The War on Drugs Goes On

Here is a list of 10 conditions that the medical administration of marijuana are purported to relieve.  As the story notes, 14 states allow medical marijuana distribution. Although one sees crackdowns taking place in Los Angeles (imagine a city heading toward bankruptcy devoting precious law enforcements to that).

This is why it is altogether disappointing that the Obama Administration has chosen to continue policies and resource distribution in place for many years in spite of its rhetoric to the contrary.

Here is a story from Law Enforcement against Prohibition that responds to the release of the Administration’s National Drug Control Strategy. It notes that despite the claim of balancing health/prevention and policing/enforcement, the strategy devotes almost twice as much funding to the latter as to the former—precisely the same proportions as did the Bush Administration.

It isn’t all bad, the story notes:

“Drug policy reform advocates are pleased, however, with the strategy’s support for syringe exchange programs and its criticism of laws that bar people with drug convictions from receiving public benefits like student aid.

“‘It’s great to see the administration starting to talk like they want to actually change failed drug policies,’ said Franklin. ‘But we can’t let them get away with claiming that they’ve ended the ‘war on drugs’ while we continue to arrest 800,000 people a year on marijuana charges alone.’”

Think of how much money, time, labor, prison space, and ruined lives go into that latter figure.