Re: Howard Dean on the Drug War

I posted this once before, but I will post it
again here.  Howard Dean is not the only candidate
for POTUS.  I have never given money to any
political candidate, but I made a contribution to
Dennis Kucinich.  Here is his position on the drug
war.
>From his website www.kucinich.us

Roy

A safe, free and just America is undermined, not
bolstered, by the costly and ineffective War on
Drugs. While well-intentioned, this misguided
policy -- which emphasizes criminalization over
treatment -- has led to increased violent crime,
misdirected resources of law enforcement and
restricted Constitutional liberties.

Despite billions spent yearly on the drug war,
addiction is up. Our country must rethink a policy
that produces many casualties, but benefits only
the prison-industrial complex. Non-violent drug
offenders often receive Draconian sentences,
tearing apart families.

Racial bias in the enforcement of drug laws is
pervasive. According to a Human Rights Watch
report based on FBI statistics, blacks were
arrested on drug charges at nearly five times the
rate of whites. Drug use is consistent across
racial and socioeconomic lines -- yet in the state
of New York, for example, 94 percent of
incarcerated drug offenders are Latino or
African-American, mostly from poor communities.

Countries in Europe and elsewhere are turning away
from failed policies. They are treating addiction
as a medical problem and are seeing significant
reductions in crime and violence -- with fewer
young people becoming involved with addictive
drugs in the first place. In our country, due to
misplaced priorities and resources, only one bed
exists
for every ten people who apply for drug treatment.
Addiction is a medical and moral problem that
should be treated by professionals, not dumped on
the criminal justice system

Most Americans believe that medical marijuana
should be available to help relieve the suffering
of seriously ill patients, and eight states have
passed laws to allow it. But the Bush
administration has harassed medical marijuana
patients in an effort to assert federal authority.
This is another aspect of the drug war that should
be ended





On 9 Sep 2003 12:51:33 -0700,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Guido Marx) wrote:

>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