Obama's new 'drug czar' should look to Gov. Schwarzenegger for drug policy

Gov. Schwarzenegger is open to discussing marijuana legalization

The U.S. Senate just got done confirming Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as President Obama’s new drug czar. This confirmation is supposedly going to signal a change in U.S. drug policy:

Kerlikowske, a 36-year law enforcement veteran who has been Seattle's top cop for nine years, has pledged to take a balanced, science-based approach to the job. He also said he will focus on reducing demand for illicit drugs in the United States, a sharp contrast from the Bush administration's focus on intercepting drugs as they cross the border and punishing drug crimes.

Having a “change” in the so-called ‘drug czar’ is not the solution, since it doesn’t address the real issue behind the “drug problem” that exists today in America. The problem lies in the fact that we have a “drug czar” in the first place.

There will always be a drug problem in this country as long as the federal government feels it needs to regulate drugs (or at least the drugs that it deems “illicit” and too dangerous for us everyday citizens to consume). Despite what our new drug czar might believe, “reducing demand” will not make the drug issue go away.

Plus, how would the "drug czar" possibly do this? How pompous and self-righteous do these government officials, with their dictatorial powers, think they are when they actually think they can do something as impossible as “reducing demand” for drugs that millions of Americans consume everyday? I guess it’s the same logic behind our current Regime's economic “stimulus,” which attempts to fix a recession caused by debt, inflation, and government spending with…more debt, more inflation, and more government spending.

Speaking of debt, California’s in a whole heap of it, but I am pleasantly surprised to hear Governor Schwarzenegger publicly talking about the possibility of legalizing marijuana. He is prudently treading softly around the issue, but at least the idea is being discussed, especially since a new poll suggests that 55% of Californians support its legalization.

Tom Ammiano, a Democrat State Assemblyman from San Francisco, is even proposing a brand new bill that would legalize marijuana, tax it like alcohol, and help pay off a lot of our debt:

"I look forward to working with the governor and my colleagues in the effort to be the first state in the nation to enact commonsense policy on marijuana," an elated Ammiano said. “His proposed system of legalizing and taxing marijuana would raise an estimated $1.3bn a year in tax revenue alone, according to state legislative analysts. The savings in law enforcement and incarceration costs could be many billions more.”

It’s the last sentence that he said that is key. I’m no fan of taxes, and regard them as another form of theft and slavery. But I’d rather have marijuana be legalized and taxed then have almost 900,000 people a year put in prison for marijuana violations.

My only fear is that if California does legalize pot, Obama’s DEA thugs will have their machine guns and fatigues ready and raid another California dispensary.

Obama, just say no!

-R.T.