Obama’s selection of Drug Warrior Joe Biden left me queasy about the future administration’s drug policy. Apparently I’m not the only one with concerns. Jacob Sullum writes:
The main danger with Obama is that his history of drug use, instead of making him more open to reform, will make him anxious to show he’s tough on drugs. Something like that seems to have happened with Bill Clinton, who bragged about ever-escalating drug war budgets and threatened doctors who recommended marijuana to their patients with jail, trampling the First Amendment in his rush to prove his anti-drug bona fides.
Obama on Drugs: Should reformers dare to hope? - Reason Magazine.
Still some of you remain hopeful and optimistic about the changes coming with the selection of Obama’s administration, but I’m not holding my breath.
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2 Comments
no breath being held on my part either, except out of concern for the direction the new administration will take in; drug policy reform, immigration reform, economic reform, prison reform, military reform, health reform, reform-reform-reform. i still wonder why the war on drugs was not a part of the candidates campaign, as many other issues were not, that are important to individuals if not groups (aka corporations)? well duh? huh. i mean the candidates made us feel like they were talking about our issues, but…why all the not answered questions do we still have? the feel of not knowing?
i guess my hope, loosely defined (best i can do), is that these issues are entangled with each other. we have to watch dog all of them. support each other in efforts to see the change we voted for, pray for, tybo talk on and on and on about. i think the hope lies in we the people, somehow.
i think the worry existing is sound, but hopefully, as obama promised, he will listen to what is being said, and will consider with attention for better understanding what is best for all, instead of just considering what he has to do to prove about himself. he seems to have a natural ability to prove himself as he goes, (so far)? that is one reason i voted for obama, his campaign seemed to not focus on him but on a better representation, as opposed to his competition’s campaign which reminded me of a type of freak show, all about the performers in it. i however, do not have a definitive understanding of obama’s directions.
it is not a lot to ask for the right of an individual to sit and smoke a bowl for whatever personal reason they have, with peace of mind, quilt free, with no shame or concern of retribution, or a need to be ready to fight truly unreasonable but powerful opposition to such a small humble action.
i have a friend doing life (federal) for his non-violent, victimless, not proven, crime of possession and sales, (2255 appeal in progress), he says his patience moves mountains. i have a friend whose pain did not allow her that patience, who killed herself a year ago, being denied by the federal government her fought for, certified, legal right to possess and use medical marijuana. as she said, “give me liberty or give me death.” she fought diligently for years with success for the cause, if not success for herself. a true freedom fighter in all essence of it’s meaning. will obama give her life the reparation she deserves?
there are very few people i/we know, including myself, who aren’t affected by this prohibition, in some manner, users or not. (ie sniff patrol in the schools). i am weary as many are, and would like someone (obama) to take the bull by the horns and ride it. however, that is probably just a dream, and i think, it is us who are the riders in this rodeo. so we better rest up, stay healthy, stay real, stay in touch, and be always ready for the next show on this circuit.
Well said. The McCain/Palin ticket was so completely unhinged I can’t believe any thinking Republican would vote for them. Huckabee, Romney, and also rans divided the serious conservative candidates. It’s bizarre that someone who has be rejected so many times by the Republican base could take the nomination.
Cannabis freedom to me is about individual liberty. Access to medicine is such a basic human right we expect all P.O.W.s to receive it. In a free country where people own there own bodies and are not slaves to the State, people have a right to consume what they wish. If we don’t have that right, then we aren’t a free country and we are subservient to our government.
One of the things that makes me cringe is when pro-cannabis activist say, “Marijuana should be taxed and regulated by the government.” I’ve worked for the government and I’ve worked in the alcoholic beverage industry. The people involved are no less susceptible to corruption than individuals who sell banned drugs on the street. I’ve seen regulators paid off with free dinner and drinks. I don’t think the regulated cannabis industry would be any less corrupt than the illegal cannabis industry. However, I concede that the regulated trade would be less violent, but I don’t think we’ve ever had a government that wasn’t violent by nature.
American’s should be able to grow, use and sell cannabis without fear, coercion or intimidation from the people who call themselves “government.”