Obama's new drug policy looks a lot like the old one

[webfact]

Obama's New Drug Policy Looks a Lot Like the Old One
Alex Altman

A new emphasis on treatment and addiction, but no change on marijuana

WASHINGTON: -- The Obama Administration unveiled an updated drug policy Thursday, including a new emphasis on treatment and addiction programs and a push to curb abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers.

Michael Botticelli, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, framed the retooled strategy as a shift away from the punitive policies that have produced record incarceration rates.

“Our prisons and jails are already overcrowded with people who desperately need compassionate, evidence-based treatment for the disease of addiction—not a jail cell,” Botticelli said in a statement before an event in Roanoke, Va.

Among the elements of the plan are expanded access to drug education, treating drug addition as a health issue rather than a criminal one, and a push to divert nonviolent drug offenders into treatment rather than prisons.

Full story: http://time.com/2973144/new-white-house-drug-policy-barack-obama/

-- TIME 2014-07-11

[EvilDrSomkid]

But don't legalize MJ, you'll put the DEA out of a job!

Can you imagine it. Stoners sitting at home giggling with the munchies. Those dangerous criminals.

[NeverSure]

But don't legalize MJ, you'll put the DEA out of a job!

Can you imagine it. Stoners sitting at home giggling with the munchies. Those dangerous criminals.

What's the DEA?

[Chicog]

Drug Enforcement Administration.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Chicog

[shirtless]

Obama is hopeless I suppose this is the one policy he cannot make any worse.

[Ulysses G.]

Don't worry, he will jump on the bandwagon to legalize marijuana when the polls are in favor, just like he did with gay marriage.

[rotary]

I had to correct a few errors.....................................................................

“Our prisons and jails are already overcrowded with people who desperately need compassionate the death sentence , evidence-based treatment for the disease of addiction DOES NOT WORK—not THEY NEED a jail cell,”

[EvilDrSomkid]

I had to correct a few errors.....................................................................

“Our prisons and jails are already overcrowded with people who desperately need compassionate the death sentence , evidence-based treatment for the disease of addiction DOES NOT WORK—not THEY NEED a jail cell,”

Very progressive.

You believe people who smoke cannabis should get the death sentence?

[Krataiboy]

Slowly but surely the world is moving towards a more enlightened view on drugs and the causes of addiction. There are lessons in what the U.S., the historical cheerleader in the "war on drugs", is doing for the current Thai administration which has just earmarked 10.3 billion baht to fight drug abuse.

[Jingthing]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

[chuckd]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

The use of marijuana is "fully legal" only by state law.

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

[Jingthing]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

The use of marijuana is "fully legal" only by state law.

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

Yes and that's a good thing in this case. Let the states have their experiments and see how it goes.

[Chicog]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

The use of marijuana is "fully legal" only by state law.

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

So the States can't be trusted to manage this experiment themselves?

[chuckd]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

The use of marijuana is "fully legal" only by state law.

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

So the States can't be trusted to manage this experiment themselves?

What part of my post caused you to come up with that remark?

But, since you asked, in my opinion states should not attempt to come up with ways to violate federal laws.

That seems to be the rather exclusive territory of Obama and his trusty sidekick, Holder

[Robert2006]

I had to correct a few errors.....................................................................

“Our prisons and jails are already overcrowded with people who desperately need compassionate the death sentence , evidence-based treatment for the disease of addiction DOES NOT WORK—not THEY NEED a jail cell,”

If you’re not careful the law of the universe will deal with you, eventually you get back exactly what you give out. Be cautious about what those types of feelings can draw in to your life, you might not be happy with the world you create for yourself.

[Chicog]

Foreigners don't fully understand the U.S. state system and how INDEPENDENT U.S. STATES can be. So in the U.S. there are now some STATES with fully legal marijuana and these will become test cases for eventual federal legalization. It's a system with strengths and weaknesses. It has little to do with Obama or ANY president.

The use of marijuana is "fully legal" only by state law.

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

So the States can't be trusted to manage this experiment themselves?

What part of my post caused you to come up with that remark?

But, since you asked, in my opinion states should not attempt to come up with ways to violate federal laws.

That seems to be the rather exclusive territory of Obama and his trusty sidekick, Holder

Well the Justice department don't chase recreational pot users do they, they haven't done for years.

And as I understand it both Colorado and Washington are doing this on a trial basis.

And if it ends up doing little bad and much good, then perhaps a change in the law is in order.

It's far less costly than alcohol, in both money and lives.

[chuckd]

It is still "illegal" by federal law and federal law trumps state law.

This President and Attorney General have chosen yet again not to enforce the laws of the US.

So the States can't be trusted to manage this experiment themselves?

What part of my post caused you to come up with that remark?

But, since you asked, in my opinion states should not attempt to come up with ways to violate federal laws.

That seems to be the rather exclusive territory of Obama and his trusty sidekick, Holder

Well the Justice department don't chase recreational pot users do they, they haven't done for years.

And as I understand it both Colorado and Washington are doing this on a trial basis.

And if it ends up doing little bad and much good, then perhaps a change in the law is in order.

It's far less costly than alcohol, in both money and lives.

You might want to catch up on the news before you extol the virtues of marijuana, even for recreational uses.

Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled

February 4, 2014 9:14 PM

http://seattle.cbslo...a-have-tripled/

Pot Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths

http://www.nbcnews.c...g-deaths-n22991

[impulse]

You might want to catch up on the news before you extol the virtues of marijuana, even for recreational uses.

Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled

February 4, 2014 9:14 PM

http://seattle.cbslo...a-have-tripled/

Pot Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths

http://www.nbcnews.c...g-deaths-n22991

Between 1980 and 2014, the percentage of fatal car crashes involving cars with air bags rose astronomically, too. And you'll find that between 1980 and 2014, the number of drivers in fatal accidents that test positive for Viagra grew at an alarming rate.

Of course more people will test positive as the substance is legalized and accepted.

Prevalence doesn't necessarily indicate causality. I doubt anyone's calling to outlaw Viagra or airbags to improve highway safety.

And what those studies fail to mention is that 99.9% fewer lives are wasted away in jails, and billion of tax dollars are no longer wasted prosecuting and locking up people for firing up a doobie.

Prohibition didn't work. Yet we learned nothing.

Edited July 12, 2014 by impulse

[Ulysses G.]

And as I understand it both Colorado and Washington are doing this on a trial basis.

I am all for legal pot - even though I can't stand the stuff - but it is not on a trail basis. The law has been changed,

[Jingthing]

Yeah, pot MAY be damaging, especially when young people do it a lot of it ( look at me ) but throwing people into prison for minor drug offenses is DEFINITELY damaging.

[Chicog]

Study: Fatal Car Crashes Involving Marijuana Have Tripled

February 4, 2014 9:14 PM

http://seattle.cbslo...a-have-tripled/

Pot Fuels Surge in Drugged Driving Deaths

http://www.nbcnews.c...g-deaths-n22991

Yes but your last link says....

A separate study — also based on FARS data — found that in states where medical marijuana was approved, traffic fatalities decrease by as much as 11 percent during the first year after legalization. Written by researchers at the University of Colorado, Oregon and Montana State University, the paper was published in 2013 in the Journal of Law & Economics.

Those authors theorized pot, for some, becomes a substitute for alcohol. They cited a recent, 13-percent drop in drunk-driving deaths in states where medical marijuana is legal.

Moreover....

The prevalence of both alcohol and cannabis use and the high morbidity associated with motor vehicle crashes has lead to a plethora of research on the link between the two. Drunk drivers are involved in 25% of motor vehicle fatalities, and many accidents involve drivers who test positive for cannabis. Cannabis and alcohol acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but the effects of cannabis vary more between individuals than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. Detrimental effects of cannabis use vary in a dose-related fashion, and are more pronounced with highly automatic driving functions than with more complex tasks that require conscious control, whereas with alcohol produces an opposite pattern of impairment. Because of both this and an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively while driving by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies. Combining marijuana with alcohol eliminates the ability to use such strategies effectively, however, and results in impairment even at doses which would be insignificant were they of either drug alone. Epidemiological studies have been inconclusive regarding whether cannabis use causes an increased risk of accidents; in contrast, unanimity exists that alcohol use increases crash risk. Furthermore, the risk from driving under the influence of both alcohol and cannabis is greater than the risk of driving under the influence of either alone. Future research should focus on resolving contradictions posed by previous studies, and patients who smoke cannabis should be counseled to wait several hours before driving, and avoid combining the two drugs.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/?tool=pubmed

[rotary]

I had to correct a few errors.....................................................................

“Our prisons and jails are already overcrowded with people who desperately need compassionate the death sentence , evidence-based treatment for the disease of addiction DOES NOT WORK—not THEY NEED a jail cell,”

Very progressive.

You believe people who smoke cannabis should get the death sentence?

Yes