President Obama’s Passive-Agressive Approach To Drug Policy Is Destroying America

By Alexandra D. Datig 

The National Drug Control Strategy of 2010, signed by the President of the United States, clearly states that the President of the Unite States, Barack Obama was firmly opposed to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.  But look what a second term as President can bring.  Silence to get more votes in Colorado and Washington State?  Muzzling of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein who was once clearly publicly outspoken against the legalization of marijuana?  Statements like “we need to learn more about medical marijuana” while at the same time shutting down countless marijuana dispensaries all across the nation?  An Attorney General who can’t make up his mind on mandatory minimum sentencing for what he calls “non-violent” drug offenders?    A passive-agressive approach to drug policy perhaps? 

Recently, President of the United States Barack Obama made the following statement.  "If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, well, ‘We can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka,’ are we open to that?" Obama wondered. "If somebody says, ‘We've got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn't going to kill you or rot your teeth,’ are we O.K. with that?"  Maybe we should begin by asking the various nations the United States has signed drug treaties with?  Does the President even realize that the U.S. is now in violation of several international treaties due to drug decriminalization in various states?  The zero-tolerance approach to drugs in the U.S. has certainly taken its toll on the prohibition of drugs, especially marijuana.  When searching a little deeper, legalization of marijuana would also cost police department’s vast amounts of money because legalization would also change and void asset forfeiture laws.  But then again, we already know the President plans to make up the difference by taxing the rich and aiming for single-payer universal healthcare with Obamacare. 

Off in the distance, somewhere in Northern California, members of a Mexican drug cartel have set up shop on public land to grow marijuana.  Destroying the eco-systems by creating dams to divert water for their crops, they use toxic and dangerous pesticides in the form of “edible” pellets that kill birds and they shoot the deer that like the taste of marijuana leaves.   Even bears are attracted to the site from the scent of food in the grower camp and when they come near, are shot dead.  To pass the time, dead bears and deer become trophies and the growers like taking pictures next to their kill, posing as if he just won a giant stuffed animal at a family carnival.  

They have guns and knives and have no hesitation using them when they spot other drug gangs or cops  in the area.  Gunfire from black market growers has sparked many spot and even wildfires.  When a rival cartel is spotted, drug gangs have also been known to detonate small bombs to smoke each other out. 

Depending on light and growing conditions they stay at the site about 100 days.  That is usually the turn around period it takes for a crop to reach harvest and acceptable drying conditions.  When they are finished, they leave trash and toxic waste behind and the eco-system to fend for itself.  All they care about now is turning the marijuana into fast cash to anyone willing to pay the asking price on the street.  Legalization of marijuana has made things easier for Cartels that have also been caught working with marijuana doctors.  

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the City is fighting to shut down over one thousand marijuana dispensaries because people are abusing medical marijuana laws.  Instead of buying from the cartels and drug gangs, patrons seeking recreational marijuana in California, find him and herself claiming false illness to obtain a doctor’s recommendation to legally obtain marijuana under state but not federal law.   These recreational users would rather lie than buy marijuana from a drug gang and many believe by doing so they are engaging in a noble cause by choosing to buy pot from a regulated lawful source.  The question is, can we truly call these people criminals and lawbreakers knowing the alternative of how drug cartels operate to get drugs onto America’s streets?

Americans have chosen to use marijuana long before the question of drug legalization became a daily topic in the news.  Politically, legalization for recreational use has been before voters for more than 41 years.

According to the latest Gallup poll, 58% of Americans now believe marijuana should be legalized.  Evaluating the risks of introducing marijuana as a recreational drug into the legal market has proven roads would be more dangerous, on-the-job accidents more prevalent and has shown that teenage use dramatically increases.  Do these factors prevent us from stopping drug cartels and drug gangs who push marijuana on citizens that have no clue where the pot he or she is buying came from, or what is in it?

Let’s face it, there are those among us who have decided that at one time or another marijuana will become a recreational habit.  One we can take or leave alone.  I have yet to see a pro-drug group outspoken about drug addiction so that we can curb drug abuse.  That is simply not the intention of the drug lobby and apparently it is also not the intention of President Obama.  

Being sober more than 15 years I can say I have already had my fair share and in my case, it didn’t increase the quality of my life.  Therefore, I don’t use pot or anything else unless I am so ordered by my physician and even then I may not use what is prescribed.  Yet I also know that I am not like everyone else and that people have a right to choose what to put in his or her body.  People have a civil right to want their own experience with marijuana whether it benefits the quality of life or not and they are exercising that right whether we like it or not.  As it stands, the only thing can prevent these choices is the law, which condemns and outcasts drug users, taking away quality of life and liberty.  

It is pretty likely that within the next two years more than half the country will have states with medical marijuana laws.  In other words folks, the train has left the station and there is no point in chasing the train down the tracks trying to reverse the irreversible.  That means the national poll numbers are likely to increase, especially when looking at polling trends of favoritism toward the decriminalization of marijuana in the last ten years.  A tragedy?  Yes, because the movement, like President Obama, is aimless and wants not just to legalize drugs but also to liberalize them.   

Therefore, the question we should be asking is no longer if pot should be legal.  But rather, are we going about legalization in the right way?  Are drug policy advocates selling a reckless agenda and succeeding just to get their foot in their door?  Is America going to keep falling for the same arguments of back-door marijuana legalization by getting states to jump on the bandwagon with medical marijuana laws?   Or are we going to get smart about this issue and figure out a way to get control of it?

Starting at the top with the President of the United States, we are increasingly no longer a nation that wants to get tough on drugs or drug users.  If legalization methods and polling trends continue, it is quite possible that marijuana and even other drugs will be legal for recreational use within the next five to ten years.  Without clarity and leadership from the Commander in Chief, the chaos with conflicting drug laws in America’s communities is only going to continue.  We either find a way to create clear drug policy and create a safe and regulated market or we make the on-going free-fall liberalization of drugs worse.