FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 4, 2014
February 4, 2014
HOUSE
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARINGS ON MARIJUANA
ONDCP
Head Claims Obama Administration Trying to Treat Marijuana Use As Public Health
Issue
Rep.
Blumenauer Calls ONDCP’s Failure to be Honest About Drug Harms “Part of the Problem”
WASHINGTON,
DC–Office
of National Drug Control Policy Deputy Director Michael Botticelli testified about
the Obama administration’s marijuana policy to the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform today in a hearing that at times got quite heated.
Botticelli defended Obama administration policies Chairman John Mica (R-FL)
called “fractured” and “schizophrenic,” saying the administration is dedicated
to treating marijuana use as a public health issue rather than a law enforcement
matter. That statement was questioned by other Congressmembers who cited the
750,000 arrests and billions of dollars spent by states every year on law
enforcement intervention.
The most heated exchange, however, came after
Botticelli refused to answer questions about marijuana’s relative safety as
compared with cocaine, methamphetamine and tobacco, all of which are less
stringently regulated under the Controlled Substances Act than marijuana
(nicotine, a legal drug, does not appear on the schedule). Rep. Steve Cohen
(D-TN) commented that despite Botticelli’s talk of educational programs, until
he was able to speak about the real harms of drugs rather than spouting inaccurate
propaganda, children would not hear the message. He then opined whether a
friend who had died of a heroin overdose would still be alive if he had received
real education on the dangers of the drug. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) went
even further, calling ONDCP’s refusal to realistically discuss drug use “part
of the problem.”
“I don’t think people should smoke marijuana. Every
drug–including those you get from your doctor–has real harms. But if you
educate people about those harms and how to minimize them, you diminish their
impact and ensure that your warnings will be heeded,” commented Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition executive director Major Neill Franklin (Ret.). “Part of
the ridiculous logic of the war on drugs is that even when asked a direct
question by members of Congress, the head of the agency tasked with
administering our drug policy cannot answer truthfully questions that could
save lives.”
The hearing focused largely on the racial
disparities engendered by the unequal enforcement of marijuana laws, the
lifelong impact of marijuana convictions (which, unlike murder and other
violent crimes can disqualify a person from receiving some federal student
loans as well as other legal entitlements), the failure of the drug war to
reduce use, the money wasted on prohibition, misplaced law enforcement priorities,
and the right of states to govern themselves.
“It’s time criminal justice professionals stop being
motivated by politics and start being motivated to do what is best for the American
people,” added Lieutenant Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.), a LEAP board
member.
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