Since the States of Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana, there have been several incidents reported in the press (and some not) showing that marijuana products have been diverted to other states. Also, immediately after Colorado legalized marijuana there were two deaths attributed directly to marijuana use. Colorado is also reporting that marijuana use amongst their teens and pre-teens has significantly increased. We have seen articles where a father gave his kids marijuana cookies to take to school (and share). From comments in this article, the question is, "has the White House finally come to the conclusion that it has seen enough of the failed experiment?"
Link to article: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/07/09/3742004/white-house-warns-of-rising-drug.html#storylink=cpy
Link to related article: Obama Continues Plans to Oppose Legalization of Marijuana
By Rob Hotakainen - McClatchy Washington Bureau - July 9, 2014
WASHINGTON — A day after Washington state
joined Colorado in selling marijuana in retail outlets, the Obama
administration on Wednesday criticized drug legalization and warned that a
declining perception of risk is leading more U.S. teens to smoke pot.
In a report to Congress, the
White House drug czar’s office said it wants to spend $25 billion next year as
part of a broad drug-fighting plan, including more on treatment for people
addicted to heroin and prescription painkillers. It described the abuse of opioids
as a national epidemic.
“We cannot leave people behind,” said
Michael Botticelli, the acting drug czar and Obama’s new top drug adviser, who
announced the administration’s 2014 national drug control strategy during a
visit to Roanoke, Va.
The report urged Americans not to
stigmatize those who are addicted to drugs but to make sure they’re informed of
the risks of drug use.
“And we must seek to avoid oversimplified
debates between the idea of a war on drugs and the notion of legalization as a
panacea,” the report said, calling it a “false choice.”
Groups backing marijuana legalization
criticized the plan.
“The drug czar’s office is still tone deaf
when it comes to marijuana policy. . . . Legalizing and regulating marijuana is
not a panacea, but it is sound policy,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the
Marijuana Policy Project.
Calling marijuana use among young people a
“serious challenge,” the federal report said the challenges have “gained
prominence” with the decision by voters in Washington state and Colorado in
2012 to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over 21.
Colorado began its pot sales on Jan. 1,
while Washington state waited until Tuesday.
The Obama administration gave the green
light to the experiments last August, saying it would not interfere if the
states do a good job policing themselves.
Opponents of legalization applauded the
new report.
“I think it is very reassuring,” said
Kevin Sabet, who heads Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana).
“It shows that this White House is still
very uncomfortable with the notion of legalization, and I think it signals that
they aren’t too thrilled with how things have panned out in Colorado.
It would have been much easier for them to
avoid the issue altogether in this year’s strategy, but they chose to address
it – that took guts.”
In a letter to Congress, Obama said that
millions of Americans will be able to get drug treatment paid by insurance
companies as part of the health care law passed by Congress in 2010.
But he said that more must be done to
fight illicit drug use, which he said is linked to disease, crime, highway
accidents and lower academic performance.
With studies showing teens less concerned
about possible risks linked to marijuana, the report warned that youths who use
drugs often are at risk for truancy and delinquency.
One study, by the National Academy of the
Sciences, found an average drop of 8 points in IQ between childhood and
adulthood due to heavy cannabis use during the teen years.
And a second study, by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, found that of those students who got mostly Ds
and Fs, two-thirds had used marijuana.
The administration sounded similar alarms
in December.
At that time, a survey released by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 60 percent of 12th-graders did not
view regular marijuana use as harmful, and more than 12 percent of
eighth-graders said they had used the drug in the past year.
The survey also found teens were more
likely to smoke marijuana than cigarettes.
Botticelli has taken the temporary lead
for the administration on drug issues after the last drug czar, former Seattle
police chief Gil Kerlikowske, became chief of Customs and Border Protection.
Obama has yet to name a successor.
At a news conference in Roanoke,
Botticelli introduced himself as “a person in long-term recovery.”
He said he wanted to share his personal
story because too many Americans still view addiction as a moral failing, not a
disease.
“Treatment works,” he said.
As part of its plan, the administration
said it wanted to step up its efforts to eradicate marijuana grown illegally on
public lands.
That has been a growing issue on forest
lands, particularly in California, in recent years.
And the plan calls for increased targeting
of indoor marijuana growing operations, which are easier to conceal.
The administration’s $25 billion plan includes
nearly $11 billion for treatment and prevention and $9 billion for law
enforcement and incarceration.
The White House said the portion of the
drug budget spent on treatment and prevention is now 43 percent, the highest in
12 years.
Critics say taxpayers are still spending
too much on enforcement.
Tvert noted that even Obama earlier this
year declared that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol, adding: “Yet his
administration is going to maintain a policy of punishing adults who make the
safer choice.”
And Tom Angell, chairman of a
pro-legalization group called Marijuana Majority, said the Obama administration
“talks a good game about the need for a balanced drug strategy” but is still
content to spend money prosecuting people.
“They recognize the public doesn’t support
the drug war anymore, but it’s time to bring the policy reality into line with
the rhetoric,” he said.
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