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Green_T


Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,042
Loc: UK
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Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ
#13253333 - 09/27/10 11:45 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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This article is so full of it makes my blood boil...im mad as hell and am going to vote
Obama drug-policy adviser says the administration opposes marijuana legalization and isn’t big on medical marijuana Friday, September 24, 2010 - Billings Gazette
HELENA, MT — The Obama administration adamantly opposes legalizing marijuana and has a dubious view of medical marijuana, a top White House drug policy adviser said here Thursday night.
Kevin Sabet, special adviser for policy at the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, said marijuana is a dangerous drug that causes documented health and social problems, and should not be subject to voter approval for its use.
“Marijuana cannot be the one exception in history of the world that doesn’t go through a scientific process to be approved as medicine,” he told the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s annual drug court conference in Helena. “It doesn’t make any sense.
“How can we imagine that a dangerous, illegal drug like marijuana should be voted on by the people? That’s not how we do medicine in this country.”
Montana voters in 2004 approved a medical marijuana program for the state, allowing people with debilitating diseases to get a doctor’s approval to possess and smoke or otherwise ingest marijuana.
The program had only a few thousand users until a year ago, when the U.S. Justice Department issued a memo to federal prosecutors, telling them that pursuing medical marijuana patients or their caregivers is not a priority in states that have approved medical marijuana.
Since then, Montana’s number of medical marijuana cardholders has increased by nearly 20,000. Various traveling “clinics” have criss-crossed the state, sometimes issuing hundreds of cards in a single day.
Sabet said the Justice Department memo has been “widely misinterpreted” by the media and proponents of legalizing marijuana, and that it does not give marijuana growers or suppliers a blank check to produce pot in states with medical marijuana programs.
“If you actually read the memo, it’s very sensible,” he said. “(But) it didn’t take more than a week for us to put out our own clarifying statement: That people cannot hide behind medical marijuana as a guise for legalization.”
The memo, penned by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden last October, says federal prosecutors shouldn’t focus on medical marijuana patients or caregivers who are “in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law.”
However, it also says this recommendation does not legalize marijuana in these states, provide any legal defense to violation of federal drug laws, or protect those using medical marijuana laws “as a pretext for the production or distribution of marijuana for purposes not authorized by state law.”
Sabet said he believes medical marijuana programs are part of a strategy to legalize marijuana, and that the Obama administration is staunchly opposed to legalization.
Research shows that marijuana use causes health problems, can be addictive, and kills and injures people on roadways, among other things, he said.
Legalizing marijuana will increase its usage, increase arrests for drug-related behavior and won’t eliminate a black market for the drug, Sabet said.
“Our two legal drugs, tobacco and alcohol, serve as frightening examples of legalization,” he said. “Look at the alcohol industry. It does not make money off the 10 people who drink one drink a week. It makes money off of the one person who drinks 50 drinks a week. Addiction is incentivized in this business.”
Sabet also said legalization proponents have created a “false dichotomy” by suggesting the only alternatives are legalization or a harsh, punitive approach that emphasizes incarceration.
Those aren’t the only options, and the Obama administration favors an approach that pairs treatment with law enforcement, to reduce illegal drug usage and addiction without sending people to prison, he said.
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"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - Thomas Jefferson Legalize Meth | Drug War Victims
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Big Inhale
Stranger

Registered: 12/27/07
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Green_T]
#13253447 - 09/27/10 12:02 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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HAHA this is so sickening its laughable. Good thing voters know the differenc.
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theshroom
ʇɥǝsɥɹooɯ



Registered: 07/14/10
Posts: 568
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Big Inhale]
#13253490 - 09/27/10 12:11 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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At least he admitted tobacco and alcohol are terrible ideas. But he said it without saying it.
"serve as frightening examples of legalization"
Clearly they're dangerous, but why don't they make mj legal instead? Because they make TONS of money from tobacco and alcohol companies.
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usefulidiot13
Dark Passenger



Registered: 05/22/07
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Big Inhale] 1
#13253523 - 09/27/10 12:15 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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for sure...
VOTE ON MEDICINE??!! THIS ISNT HOW WE DO THIS!!!!!
THE PEOPLE MAY WANT IT BUT WHO ARE THEY TO DECIDE WHAT MEDICINES THEY USE?!!
what a fucking pathetic human being...
fuck this guy....i HATE that he is supposed to be a representative of the LIBERAL party in america....LIBERAL my fucking ass....
FUCK this dude.
-------------------- What Would Dexter Do?
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batman returns
Dude man



Registered: 09/12/09
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Green_T]
#13253532 - 09/27/10 12:16 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well, that's the last straw for me too. Off with the bumper sticker, it was fun pretending to "hope for change" for a while there. Back to the libertarians for me. Maybe the tea party will get it right... lol.
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curenado
73rd Man



Registered: 04/01/03
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: theshroom]
#13253538 - 09/27/10 12:18 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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The Obama Administration, with all it's quasi-legal "Czars", it's palatial lifestyle and statements like "The people don't get to vote this one" is really something. Makes one wonder if we have not already gone full muslim with our own little ugly emperor. What was that book? "Pigs on sheets!" I think it was....
-------------------- Yours in the Natural State Land of Enchantment! "The woods are lovely, dark and deep; but I have patches to keep, and jars to sterilize before I sleep...." "When psychotomimetics become cultural, so does cultural psychosis"
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Rogerdodger91
Psychedelic Rocker



Registered: 09/04/10
Posts: 100
Loc: Oklahoma, USA
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: batman returns] 2
#13253578 - 09/27/10 12:28 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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The government doesnt want marijuana legalized because the medicalinal, alcohol, and tobacco companies that donate millions of dollars a year for senators and presidential campaigns run the show. There was never any science backing up the reason marijuana was made illegal. Only propaganda. Oooooooh reefer madness. When realistically it was tobacco and cotton companies bitching because marijuana would put them out of business. Politics is hollywood in my opinion. Everything is a show. Who counts the votes? they do. Who determines the laws that go to the president? The senate does. Its obvious who runs the country. The top 1 % and their own personal interests. Why do you think they get away with bailouts and bullshit like that. The government doesnt step in to bailout private owned businesses, they replace it with walmart. Capitalism my friends. Aint it a bitch?
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usefulidiot13
Dark Passenger



Registered: 05/22/07
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Rogerdodger91]
#13253622 - 09/27/10 12:40 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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yeah fuck obamas stupid drug policy and the top one percent of american assholes.
the world is too fucked up for me...i cant believe that a politician in america can say that he thinks people shouldnt be allowed to VOTE on an issue.....fucking nazi.
-------------------- What Would Dexter Do?
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Mickalopagus
living in perverty


Registered: 07/06/04
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Rogerdodger91]
#13253628 - 09/27/10 12:41 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Wow, talk about underdogs. All you who smoke marijuana out there, I am tryin hard to promote your freedom of choice, but you are going to need A LOT of help over the next month if this is going to pass.
Way more than you are getting. If you smoke weed, support the measure, and are sitting on your ass about this one, I pity you, regardless of where you live in the states.
-------------------- notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... " ChrisWho said: "It's all about the journey, not the destination."
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usefulidiot13
Dark Passenger



Registered: 05/22/07
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Mickalopagus]
#13253650 - 09/27/10 12:44 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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how can i help if i live in indiana?
can i donate somewhere?
-------------------- What Would Dexter Do?
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Mr.Al
Alphabet soup



Registered: 05/27/07
Posts: 5,388
Loc: N.S.A. D.C.
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: usefulidiot13]
#13253660 - 09/27/10 12:47 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
usefulidiot13 said: yeah fuck obamas stupid drug policy and the top one percent of american assholes.
the world is too fucked up for me...i cant believe that a politician in america can say that he thinks people shouldnt be allowed to VOTE on an issue.....fucking nazi.
I seem to remember a certain Congressman from Texas that supports state's rights to determine the legal status of marijuana...
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Mickalopagus
living in perverty


Registered: 07/06/04
Posts: 15,084
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: usefulidiot13]
#13253682 - 09/27/10 12:50 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
usefulidiot13 said: how can i help if i live in indiana?
can i donate somewhere?
yeson19.com
I think just as it is stickied on the growery, it should be stickied here... a much more high traffic website
-------------------- notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... " ChrisWho said: "It's all about the journey, not the destination."
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FleshCap
FleshCap



Registered: 11/10/08
Posts: 685
Loc: Cali Underground
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Mickalopagus]
#13253823 - 09/27/10 01:21 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Is this latest statement a contradiction to the Obama administration's earlier position?
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: FleshCap]
#13253868 - 09/27/10 01:32 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
FleshCap said: Is this latest statement a contradiction to the Obama administration's earlier position?
Not really. They have never been very happy about medical marijuana.
They said before that they would not raid medical marijana dispensaries, and thier subsequent raids were in contradiction to that statement. This statement is a bit more watered down with regards to medical marijuana.
I am not sure why they are taking these positions, perhaps they have calculated that it will increase the number of people who vote for them?
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curenado
73rd Man



Registered: 04/01/03
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#13254373 - 09/27/10 03:14 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Drug sales have not been what they should be, even with oxycontin, antidepressants, diabetes (obesity) et all.
Food intelligence and efforts have become a billion dollar industry - this president and his funders feel that is their money and they mean business.
I think sometimes marijuana takes some of the flack for the general percentage of people that are avoiding commercial drugs except for recreation. i.e. It is not just the MJ's fault sales are slipping, but it is getting blamed.
Our country, being like 30th or less for health? Does not want well people because medicine and related industries would be scaled down and people with no other skills or merit would be unemployed.
The end picture is simply to have half the survivors self-managing the rest - then you have solved unemployment and crime profitably. What gets ground up to do that does not matter and anything goes.
on a side note, I took six medical surveys today. In every single survey, more than one question dealt specifically with my "need" for more information or training that would help me get people on prescriptions and keep them there at full use ("conformity").
I could not even take them all, because some of them had no question I could answer, they were so industry constructed. The question would be "Which of these things do you use most on patients?" and my answer would be "None of the above" - but that was not a survey option in a single one of them.
That freaky baby!
-------------------- Yours in the Natural State Land of Enchantment! "The woods are lovely, dark and deep; but I have patches to keep, and jars to sterilize before I sleep...." "When psychotomimetics become cultural, so does cultural psychosis"
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KillerSpores
Grand champion of Cyrodiil



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 2,463
Loc: Louisiana
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: curenado]
#13254576 - 09/27/10 03:58 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Yeah this is all bullshit. I am just waiting till a week before the vote someone makes it to where there is no more poll. They declare it unconstitutional or some shit.
-------------------- 01000110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00001101 00001010 Look it up.
 
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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Green_T]
#13254959 - 09/27/10 05:02 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
“Marijuana cannot be the one exception in history of the world that doesn’t go through a scientific process to be approved as medicine,” he told the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s annual drug court conference in Helena. “It doesn’t make any sense.
I agree 100%. Just another reason why cannabis should be unscheduled and legalized to allow additional scientific studies without interference by the Federal government. Apparently Mr. Sabet hasn't bothered to read any of the hundreds of studies showing the safety and efficacy of cannabis for a plethora of medical conditions.
Quote:
“How can we imagine that a dangerous, illegal drug like marijuana should be voted on by the people? That’s not how we do medicine in this country.”
No, that's not how we do medicine. When we feel unwell, we go to a licensed educated medical practitioner who recommends a treatment. If that treatment is marijuana the Feds say it is dangerous, even though science says otherwise. If that treatment is opiates, benzos, or SSRI's, the Feds say it is safe, even though science says otherwise.
Quote:
The Obama administration favors an approach that pairs treatment with law enforcement, to reduce illegal drug usage and addiction without sending people to prison.
If there was any truth to that statement, scheduled drugs would be made legal and regulated as soon as possible, drug abuse and addiction would be treated as a medical issue, not a legal issue, and the possibility of arrest or prison would be taken off the table.
Quote:
Legalizing marijuana will increase its usage, increase arrests for drug-related behavior and won’t eliminate a black market for the drug, Sabet said.
There is no evidence that marijuana legalization will increase its usage. People who do not use drugs now will not start if it's legal. People who use drugs do so regardless of their legality. That percentage remains stable over time whether or not it's use has severe penalties or none at all. And to say legalized marijuana will not eliminate it's black market, just shows no knowledge of economics and the definition of the term.
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Ubitsa
Waiting Is



Registered: 07/20/08
Posts: 575
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
Last seen: 10 years, 6 months
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: veggie]
#13255459 - 09/27/10 06:49 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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I wouldn't read too much into this.
Obama / Democrats do not want to rock the boat before the midterm elections, so they really have no other choice in this matter.
In general in fact, the Democrats are covering their asses, so until 50%+ of the country is for legalization, they will oppose it - they know their supporters aren't going to vote Republican if they want legalization.
At the federal level, it's just not going to happen until there's significant pressure from the electorate.
If the Dems had a knockout majority and were totally safe, I could see them trying to educate people and therefore make it popular. (never gonna happen)
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blujay
pass it b*ch!



Registered: 04/01/09
Posts: 5,120
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: Rogerdodger91]
#13255993 - 09/27/10 08:23 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Rogerdodger91 said: The government doesnt want marijuana legalized because the medicalinal, alcohol, and tobacco companies that donate millions of dollars a year for senators and presidential campaigns run the show. There was never any science backing up the reason marijuana was made illegal. Only propaganda. Oooooooh reefer madness. When realistically it was tobacco and cotton companies bitching because marijuana would put them out of business. Politics is hollywood in my opinion. Everything is a show. Who counts the votes? they do. Who determines the laws that go to the president? The senate does. Its obvious who runs the country. The top 1 % and their own personal interests. Why do you think they get away with bailouts and bullshit like that. The government doesnt step in to bailout private owned businesses, they replace it with walmart. Capitalism my friends. Aint it a bitch?
You are are right, but you said it in a dumb way.
The pharmaceutical industry fears legalization of marijuana because they are aware it could make many of their drug cocktails obsolete for a considerable number of users in applications ranging from pain management, to sleep aid, and even psychotherapeutic medication (depression meds).
This wouldn't be a problem, except that they cannot patent and control the supply of weed (it's a plant) reaping massive inflated profits from it like they could other synthetic drugs. As a result, they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
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  wat man rly
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blujay
pass it b*ch!



Registered: 04/01/09
Posts: 5,120
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Re: Obama drug-policy adviser on MJ legalization and MMJ [Re: veggie]
#13256048 - 09/27/10 08:34 PM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
Quote:
“Marijuana cannot be the one exception in history of the world that doesn’t go through a scientific process to be approved as medicine,” he told the Montana Supreme Court Administrator’s annual drug court conference in Helena. “It doesn’t make any sense.
I agree 100%. Just another reason why cannabis should be unscheduled and legalized to allow additional scientific studies without interference by the Federal government. Apparently Mr. Sabet hasn't bothered to read any of the hundreds of studies showing the safety and efficacy of cannabis for a plethora of medical conditions.
Quote:
“How can we imagine that a dangerous, illegal drug like marijuana should be voted on by the people? That’s not how we do medicine in this country.”
No, that's not how we do medicine. When we feel unwell, we go to a licensed educated medical practitioner who recommends a treatment. If that treatment is marijuana the Feds say it is dangerous, even though science says otherwise. If that treatment is opiates, benzos, or SSRI's, the Feds say it is safe, even though science says otherwise.
Quote:
The Obama administration favors an approach that pairs treatment with law enforcement, to reduce illegal drug usage and addiction without sending people to prison.
If there was any truth to that statement, scheduled drugs would be made legal and regulated as soon as possible, drug abuse and addiction would be treated as a medical issue, not a legal issue, and the possibility of arrest or prison would be taken off the table.
Quote:
Legalizing marijuana will increase its usage, increase arrests for drug-related behavior and won’t eliminate a black market for the drug, Sabet said.
There is no evidence that marijuana legalization will increase its usage. People who do not use drugs now will not start if it's legal. People who use drugs do so regardless of their legality. That percentage remains stable over time whether or not it's use has severe penalties or none at all. And to say legalized marijuana will not eliminate it's black market, just shows no knowledge of economics and the definition of the term.
This article almost made me do a rage-breakdown too.
I think you should approach the first point more with a light of the fact that this isn't some molecule produced by a lab (whose unkown effects could be devastating) but a common plant- while many natural drugs can be harmful, very few are inherently so dangerous they would need to be made illegal, and those substances are unlikely to be kept around in the first place. The drugs we know as dangerous are usually extremely concentrated forms, an opiate poppy pod tea is quite unlikely to be lethal, while heroin very well can be, the same goes for chewing coca leaves as compared to snorting it's concentrated form, cocaine. it should be general knowledge that the concentrated form of a drug should be handled with care and responsibility.
Even with potential for harm, it should not be prohibited however, due to the impracticality of prohibition and the fact that doing so removes responsibility from the individual, instead placing it in the hands of an abstract concept that cannot actually enforce any level of personal accountability. No when someone overdoses, it's the drug's fault, not theirs; while we really should be education people on the appropriate use of the drug such that self-moderation become a norm and abuse becomes taboo.
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  wat man rly
Edited by blujay (09/27/10 08:35 PM)
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