Drug WarRant

In an interview with Robert Naiman reported in the Huffington Post, Presidential candidate Gary Johnson was asked about the drug war.

RN: I wanted to ask you about your opinion the “war on drugs.” This is kind of a signature issue for you, I wanted you to talk about the cost, your perception of the failure, and particularly the implications of the “war on drugs” for people in other countries, particularly in Mexico and Latin America, Mexico where thousands of people have been killed in the war on drugs there, Central America where there is now apparently a big expansion of the criminal drug trade. So tell me about your thoughts on the war on drugs, and what you think the U.S. should be doing instead, particularly as that relates to the impact of the war on drugs on other countries.

Gary Johnson: As Governor of New Mexico, what my pledge was, and what I did, and I’m really proud of this, and I said I was going to do this, that everything was going to be a cost-benefit analysis. Everything. What are we spending our money on, and what are we getting for the money that we’re spending. That there wouldn’t be any sacred cows, that politics was going to be the last consideration on the list, that first and foremost it was going to be about the issues, and understanding the issues. So when it comes to the war on drugs, I’m opposed to the war on drugs A through Z. But I came at it initially from the standpoint of – and, you know, there’s naivety, I guess, on a broad number of issues, and this is after I’m elected, one of them is, I guess I really didn’t understand that half of everything we spend on law enforcement, the courts, and the prisons is drug-related, and when you think about that, that is just staggering.

And when you think about what are we getting for half law enforcement, half the courts, and half the prisons? Well what we’re getting, is we’re arresting 1.8 million people a year in this country, which I point out is the population of New Mexico, that gets arrested every single year. And, we now have 2.3 million people behind bars. We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. And this is America? Liberty, freedom, the personal responsibility that goes along with that? I guess, except when it comes to your own body and what the decisions are surrounding that.

So going back to 1999, I came to the conclusion… that 90% of the drug problem is prohibition-related, not use-related. That’s not to discount the problems with use and abuse, but that ought to be the focus. So in 1999, I advocated then, I advocate it now. Legalize marijuana. Control it, regulate it, tax it. It’s never going to be legal to smoke pot, become impaired, get behind the wheel of a car, do harm to others. It’s never going to be legal for kids to smoke pot or buy pot. And under which scenario is it going to be easier for kids to smoke pot or buy pot? The situation that exists today, where it’s virtually available anywhere, and the person that sells pot also sells harder drugs? Or a situation where to purchase it, you would have to produce an ID in a controlled environment, like alcohol, to be able to buy it. I think you can make the case that it would be harder to buy it, in that controlled environment.

When it comes to all the other drugs – [marijuana] is the only drug that I’m advocating legalizing – but when it comes to all the other drugs, I think what we ought to really be concentrating on are harm reduction strategies – the things that we really care about, which is reducing death, disease, crime, corruption – in a nutshell, it is looking at the drug problem first as a health issue, rather than a criminal justice issue.

So here we have the border violence with Mexico. 28,000 deaths south of the border over the last four years. I believe that if we legalize marijuana 75% of that border violence goes away, because that’s the estimate of the drug cartel’s activities that revolve around the drug trade. The drug trade – prohibition – these are disputes that are being played out with guns, rather than the courts. Control this stuff, regulate this stuff, take the money out of drugs, and so goes the violence.

This is the advantage of a Gary Johnson candidacy. Public discussions about the drug war.

New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg had a hard time making himself clear on his radio show. After a question about medical marijuana he incoherently tried to show why he opposed it while clearly describing the arguments for the overall legalization of drugs.

Choire Sicha provides the transcript.

“The argument is that the only ways you’re ever going to end the drug trades is legalize drugs and take away the profit motive and that to legalize—the corruption funds enormous dislocation of society. Mexico, you know, thousands and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the wars of the government trying to clamp down on the drug dealers.

There’s no easy answer to any of these things.

Nobody really — there are places where they legalized drugs. And then whether it destroyed the society or didn’t is up to debate, again.”

Huh?

No, I don’t think it really is up to debate. It’s like saying “And then whether unicorns caused the extinction of the dinosaurs is up to debate again.” It really isn’t. I mean you could debate it just for fun, but there’s no valid reason.

It’s fascinating that, as a supposed opponent of legalization, he gives a pretty clear account of the reasons for legalization, but seems utterly incapable of coherently stating why we shouldn’t.

Ah, but that’s the beauty of being a politician. No need to actually make sense.

Conservatives in Canada won a decisive victory with a full majority for the next four years under Stephen Harper.

Harper has not been a friend to drug policy reform and, in fact, has been an advocate for a U.S.-style drug war.

I don’t really know enough about Canadian government to speculate as to how things are likely to move over the next four years.

What do our Canadian readers have to say?

The Telegraph discovers The generation that will not give up on drugs

Illegal drug use remains a normal part of life for many people even as they settle down and approach their thirties, new research has revealed. […]

The long-term study, conducted by the University of Manchester, found that while drug use falls as people move out of their teens and early twenties, it remains acceptable for many. […]

It said there was a “matter-of-factness” about social drug use among young people that had extended into their adult lives.

The study also learned that for most of them this was not a problem. It didn’t lead to the breakdown of social order or destruction of lives.

“But far from being out of control, the majority of drug-taking adults appear to be pretty similar to those who seek evening and weekend time out, relaxation and fun through alcohol consumption.

“These adults do not reject the mainstream. Their lives, outside their drug use, sit comfortably amongst these values. However we see them, they appear to accept drug taking as a fairly ordinary, normal activity that is OK.”

And yet, we spend billions and kill thousands in a futile attempt to prevent them from leading their ordinary, normal lives.

Over at Heightened Sense, there’s a very interesting article talking about Major Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and his “Road to Damascus” moment that finally led him to realize that prohibition was wrong and needed to be changed.

It’s a tragedy that it took the death of a friend for that realisation to have stuck for good, but it’s so often the case with policy that it never matters until it’s personal.

I’ve gotten way too little sleep this weekend.

I hear we’ve won the war on terror, so I guess that’s a good thing. Now we can focus on winning that pesky war on drugs, right?

MADISON: Sad news this morning as we learn that longtime Madison cannabis activist Ben Masel passed away shortly after 9am today from complications of cancer at hospice care in Fitchburg. Today’s Global Cannabis Freedom March, scheduled for noon on Capitol Square, will be dedicated to Ben’s memory.

More of this kind of discussion, please…

Children are Harmed, Not Helped, by Unwinnable Drug War by Daniel Robelo

After forty years and a trillion dollars, supporters of the drug war still claim that any discussion of legalization sends the “wrong message” to children.

The truth, as seen in news from Mexico ever day, is that the drug war itself is killing children. And the message we send by not discussing alternatives is one of cruel indifference. […]

Because the real “wrong message” is letting children die and communities be destroyed by refusing to put all options on the table.

Look, I am sick and tired of the crass and false “think of the children” arguments by the prohibitionists. I don’t want to go down their road, but it’s time we did a better job of showing that prohibitionists don’t really care about children, and that prohibition is harming children, not helping them.

As you may know, our drug czar was trying to jump ship and land a plum job as Chicago Police Superintendent.

Obama Drug Czar Doesn’t Make Top Cop Cut

Looks like he’s stuck in his hopeless dead-end position for a little while longer.

As Scott Morgan notes: Drug Czar Might Be the Worst Job in American Politics

Wow. I can hardly wait for the release date on this one by Paul Chabot.

He explains the importance of having a book like this…

In America, or abroad, we are seeing a rise in domestic groups destroying the moral fabric of communities through drug legalization, gangs, corruption and organized crime.

It takes a powerful lack of intelligence to put those in the same category, but make no mistake about it, Paul Chabot is up to the job.

Want proof? Hear what these luminaries have to say…

“An honest, clear account of what we need to know and do to make our families safer. Every citizen should read Paul Chabot’s guide for bringing more justice to our dangerous world.”
— Honorable John P. Walters, former White House Drug Czar

“A factual masterpiece! Dr. Chabot pulls in the reader & gives them a mission you can’t say no to.”
— Calvina Fay, Executive Director, Drug Free America Foundation, Inc.

“A courageous book by a courageous leader! Pray for our brave men and women who step forward and face this kind of terror beseeching God’s children.”
— Dr. Bishop Ron Allen, Chairman, International Faith Based Coalition