Walters at his most offensive

John Walters spewed his vile lies at our neighbors to the north:

A surge of high-potency marijuana illegally smuggled into the United States from Canada is fuelling a rise in drug dependency among young Americans, the Bush administration’s drug czar says.

A frustrated John Walters, the director of the U.S. National Drug Control office, yesterday signalled Washington’s ongoing irritation with what it sees as a lax attitude toward drug crimes north of the border, something that has forced it to redeploy drug patrols from the Mexican border to its northern flank.

Walters conceded yesterday American authorities are making no dent in the flow of Canadian pot and he said Canadian police and prosecutors have told him lenient Canadian courts are a root of the problem.

“The big new factor on the scene … is the enormous growth of high potency marijuana from Canada,” Walters said.

I get so pissed off at his lies sometimes. How is he allowed to continue to make unfounded and untrue connections between supposedly higher THC in Canadian pot and supposed increases in dependency or addiction?
Call for help
I have a personal quest. I’d like to file a challenge through the Data Quality Act — a request for correction of information disseminated by ONDCP regarding marijuana potency and dependency/addiction treatment levels.
I won’t be able to get to this right away, but I’d love some help gathering data, if anyone wants to volunteer. Check out the challenge filed by Americans for Safe Access as an example.
Then we need to gather as much information as possible:

1. All media quotes from Walters and ONDCP staff regarding potency and treatment numbers.
2. All government web pages that discuss these items.
3. Actual figures regarding THC levels and potency over time and average potencies in the U.S. and Canada.
4. Any actual studies that have looked at the connection between marijuana potency and dependency.

Shouldn’t be that hard to do. It wouldn’t make any huge changes, but it might force the government to admit that it has no proof for its claims.
Drop me a line if you’re interested in helping out.