Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP—the drug czar's office) head Gil Kerlikowske said Tuesday that the country is "in the midst of a serious national conversation about marijuana"—an at least rhetorical advance from his 2009 position that marijuana legalization is "not in the president's vocabulary and not in mine."
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) reached out to Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Thursday in an effort to find out how the federal government intends to deal with states like Colorado and Washington that have recently legalized marijuana possession.
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has a new article on The Huffington Post where he once again attempts to fulfill his statutory duty to scare the bejeezus out of Americans who might be considering the legalization of marijuana in three states and the medicalization of marijuana in a dozen others. This time he cites stats from something called ADAM, warning that over half of arrestees in ten surveyed metro areas tested positive for drugs! You need to be afraid, very afraid, of the crime-seeking drug junkies!
President Barack Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, doesn't like the term "drug war." He argues that none of the smart guys in law enforcement uses it.
Late Friday night the White House issued a typical evasive rejection of the several marijuana legalization petitions that collected more signatures than any other issue on its "We the People" website.
CANNABIS CULTURE - The Obama White House has officially responded to overwhelming calls for marijuana legalization in its We the People online petition drive. The answer: Marijuana will not be legalized because it's bad, m'kay.
There's been much discussion recently about the Drug Czar's request to meet with the Seattle Times editorial board in an apparent response to this editorial endorsement of marijuana legalization.