Re: Howard Dean on the Drug War

Eric Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> On 09-09-2003 02:23, in article
> [EMAIL PROTECTED], "mars" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> > from Marin for Howard Dean in 2004
> > http://www.marinfordean.org/article_text.asp?articleid=194
> > 
> > War on Drugs
> > 
> > Public Health Problem
> > 
> > Dean maintains he doesn't "believe the war on drugs is a criminal
> > matter; it's a public health matter. To throw users in jail is silly."
> 
> 
> Right... That will last up to the convention when we have to give a tough on
> drugs speech to counter conservative criticism about being soft on drugs.
> 
> > But he cannot stand state initiatives that seek to legalize medical
> > marijuana. "I hate the idea of legislators and politicians practicing
> > medicine," he says.
> 
> Then why not like initiatives?  That is the people telling the politicians
> to but out.

Yes - why doesn't he likewise criticize the Federal government for
"practicing medicine" ?  Their pronouncements that marijuana has no
medical value is not only practicing medicine - it is practicing
medicine while ignoring the scientific evidence.

He likewise neglects to criticize the Feds for violating the
Constitutional rights of physicians and patients.

>  >Should the Feds be busting medical marijuana
> > clubs? "Depends on the circumstances," he says. "In general, no."
> Riiiiiiight. Notice the qualifier. That will allow him to continue the
> sweeps while saying he is not mean.
> 
>  If
> > he were President, Dean adds, he would force the Food and Drug
> > Administration to evaluate medical marijuana, and he would be prepared
> > to accept its findings.
> 
> Riiiiiiiiight.

Well - I'm willing to take him at his word on this.  

> > 
> > Source: The Nation
> > 
> > 
> > "I am in favor of really hammering dealers. You know they are
> > merchants of death and destruction and misery. I believe the rest of
> > the drug problem the casual users is a public health problem, not a
> > criminal problem, and we ought to approach it using a medical model."
> 
> 
> Casual users are sick, and drug dealerd need hammering.
> 
> Yup, sounds new and exciting to me.

He does sound like he'd prosecute a gentler, more humane war.  This
would be an improvement over what we've got, but it falls far short of
what I'd like to see.

> > 
> > "I particularly like something we're starting to experiment with in
> > Vermont and which is further along in some states which is drug courts
> > where when drugs are the problem the court has wide discretion to
> > sentence people to rehabilitation.
> 
> Meaning he is a standard "forced rehab," prohibitionist.

True - but that's better than a standard "lock em up and throw away
the key" prohibitionist.

> > As a physician I was trained as a
> > physician you know, sentencing people to rehabilitation when they
> > quote-unquote didn't want to go was something that you didn't do, but
> > you know now I think the drug problem is so serious that it's smarter
> > frankly to send casual users of serious drugs to rehab rather than
> > jail.
> 
> 
> But we can't just leave them alone in freedom.

Of course not - Dean is a liberal and believes strongly that
government can save us all.

I'm willing to listen to Dean, from what I know of him I think he'd be
better than what we have, but not by much...

Guido