If You Like Your Drug Policy, You Can Keep That Too!

By Alexandra D. Datig

Remember how the President promised if Americans like his or her health insurance plan, they can keep it under Obamacare?  Then it turned out millions of Americans were denied coverage from their own plan providers?  Only months after the President’s statement turned out to be false he does it again with a statement so shockingly against his own policy, it can only lead us to conclude that if Americans like his and her drug policy, they can keep that too! 

Make no mistake, President Obama’s recent statement in the New Yorker regarding drug legalization was a calculated attempt at persuading Americans to favor legalizing of drugs without coming right out and saying it, in conflict with his own policies as well as the Controlled Substances Act.   That is why he took the closet-legalizer approach by being careful to say to the New Yorker “if someone says” this or that, meaning he didn’t say it, yet he encourages drug legalization advocates to go-ahead and say it,… you know, wink-wink, sort of… LOL.    

Take for example his comments “if we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine.”  I am sober more than 15 years thank God, and just like the President who admitted to cocaine use in his book “Dreams From My Father” (1995), I too have used cocaine.  Knowing this, the President also knows that any cocaine user is aware, there is no such thing as a “negotiated dose of cocaine,” because to even a first-time user cocaine creates a fiendish craving for more.  A lot more.  Therefore, to suggest there is an acceptable dose of cocaine to a cocaine user is like saying there is an acceptable amount of gas to drive 1500 miles even though your gas tank that only holds 18 gallons.   It has also been scientifically documented that cocaine can create permanent unhealthy changes in the brain, even for first-time users.  The same goes for marijuana and many other drugs.  

Here’s where the calculation starts.  After making these remarks Americans should theoretically be thinking cocaine may be harmful, but wouldn’t it be safer if it were legal?  Would that make it “better” for cocaine addicts?  No one is talking about how we should curb use except drug prevention organizations who are seemingly falling on deaf ears.  To the President, however, that is not the point.  After all, Americans have a right to do what they want with his or her body, wink-wink... LOL.  Caveats of cocaine addiction and death should not be mentioned by the President of the United States?  Really folks, this is what it has come to.

The President also said, “if marijuana is fully legalized.”  With that statement he showed zero confidence in his own drug control strategy that speaks against the legalization of marijuana by which he is expected to lead the country!  What Americans should be asking is, if President Obama is no longer president, will marijuana be given the same nonchalant and casual leeway?  My immediate guess is, no, it will not, regardless of whether a Republican or a Democrat is occupying the White House.      

To his comments about marijuana not being as bad as alcohol?  Bad?  Is that the best he can do?  For a Harvard Law School graduate to use the word 'not as “bad”' seems plebian.   How about marijuana is not as impairing and intoxicating as alcohol, though it does impair the user’s ability to reason at times.   As a former member of the Choom Gang, the President also knows what it means to be an experienced marijuana user.  He likely knows how to self-dose and drive stoned.  He probably knows the difference between Indica and Sativa and likely has had his fair share of Maui-wowie when he lived in Hawaii.  Does that make his closer-legalizer approach more persuasive?

Sadly, the entire recreational marijuana movement is built on the premise of alcohol prohibition.  Instead of making a reasonable consumer-based argument, drug legalization advocates have taken a model of radicalized rebellion and personal right because, to quote the President, “marijuana is not as bad as alcohol.”  Like alcohol, marijuana is slowly being made legal by dividing communities with radicalized pro-drug propaganda and with his recent statements President Obama has shown he is in lock-step with the hoodwinking pro-drug lobby.

If there ever is a negotiated amount of legal meth as the President suggests in his interview with the New Yorker, he should be the first to try some right before he gives a State of the Union Address.  Maybe then Americans can decide if they think it is bad or "ok" or  not.  At the end of the day, we do need to figure out how to take the black market away from ruthless drug cartels.  By dividing Americans with conflicting drug laws and an outdated radicalized alcohol prohibition model to aim at legalization, the President is only doing what he knows how to do best.  Divide America by sounding like a crackpot.

Reflection

UK Daily Mail: 'And I smoke weed': Disturbing footage emerges of drunk and abusive 9-year-old on a scooter claiming to have downed EIGHTEEN cans of 7% whisky and cola

For more visit:  www.dailymail.co.uk

R.I.P. Cory Monteith, You Will Be Missed

Cory Monteith's Death NOT an Accident. It is Murder by a Drug Dealer!

By Alexandra D. Datig - 

How many more times does a celebrity or anyone else have who has been to rehab have to die from relapse, until we realize that each time they die, we are letting a drug dealer get away with murder!?  Just like Michael Jackson, Monteith was a known addict.  Just like Corey Haim, he began smoking weed daily when he was just 13 years old.  Just like John Belushi, he died from a lethal combination of drugs, and just like Whitney Houston Cory’s death is being called “an accident.” That's what the drug dealer said too! Oops!  He died.  Oh well.  Move it along folks, nothing to see here!

For several years now, I have been making light of the fact that known addicts who go into treatment are extremely vulnerable for the first two years of his or her recovery.  We need laws to protect people in recovery and hold accountable those who think they can make a fast buck off of a struggling sick person. 

Therefore, once again, I propose we look at the following solution which I introduced in this press release in 2011:

Proposed Federal Law:

Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011

Revision 1

Prevents often fatal relapse and punishes drug dealers

and those aiding drug dealers

from selling drugs to men and women in treatment

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Alexandra Datig is calling for nationwide support of a Federal law which would protect men and women struggling form addiction who are either in treatment or have completed treatment for recovery from addiction. The proposed law would protect men and women in recovery from drug dealers and those who aid drug dealers.

Datig, a business and public affairs consultant is also the founder of the addiction recovery website and blog www.fiveyearsfromnow.net.  She is recovering from a 13-year, life threatening drug addiction and has a successful recovery of more than 12 years(Now more than 14-years). 

Datig says: “It is often said in recovery that ‘help is for those who want it, not for those who need it.’ With The Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011 we are lessening the burden on concerned families and friends, making it easier for people who are trying to beat addiction to ask for the help they want.” 

Proposed Federal Law:

Author: Alexandra D. Datig, August 11, 2011

Proposed Title and Text: Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011

The Legislature finds and declares: 

a.) The Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011, criminally punishes drug dealers and those who aid drug dealers, from selling addictive and illegal substances to men and women who are in treatment or re-enter society from drug rehabilitation management facilities. Women and men trying to find recovery are most vulnerable and susceptible to relapse in his or her first two years of sobriety and do not have the ability to withstand his or her social triggers of addiction, causing serious harm and fatal relapse. The human toll has been well documented, showing during and after addiction rehabilitation, addicts are dying at a far more rapid rate from relapse, when compared to first-time use, because drug dealers and those aiding drug dealers have not been put on notice.

(Five Year From Now 2011,)

b.) The legislature shall enact The Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011 as a Federal law, mandating criminal action and fines against any individual who knowingly sells or furnishes or aids in furnishing addictive substances, of any kind, to a man or a woman who is either in treatment or has documented proof of having completed a rehabilitation program to treat and overcome substance abuse. The Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011 shall also serve as a Three Strikes model for drug dealers and those who aide drug dealers, who re-offend selling addictive substances to any man or woman in recovery and shall follow the model of ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and protect men and women recovering from addiction in his or her first two years of recovery. The Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act of 2011 mandates court ordered drug rehabilitation and education programs for drug dealers and those who aid drug dealers with selling drugs to men and women recovering from addiction; and imposes a minimum five-year prison term, for the first offense and a ten-year term for the second offense, as well as appropriate and reasonable fines.

Glee Star Cory Monteith, Age 31, Death Confirmed as Lethal Combination of Heroine and Alcohol

www.foxnews.com

Russell Simmons Offers "Pie in the Sky" Ideology to End the War on Drugs

By Alexandra D. Datig

Yesterday, Russell Simmons had an opinion piece featured in the Huffington Post (which made false claims on the number of prison inmates behind bars.  Simmons number 2.3 million.  Reality, 1.610 million)  calling for the end of the drug war.  This may be a popular thing to say, but reality on what ending the war on drugs would look like is another story.  Surely, in a perfect world, like the one Russell Simmons lives in, this would be a wonderful idea.  The world however, is not perfect and ending the war on drugs today would mean losing the war on drugs tomorrow.

Quite frankly, the world would be better served if Mr. Simmons made some substantial financial contributions to prison re-entry and recovery programs.   Simmons should stick to his craft and help clean up the lyrics in rap music, which has fueled the mindset of black on black crime, violent felons, drug abuse and degradation and violence against women.   

The war on drugs will never stop.  Not as long as we have drug cartels infiltrating our nation and domestic criminal networks looking to make a buck off those who are gullible enough to believe in a “two wrongs make a right” argument such as; drugs like marijuana are safer than alcohol.

In his fairytale-like rant in the HuffPost, Simmons uses buzz word after buzz word, churning the same rhetoric we have been hearing from drug legalization enthusiasts.  Most importantly however, Simmons wants to change the ratio of blacks that have been incarcerated on drug charges, that have little opportunity to get out of the life of crime once he or she gets out of prison.  Surely, the situation Simmons describes is dire and has been public knowledge for some time, but Simmons should also know that the solution is not simple.

A few days ago, the Department of Justice released a speech by United States Attorney General Eric Holder on the problems of incarceration and re-entry into society.  Re-entry is an enormous challenge because while the idea of releasing prisoners early seems like a novel concept for some people, the reality is they have limited or no skills to survive once he or she re-enters society.  

Prisoners are used to being taken care of.  Housing prisoners can cost between $24,000 to $55,000 per year.  Prisoners who re-enter societies have little means to find work which supports this level of income.  Therefore, he or she often reverts back to a life of crime leading back to incarceration.  A tragedy of circumstance, yes.  A reason to end the war on drugs?  No. 

If we are gong to help people and rehabilitate them successfully, prisons need to be reformed from within.  Mr. Simmons should know that.  Mr. Simmons should also know while his pie in the sky ideas of legalizing drugs sound like music to him and his ilk, reality of rehabilitating those who become drug dependent is a challenge we have yet to fully realize.  

The United States has more than 7 million addicts and no effective way to treat them (35 million drug dependent Americans qualify for Obamacare, (R. L. Kirkish, 2013).  Ending the war on drugs with no solution on how to handle drug cartels that are now producing more methamphetamine due to the suppression of the marijuana market, remains to be the inconvenient consequence of legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana.  Legitimizing illegal drugs has not and will not bring about real solutions on how to combat the problem of making drugs more available to addicts or to get rid of drug cartels.  Yet Mr. Simmons wants to end the war on drugs and legalize them.  So far, the forecast proves to be catastrophic.    

Faces of Meth:

Take Back America Campaign: IS MARIJUANA SAFER THAN ALCOHOL?

By Roger Morgan

Not that it really matters, but no … it isn’t!  Alcohol isn’t going away, so why exacerbate the social and economic problems alcohol has inflicted on society by adding another harmful drug?  But, the difference?

Alcohol is water-soluble, and consists of one chemical.  One ounce of alcohol is excreted from the body in 12 hours.  In moderation, as with a glass or two of red wine, it can even be beneficial from a health standpoint.  In excess, of course, it has contributed to multiple problems.

Marijuana is fat-soluble, and consists of 483 chemicals that turn into 2,000 chemicals when smoked; contains 61 cannibinoids, all of which are bioactive and some psychoactive; and it contains 50-70% more carcinogens than tobacco.  One half the THC (psychoactive ingredient) is excreted from the body in 3 to 7 days, and the balance remains for a month, compounding with each additional joint.

Pro-marijuana activists, some that have been trying to legalize marijuana for decades, gloss over the fact that today’s marijuana often ranges from 20 to 30% THC content, whereas in the 70’s the potency ranged from ½ to 2%.  The difference is like comparing near beer to grain alcohol. 

The travesty … even the treason … rests in the fact that our government, and maybe we collectively, don’t do whatever necessary to protect our youth.  Marijuana is the gateway to all drugs, and the onset of marijuana use on average is at age 12 to 13, when their brains are most vulnerable to harm and addiction.

Kids that start using alcohol and drugs are six times more likely to become addicts.  Addicts can’t work, or work effectively, so they become burdens on every aspect of public services:  crime, mental illness, health care, education, welfare and traffic safety. 

Roughly 3,200 Americans die monthly from drug overdose.  None from marijuana, of course.  But 90% of those who do die started their drug journey with pot.  To solve the problem of overdose deaths, one has to at least defer the onset of alcohol and marijuana use where it almost always starts, with kids; on average, age 12 or 13. 

So what are the true harms of marijuana that they don’t tell you about?

 1)    Adolescent marijuana use can cause permanent brain damage by reducing white matter in the brain by as much as 80%, and shrinking the hippocampus, the learning, memory and cognition center of the brain, and causing an 8 pt loss in IQ by age 38.  Stopping doesn’t reverse the problem.

 2)    Marijuana is a causal factor in psychosis, including schizophrenia, paranoia and suicidal depression.  One-third of prisoners are addicted to alcohol and drugs, and jails are overloaded with arrestees waiting months for beds in mental health facilities, which are already overloaded.

 3)    Marijuana can cause fatal brain damage to a fetus only two weeks after conception, before the mother even knows she is pregnant.  She can quit using, but its normally too late for the baby.  Even low potency marijuana caused a spike in still births from 12 to 44%.  Babies that survived child birth were often blessed with physical deformities and brain damage. 

 4)    Marijuana stays in the body for long periods of time, particularly in the 3 lb brain the gonads, the fattiest parts of the body, and it attaches to the fatty linings of every cell in the body, keeping the healthy proteins out and diminishing the immune system.  It is also a major cause of testicular cancer in young males, a major factor in chronic bronchitis, and cause of head, neck and throat cancer.

 5)    Marijuana impairment is a major cause of traffic injuries and death, and often used with alcohol and other drugs, which exacerbates the problem. 12% of  drivers who died from traffic accidents tested positive for just marijuana. What’s worse, they have killed many others.

 6)    Marijuana, particularly the high potency stuff with over 18% THC called “skunk,” does increase the risk of injury to oneself and others.  Emergency room visits have soared.  Violent crime has escalated (5 to 15% in Sacramento) and shooters such as Jared Loughner, Tucson shooter, or John Patrick Bedell, the Pentagon shooter, have injured or killed many others.

Organizations like the Marijuana Policy Project, and other pro-pot drug dealers, simply lie about marijuana.  What do they hope to gain?  Money, power or they just like to get high.  Who gets hurt?  Our youth, and our country.  All of us!

Legalizing marijuana on the ridiculous pretense that people will quit consuming alcohol if they have access to legal marijuana is a myth to begin with, but calling  marijuana safer than alcohol is simply a lie.  The only benefit may be no hangover from pot, but the hidden harms are as bad, or worse.

Source:  www.tbac.us 

Dr. Drew Really Understands that We Need to Address Underage Rape

Fort Worth Girl Pens Letter to Drunk Driver Who Left Her Paralyzed

Colorado and Washington Marijuana Legalization, Bad Policy Like Alcohol

By Alexandra Datig

The political climate and hurricane Sandy created the ultimate distraction in the Presidential race and the perfect storm for marijuana advocates.  For the presidential candidates, there was no time to speak about anything that was not a campaign issue and no one seemed to remind the people of Colorado and Washington State that the president’s policy on marijuana legalization is opposition to legalization.  If anyone did, they clearly fell on deaf ears.  President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney had similar positions in opposing legalization of marijuana for recreational use.  Why did the local media choose to ignore White House policy?

Last Tuesday’s passage of recreational marijuana use in the state of Colorado and Washington State has now directly confronted us with the question marijuana advocates have long been asking.  Is it time to take a closer look at our drug laws?  After 40 years of fighting to legalize marijuana politically and 75 years of trying to undo marijuana laws legislatively, was it time proponents finally got their way? 

I have been evaluating both sides of the spectrum for some time now and I think with the exception of few, neither side fully understands their own argument.  Many understand policy, many understand laws, few understand politics and hardly anyone understands recovery from addiction from the recovering person's perspective.  

Does it make sense to be a drug prevention advocate, clock out at five, go to a bar and have a few drinks? Then, go back and argue marijuana should not be legal like alcohol?  Does it make sense to be a drug legalization advocate and not have a plan on how to treat people who get addicted because recovery is broken?  Does it make sense to ask for treatment instead of jail when the 12 Step program, which is used by over 70% of recovery establishments, has a 3-7% success rate? 

I am almost 14 years sober and that means I walk the walk.  It is easy for someone to pontificate that people have a right to be high.  It is also easy to tell people never to use drugs.  But it is shortsighted for proponents who go before the people to get their vote, not to figure out a workable solution for those who become addicted or are forced into treatment through a court order.  I have been saying this for years and no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that recovery is broken! 

The passage of the Colorado and Washington measures may feel like a victory for some and a defeat for others.  Whatever the case may be, we are still dealing with state laws that challenge the supremacy of the Controlled Substances Act under which marijuana is deemed a Schedule I drug, with a high potential for abuse.  In my view, the legalization agenda is a misguided idea that can best be compared to walking a tightrope without a net.  Those who tried to prevent it put up a good fight for a noble cause and for this we must thank them.  


When drug legalization advocates say we are going about the drug war the wrong way, they may have a point.  But in my view, their way is the wrong way because if we don’t fix recovery and legalization efforts continue, we will continue to allow them to destroy America from within.