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Tue Feb 17, 2009 at 22:00:00 PM PST
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| I'm talking about marijuana, of course! Sure it's not typically something you eat - unless you're making brownies (in which case you should invite me over) - but it still falls loosely under the topics covered on this site. It's a plant. It grows. And I don't see why a plant should be illegal. How can human laws ban nature? (Well - that's a whole 'nother topic because clearly we try to overrule nature with our laws all the time!)
Obama just picked out his "Drug Czar," Gil Kerlikowske, the Seattle Police Chief. Like many, I'm hoping that this selection signals a new era of drug policy that will involve leaving the potheads the hell alone. The article Czar Struck: Obama's Brilliant Pick for Drug Czar says:
And nationally, Kerlikowske could be a drug czar who pushes to lift the federal ban on funding needle exchange, stops the medical pot raids in California, overhauls our nonsensical anti-drug commercials, and enthusiastically seeks funding for drug-treatment programs.
The brilliance of Obama's pick for drug czar is not just finding someone who is open to new strategies, but someone who nonetheless holds undeniable qualifications as a cop. Nobody can claim Kerlikowske is a public-health nut who doesn't know the impact of drugs on the streets. Like many Americans, he agrees that drugs should be illegal. But he understands the place for low priorities and public health-and he's willing to step back where enforcement alone has failed. |
| Jill Richardson :: It's Not (Usually) a Food - But It's Our #1 Cash Crop |
| The same article mentions the increase in marijuana arrests under Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. That includes an increase in arrests for mere possession. But in Seattle, pot arrests are few. Bush's drug czar Walters said pot was his highest priority - but in Seattle, pot was Kerlikowske's lowest priority.
A Seattle blog was also enthusiastic about Obama's choice for drug czar:
While Kerlikowske opposed a 2003 citizens initiative making marijuana in Seattle a "low priority crime," calling the measure vague and confusing (and... well... most initiatives are), he emphasized to local reporters at the time that marijuana possession and use already was a low priority, and in fact, Seattle's already low marijuana prosecution rate has dropped even further since the measure's passage, indicating a responsiveness to the will of the voters. Indeed, local drug reform advocates seem downright ecstatic about Kerlikowske's appointment:
"Oh God bless us," said Joanna McKee, co-founder and director of Green Cross Patient Co-Op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group. "What a blessing - the karma gods are smiling on the whole country, man."
McKee said Kerlikowske knows the difference between cracking down on the illegal abuse of drugs and allowing the responsible use of marijuana.
Kerlikowske's laissez faire approach toward low-level possession fits well with our region's libertarian streak and its progressive attitudes toward medical marijuana, needle exchanges and other drug issues. Seattle has long been home to one of the largest Hempfests in the nation, where otherwise law abiding participants routinely light up in front of police officers without fear of arrest. |
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