This post at Opposing News includes Senator Jay Rocefeller’s full response to why he confirmed Michele Leonhart for head of the DEA.
His letter is almost perfectly typical of the kind of response you get from so many elected officials on this issue, and could almost serve as a template.
Here’s the exciting conclusion:
You should know that I am opposed to the recreational use of all illegal drugs. I am very proud of my long record of fighting drug abuse and crime related to it. I have voted to support harsh penalties for drug offenders and have worked hard to make funding available so our police can properly train and equip themselves for the war on drugs. I believe it is very important to punish drug offenders, help the addicted when we can, and keep drugs away from our children, and my votes in the Senate reflect those values.
At the same time, I believe that our government must enact policies that are effective, and not merely punitive, as we work to prevent drug abuse. That is why I am committed to providing treatment where it is appropriate, enforcement where it is necessary, and education in healthful choices for everyone. Rehabilitation services must be a priority in order to help those with drug addiction, which could save many lives and many families, and over time will be a bargain compared to the ravages of crime, increased health care costs, and the overwhelming costs of incarcerating so many of our state’s youth.
Thank you again for being in touch. I wish you the very best.
With Warm Regards,Jay Rockefeller
I like the “wishing you the best” and “warm regards” after salivating over punishing people.
ASAM issues white paper to halt medical marijuana use in many states
It’s a press release by the American Society of Addiction Medicine about their “white paper” opposing medical marijuana. It’s put together, in part, by Andrea Barthwell and Robert DuPont, so you know it’s full of lies and deception.
Here’s an organization that is actually inserting itself into the realm of other medical professionals to tell them what they should or should not do, all to protect the profits of the treatment industry.
You can’t have both harsh penalties for those who take drugs “drug offenders” and at the same time offer them treatment. It’s really one or the other.
This jay rocefeller is soo far out of touch with reality that his head is up an elephants ass in India.This guy needs a few drugs to bring him DOWN.
Great, the DuPonts and Rockefellers, literally 2 of the richest families in the country for generations now. Both families have a long history of protecting the profits of the very rich and the largest corporate entities at the expense of everyone and everything else. The fact that Jay Rockefeller can muster enough votes to still be Senator after all the corrupt shit he and his family have been involved in(BushCo could have never done half of what they did without him on the Intel committee) both in and out of government doesn’t speak highly of his constituency. Come on New York!
@ Chris – Jay Rockefeller is a senator from West Virginia, not New York.
@ Hacienda – Chris can be forgiven for that little mistake, the Rockefellers are an old NY family
ASAM scares me far more than the DEA does. They, and most of the “treatment” industry are a front for the destructive cult Alcoholics Anonymous and it’s indistinguishable clone NA. That’s who’s brainwashing the Jay Rockefellers of the world.
Right you are Mark, my mistake. Come on West Virginia!
What do you think, is Sen. Rockefeller likely to support the medical cannabis bill recently introduced in WV? Since medical cannabis legislation passed in WV back in 1979 while he was governor, I guess that means he signed off on it (and presumably supported it) at that time. So maybe there’s hope.
Was the West Virginia medical cannabis law as worthless as the Virginia meidcal cannabis law passed in 1979? Since I’ve never heard of a West Virginian get any cannabis as medicine I’d expect it was. But then again it was just last year that I learned that New Mexico passed a medical cannabis law in 1978 that did actually get medicine to the sick.
Just for anyone that wasn’t aware in 1978-79 it was pretty much presumed that the Feds were going to give the thumbs up to medical cannabis and at least half a dozen States passes laws to accommodate this expected change in Federal law. This was directly after Bob Randall won his lawsuit and the Federal Compassionate IND program for cannabis was started.
Here’s a link to Virginia’s useless, 32 year old law:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+coh+18.2-251.1+702188
Of course the day the Feds decide that it’s medicine it’s legal in Virginia. Well legal for cancer & glaucoma.
Tommy….I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here…AA and NA are not the problem. Illegal drugs should be treated the same way as legal ones like alcohol, regulated and taxed. That does not change the fact that many people become dependent on drugs, legal or otherwise, and AA and NA provide an effective way for many to break that dependency. Both organizations are specifically not religious and certainly not “cults” …they take no donations from non-members and charge no fees or dues. It is not the fault of 12 Step fellowships that some for profit treatment centers have tried, unsuccessfully, to affiliate themselves, and both AA and NA specifically ban any endorsement of outside organizations.
It is a fact that Andrea Barthwell has sought to legitimize her demonization of cannabis users through attempts to set up meetings with the Public Information committee of NA in the UK. The last I heard further meetings with Barthwell had been rejected on the grounds of bringing NA into disrepute and public controversy. It should be remembered that Barthwell has been a director of the company which manufactures Marinol, so she has a financial interest in continuing the prohibition on all forms of cannabis use, including medical.
I do believe Andrea is associated w/ GW Pharma, producers of Sativex®, not Marinol. Of course Dr Ethan Russo is now on the GW payroll as well…
That is correct. Not sure if she’s still with them. She seems to flit from project to project at whim (and I keep a pretty close watch on her).
I wonder if it is any coincidence that the acronym for ASAM is so close to ASA
…and the people who wouldn’t believe anything that NORML links to (not produces, links) on their web site because of a supposed lack of ethics from anyone with an agenda whether public or secret act like lap dogs when such a study is released.
Hey, I’ve been looking at Jamaican rates of schizophrenia and mental illness this morning. It seems that Jamaica has an extremely low rate of schizophrenia. Huh. Who’da thunk it with all those pot smoking Rastafarians?
…and now I’ve learned that psychiatrists are known to argue over who has schizophrenia and who doesn’t. I’ve never heard about demartologists arguing over whether the patient has a goiter or just a huge zit. Ok, ok, I guess I have heard about obstetricians arguing over whether it’s a boy or a girl. But 99 times out of 100 that sorts itself out in due time.
Now here’s a prohibition law that everybody can get behind:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/01/idUS347731415720110201
thx to Radley
The only statement prohibs can make with any trace of credibility is that schizophrenics and marijuana use sometimes cross paths. It pretty much ends there.
The prohib is desperate to link cannabis use and schiz is some way that makes drug use a solid cause and effect relationship. Grasping at any straw to make their case, a discrepancy of 0.5% between data sets is enough to set the twits off howling at the moon.
Meanwhile, back at the labs in San Diego and Dublin, the people anyone should take seriously on this subject have just discovered a genetic mutation in a brain receptor called VIPR2 that marks a major milestone in understanding the problem.
More info here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/tcd-don022311.php
Jay Rockefeller can rot. I’m salivating over that.
Im so sick of reading what these rich bastards say. They will rot one day soon.
“And the lie went into history as the true..”
I’m sure Mr. Rockefeller penned that letter while polishing off his 3rd scotch and smoking a cigarette.
Dear new federal inmate,
Welcome to prison!
I am proud to have written the laws that ruined your life and imprisoned you for years. I am aware that your kids have lost a parent, or maybe both to my laws, and while that may be regrettable, keeping Mommy and Daddy from getting high is far more important than hundreds of thousands of children growing up without their parents.
After all, it was your own moral turpitude that landed you here, not my laws. If I hold out my clenched fist and you are so stupid you run into it, well, I certainly can’t be blamed!
So get over it. Incarceration is not so bad, once you get used to it. Look on the bright side!
We didn’t just pass laws to punish you, but to also prepare you for life outside of prison, if you ever leave. The people of the United States are in dire need of slav… ah, rehabilitation programs to improve the moral character of our prisoners. We have many (mandatory) opportunities in prison, including ditch digging, license plate manufacturing, and lots of jobs working with fiberglass or noxious chemicals. Once you get into the swing of things you’ll hardly even notice you’re in prison. Hard work is good for the soul!
Now, I’m sure you’re feeling a little depressed, maybe even a little scared of your upcoming, lengthy prison experience, but you WILL get used to it! In time I’m sure you’ll come to agree with me that your multi-year prison sentence is not just about punishment for getting high, but for your own good, and the good of your family–you needed to be protected from yourself. Going to prison is the best gift the state will ever give you!
Thank you again for signing up with the program. I wish you the very best.
With Warm Regards,
Jay Rockefeller
Saw this over at Toke of the Town,on comments page about this very same story ASAM. someone commented that there running scared,and don’t know what to do with positive evidence on marijuana and that basically Marijuana has won.
Hey by the way did not one of the Rockefeller’s expire while engaging in coitis hmmm. with someone other than his wife wonder if Cannabis would have relaxed his heart and prevented the heart attack.
Vicky, you’re referring to Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President under the Ford Administration, the man for whom the Rockefeller drug laws in NY are named.
And as to ASAM, any organization that crawls into bed with the (legally mendacious) ONCDP automatically loses any credibility. If they wish to drag their reputation through ONDCP’s slimy wake, they’re welcome to do so.
As the old saying goes, “You are known by the company you keep.”