This morning, SSDP member Daniel Pacheco presented our Just Say Now petition with 52,000 signatures calling for an end to marijuana prohbition to Gil Kerlikowske, the U.S. Drug Czar during a press conference for Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.
Daniel, a student at Georgetown University and originally from Colombia, asks why the ONDCP continues to deny that legalizing marijuana would take away drug cartel's massive profits. When Dir. Kerlikowske says that marijuana is only a small part of their income, Daniel tells him he's downplaying marijuana's role in the black market drug trade and disrespecting the 28,000 people murdered in Mexico's drug prohibition violence. He then hands the petition to Director Kerlikowske. You have to watch this video.
Kerlikowske is basically discrediting the findings of his own department, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, by saying that their report citing that 60% of cartel revenue is coming from marijuana is from 2006 and used data from 1997 and therefore is too old to be trusted. He flat out lies by saying that legalizing marijuana would only take away a small part of DTO profits (and essentially admitting that legalization would take away some profit). But we don't have to go all the way back to 1997 for this information. In 2008, the FBI released a report with these findings:
Mexico is the number one foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the United States. In fact, according to a 2008 inter-agency report, marijuana is the top revenue generator for Mexican DTOs—a cash crop that finances corruption and the carnage of violence year after year. The profits derived from marijuana trafficking—an industry with minimal overhead costs, controlled entirely by the traffickers—are used not only to finance other drug enterprises by Mexico’s poly-drug cartels, but also to pay recurring “business” expenses, purchase weapons, and bribe corrupt officials.
So basically, ONDCP now has to discredit their own findings and ignore those of the FBI in order to defend their backwards stance on marijuana legalization!
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9 comments:
more sidestepping and doublespeak
They will never admit anything until their handlers tell them its ok. It doesn't matter if you have completely solid, unbreakable facts they will just say they don't exist and your wrong until they have permission to say otherwise.
Nobody can speak for themselves anymore. Everyone's got a leash on...
They won't admit that they are wrong, because they are most interested in protecting their budgets and jobs! Even at the expense of the American taxpayers.
mmm, I say let the war rage, crash the economy and culture into the ground and see what will happen; see what medicines Americans will partake in then. this is all busy work for busy people, out here in my hood everyone smokes and grows, a beautifully slow way of living and capturing a chillaxed perspective on silly people. rock on!
It is very troubling that political allegiances run so deep that no member of the administration can voice an independent opinion. I had high hopes (no pun intended) for Kerlikowske when he was appointed, but, sadly, he has done very little for civil rights and personal liberties. There is no better "harm reduction approach" than legalization, Mr. K.
Even if it was only 5% of the cartels revenue, would it not make sense to channel that 5% to taxpaying Americans than to murdering thugs in another country? What is the magic number he wants in order to logically legalize marijuana. It is estimated that $10 - 30 Billion is sent south of the border to pay for illegal drugs every year. Even if you take the lowest range ($10 billion) and EVEN if marijuana was only 1% of the drug revenue, than that’s $100 Million dollars that could be kept out of Cartel hands every year. If it is 60% of drug revenue, than that is a range of $6 to $18 billion that could be kept out of the Cartel's war chest EVERY YEAR. Our government is corrupted (both parties) by special interests, that is the only way to explain why they would keep marijuana illegal when doing so causes far more harm than re-legalizing. It also explains why he won’t acknowledge his own data and instead lies to the audience. Who’s to say the special interests are not the Cartels themselves. They have a lot at stake and anyone in Washington can be bought if you have enough money.
This weekend I had the pleasure of having Bruce Alexander, the famous "Rat Park" addiction researcher, visit Denmark.
He pointed out that we should probably be aware that drugs are largely used as an excuse to further geopolitical and military goals - and that it might be wise to remind those in power that it is not OK to sacrifice so many lives, cause so much suffering and wreck economies and political systems both domestically and abroad.
I'm inclined to agree with that.
Its a damn shame to hear all that smear come out of the United States of America (fuck yeah!) drug czar's mouth! Trying to discredit the past figures and he does not even know the current government percentages, he is sadly mistaken on the effect of marijuana's current criminalization in America. Many of our own citizens and neighboring countries are affected by the violence surrounding the black market. Marijuana has been tied into the drug smuggling agenda of the Mexican Cartels for decades to produce a steady cash flow because it is illegal for our own citizens to produce the crop. With marijuana being made in the USA the value of that southern shwag would not be as profitable for the murderous cartels and it would generate revenue for America so real Americans would benefit, not the international thugs. By blatantly disregarding our very own governments factual findings, continuing to oppress over 50,000 American citizens and the 'percentage' of the deceased due to the Mexican cartel's marijuana trafficking across our border, I do not see the current Drug Czar fit for duty in our government.
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