/06/08 03:35 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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still better than a republican
they suck cock
fucking nixon douche bag
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AltonBrown
GZ
Registered: 08/15/08
Posts: 154
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: Coaster]
#8885145 - 09/06/08 03:51 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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i wish we could vote on laws. and not people...
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: AltonBrown]
#8885149 - 09/06/08 03:51 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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i nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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truffleupagus
Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,038
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: Coaster]
#8885197 - 09/06/08 04:21 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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That would make too much sense though.
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johnm214
Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 16,670
Loc: Americas
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: Coaster]
#8885409 - 09/06/08 07:23 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Coaster said:
still better than a republican
they suck cock
fucking nixon douche bag
This is idiocy.
One man, an asshole , is better than the republican party as a whole? How?
It should be noted that the liberals' philosophy is compatible with drug prohibition, while the conseratives' are not.
I'm interested in how you feel the republicans are worse than this asshole who managed to erect some of the most draconian laws we've yet seen.
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord
Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: johnm214]
#8885609 - 09/06/08 10:03 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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I can't find any bill sponsored by a republican that even compares to all the unconstitutional laws that Biden has perpetrated on the American people.
Quote:
In 2001, Biden grilled then drug czar appointee -- now acting drug czar lunatic -- John Walters for several hours over concerns that he might not be tough enough to spearhead America's drug war.
What????? Are you kidding me?
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piracetam
bioanalytical chemist
Registered: 05/03/08
Posts: 4,311
Loc: TX 
Last seen: 18 days, 5 hours
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: johnm214]
#8885682 - 09/06/08 10:28 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
johnm214 said:
It should be noted that the liberals' philosophy is compatible with drug prohibition, while the conseratives' are not.
I'd like to know how you came to that inane conclusion.
liberals don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness.
conservatives, with their "family values" rhetorical bullshit, seem more convinced that drugs are the bane of society.
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"It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.
In an evolving universe, who stands still moves backwards." ~R.A. Wilson
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: johnm214]
#8886033 - 09/06/08 12:11 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
johnm214 said:
Quote:
Coaster said:
still better than a republican
they suck cock
fucking nixon douche bag
This is idiocy.
One man, an asshole , is better than the republican party as a whole? How?
It should be noted that the liberals' philosophy is compatible with drug prohibition, while the conseratives' are not.
I'm interested in how you feel the republicans are worse than this asshole who managed to erect some of the most draconian laws we've yet seen.
the drug war was a rebublican thing
nixon started it, hes the draconian masta of disasta
its not one man, its a long line of repubs
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sinenomine
Stranger
Registered: 12/02/06
Posts: 557
Last seen: 24 days, 11 hours
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: Coaster]
#8886102 - 09/06/08 12:23 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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At the very least, Obama-Biden would stop federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. With them off our backs, couldn't more states pass medical laws?
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EntheogenicPeace
Scholar
Registered: 10/04/05
Posts: 3,797
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: johnm214]
#8886108 - 09/06/08 12:24 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
It should be noted that the liberals' philosophy is compatible with drug prohibition, while the conseratives' are not.
That's a bit of a stretch. While it's true that some liberals support prohibition on the grounds of 'doing what's in the public interest', 'public health & safety' or some other nanny-state bullshit, & that some conservative oppose prohibition on the grounds of individual liberty... to say that the strongest base of support for prohibition in modern America comes from the left-half of the U.S. political spectrum instead of from "social conservatives" who espouse their completely hypocritical & illogical definition of "family values" is a case of seeing what you want to see instead of what's really there.
P.S. Based on just what I've read in this thread, though, it appears Biden is as bad as any Republican (excluding the not more than a handful in D.C., like Ron Paul, who oppose prohibition on the grounds of individual liberty). Unfortunately & admittedly, this comment applies to way too many backwards Democrats still today, but not to the extent of the GOP.
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"I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.
And I, to whom so great a vision was given in my youth; you see me now a pitiful old man who has done nothing, for the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead."
- Oglala Lakota medicine man Black Elk, reflecting on the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre
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MisterMuscaria
Registered: 05/13/08
Posts: 27,371
Loc: Colorado
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: Coaster]
#8886140 - 09/06/08 12:32 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Coaster said:
still better than a republican
they suck cock
fucking nixon douche bag
Ron Paul(republican) wanted to legalize it.
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SoY
I am the LizardKing
Registered: 06/01/06
Posts: 774
Loc: Everywhere
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: piracetam]
#8886204 - 09/06/08 12:44 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
piracetam said:
liberals don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness.
conservatives, with their "family values" rhetorical bullshit, seem more convinced that drugs are the bane of society.
Incorrect. Liberal ideology revolves around the concept of the *nanny state* in which the government must do all it can to protect and support the infantile and dependent populous. Republicans, not conservatives, are likely to arrive at similar authoritarian policies from the *family values* angle. True conservatives, (Libertarians, Anarchists, Minarchists, etc.) are the ones who "don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness."
The Democrats and the Republicans want to control us just the same. WE MUST SAVE TEH CHILDREN!!
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"The choiceless truth of who you are is revealed to be permanently here permeating everything. Not a thing and not separate from anything."--Gaganji
"Yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream."
"My karma ran over my dogma!"
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: MisterMuscaria]
#8886232 - 09/06/08 12:49 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
MisterMuscaria said:
Quote:
Coaster said:
still better than a republican
they suck cock
fucking nixon douche bag
Ron Paul(republican) wanted to legalize it.
im talking about past presidents not candidates
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highdroponics
Professional Deadhead
Registered: 11/14/06
Posts: 5,574
Loc: Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Last seen: 4 months, 19 days
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: SoY]
#8886561 - 09/06/08 01:52 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
SoY said:
Quote:
piracetam said:
liberals don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness.
conservatives, with their "family values" rhetorical bullshit, seem more convinced that drugs are the bane of society.
Incorrect. Liberal ideology revolves around the concept of the *nanny state* in which the government must do all it can to protect and support the infantile and dependent populous. Republicans, not conservatives, are likely to arrive at similar authoritarian policies from the *family values* angle. True conservatives, (Libertarians, Anarchists, Minarchists, etc.) are the ones who "don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness."
The Democrats and the Republicans want to control us just the same. WE MUST SAVE TEH CHILDREN!!
quoted for the fucking truth.
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Dr  says to stop trying to treat the side-effects of big government and focus on the core issues. End the Federal Reserve/audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, abolish the IRS, end all wars and occupancies, stop the building of an empire that will inevitably fail, and cut all unconstitutional federal programs. Put the power back in the peoples' hands by ending this nanny-state.
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SolomonTheShaman
I love to travel
Registered: 07/06/08
Posts: 211
Last seen: 3 years, 10 months
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: SoY]
#8887016 - 09/06/08 04:02 PM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
SoY said:
Quote:
piracetam said:
liberals don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness.
conservatives, with their "family values" rhetorical bullshit, seem more convinced that drugs are the bane of society.
Incorrect. Liberal ideology revolves around the concept of the *nanny state* in which the government must do all it can to protect and support the infantile and dependent populous. Republicans, not conservatives, are likely to arrive at similar authoritarian policies from the *family values* angle. True conservatives, (Libertarians, Anarchists, Minarchists, etc.) are the ones who "don't really care what the hell you do to alter your own consciousness."
The Democrats and the Republicans want to control us just the same. WE MUST SAVE TEH CHILDREN!!
 The federal machine has corrupted our minds even further with this party system crap. What happened to the Republic?
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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
-Mohandas Gandhi
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BoomerMan420
Stranger
Registered: 10/24/07
Posts: 1,237
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Re: Obama's Biden Pick Signals 'More of the Same' Stupid Drug Policies [Re: SolomonTheShaman]
#8889104 - 09/07/08 02:02 AM (4 years, 9 months ago) |
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The american dream tho it seems like it's attainable their pullin' your sleeve dont believe cus it will strangle ya.
R.I.P. Lesane Parish Crooks
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