(PROGRESS) A step toward de-criminalization?
http://www.progress.org/2009/akerlof.htm
A step toward de-criminalization?
White House Czar Calls for End to War on Drug
We could save money, save civil rights, and cut drug use in a world of basic economic justice. We
trim, blend, and append two 2009 articles from (1) The Wall Street Journal, May 14, by Gary Fields
with comment by Tony Newman, Drug Policy Alliance, posted at AlterNet May 15.
by Gary Fields and by Tony Newman
The Obama administration's new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the US is fighting "a
war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying
to reduce illicit drug use.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, said the bellicose analogy
was a barrier. "People see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this
country."
Kerlikowske's comments are a signal that the Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a
matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone.
Already, the administration has:
called for an end to the disparity in how crimes involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine are
dealt with. Critics of the law say it unfairly targeted African-American communities, where crack is
more prevalent;
said federal authorities would no longer raid medical-marijuana dispensaries in the 13 states where
voters have made medical marijuana legal. Agents had previously done so under federal law, which
doesn't provide for any exceptions to its marijuana prohibition;
Obama talked about ending the federal ban on funding for needle-exchange programs, which are used to
stem the spread of HIV among intravenous-drug users.
The drug czar doesn't have the power to enforce any of these changes, but Kerlikowske plans to work
with Congress and other agencies to alter current policies. He said he hasn't yet focused on US
policy toward fighting drug-related crime in other countries.
Kerlikowske was most recently the police chief in Seattle, a city known for experimenting with drug
programs. In 2003, voters passed an initiative making the enforcement of simple marijuana violations
a low priority. The city has long had a needle-exchange program and hosts Hempfest, which draws tens
of thousands of advocates.
Kerlikowske said he opposed the city's 2003 initiative on police priorities. He said the issue was
one of limited police resources, adding that he doesn't support legalizing drugs.
His officers, however, say drug enforcement -- especially for pot crimes -- took a back seat.
According to Sgt. Richard O'Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, one result was an
open-air drug market in the downtown business district.
James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest
law-enforcement labor organization, said police officers are wary. "While I don't necessarily
disagree with Gil's focus on treatment and demand reduction, I don't want to see it at the expense
of law enforcement. People need to understand that when they violate the law there are
consequences."
JJS: For the hoi polloi, that is. The rich not only can get away with murder, they can violate every
financial law on the books with near impunity, nay, even be rewarded with bailouts in the trillions!
Meanwhile, "control" over ordinary citizens matters much to some. But aren't we supposed to be free
in a democracy, tending to higher priorities, like crime in the suites?
Others are pleased by the way Seattle police balanced the available options. Kerlikowske is "more
open to giving a hard look to solutions that look at the demand side of the equation," said Alison
Holcomb, drug-policy director with the Washington state American Civil Liberties Union.
Kerlikowske's career began in St. Petersburg, Fla. He recalled one incident as a Florida undercover
officer during the 1970s that spurred his thinking that arrests alone wouldn't fix matters. "While
we were sitting there, the guy we're buying from is smoking pot and his toddler comes over and he
blows smoke in the toddler's face. You go home at night think of your own kids and you realize" the
depth of the problem.
Since then, he has run four police departments, as well as the Justice Department's Office of
Community Policing during the Clinton administration.
Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical
marijuana, said, "This is like turning around an ocean liner," he said. "What's important is it's
beginning to turn."
Tony Newman: Nadelmann added, "As a presidential candidate, Obama said the 'war on drugs is an utter
failure'." Yet talk is cheap. "There were a couple of marijuana dispensaries raided since the
Justice Department pledged to end the raids. The recent budget that was introduced still included a
federal ban on funding clean syringes despite calling for an end to the ban. We need to make sure
the deeds match the words."
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Editor Jeffery J. Smith runs the Forum on Geonomics.
date: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:08:31 +0200
author: 5trfg6h7
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