Will Obama's youthful drug use lead him to work for more reasonable drug laws?

[Karmadillo]

It seems somewhat hypocritical for us to give Obama a pass on his youthful drug use (which, I assume, most of us do), while continuing to stand by while others are imprisoned for doing exactly what he did. Shouldn't a real Politics of Hope bring an end to criminal records for citizens who use marijuana? It seems somewhat bizarre for 5,000,000 Americans to have been arrested for marijuana use since 1992 if it's something we're OK with the President of the United States having done.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3381

Marijuana Decriminalization Talking Points

TALKING POINT #1:
Decriminalizing marijuana frees up police resources to deal with more serious crimes.

TALKING POINT #2:
Far more harm is caused by the criminal prohibition of marijuana than by the use of marijuana itself.

TALKING POINT #3:
Decriminalization does not lead to greater marijuana use.

TALKING POINT #4:
Criminal laws prohibiting marijuana possession do not deter marijuana use.

TALKING POINT #1: Decriminalizing marijuana frees up police resources to deal with more serious crimes.

60,000 individuals are behind bars for marijuana offenses at a cost to taxpayers of $1.2 billion per year.
REFERENCE: Marijuana Arrests and Incarceration in the United States. 1999. The Federation of American Scientists' Drug Policy Analysis Bulletin.

Taxpayers annually spend between $7.5 billion and $10 billion arresting and prosecuting individuals for marijuana violations. Almost 90 percent of these arrests are for marijuana possession only.
REFERENCE: NORML. 1997. Still Crazy After All These Years: Marijuana Prohibition 1937-1997: A report prepared by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) on the occasion of the Sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Washington, DC; Federal Bureau of Investigation's combined Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States (1990-2000): Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

The state of California saved nearly $1 billion dollars from 1976 to 1985 by decriminalizing the personal possession of one ounce of marijuana, according to a study of the state justice department budget.
REFERENCE: M. Aldrich and T. Mikuriya. 1988. Savings in California marijuana law enforcement costs attributable to the Moscone Act of 1976. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 20: 75-81.

New Mexico's 2001 state-commissioned Drug Policy Advisory Group determined that marijuana decriminalization "will result in greater availability of resources to respond to more serious crimes without any increased risks to public safety."
REFERENCE: New Mexico Governor's Drug Policy Advisory Group. 2001. Report and Recommendations to the Governor's Office. State Capitol: Santa Fe.

Marijuana arrests have more than doubled since 1991, while adult use of the drug has remained stable. During this same period, the number of arrests for cocaine and heroin fell by approximately 33 percent.
REFERENCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000. Drugs and Crime Facts. Table: Number of Arrests by Drug Type, 1982-99. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1996. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings (1990- 1999). DHHS Printing Office: Rockville, MD.

Police arrest more Americans per year on marijuana charges than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
REFERENCE: Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2001. Uniform Crime Report: Crime in the United States, 2000. Table 29: Total estimated arrests in the United States, 2000. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

Marijuana violations constitute the fifth most common criminal offense in the United States.
REFERENCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000. Drugs and Crime Facts. Table: Estimated totals of top 7 arrest offenses, United States, 1999. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

More than 734,000 individuals were arrested on marijuana charges in 2000. Eighty-eight percent of those arrested were charged with marijuana possession only.
REFERENCE: Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2001. Uniform Crime Report Crime in the United States, 2000. Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

Almost 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana since 1992. That's more than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington DC and Wyoming combined.
REFERENCE. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States (1993-2000). Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

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[JTFrog]

1. "if it's something we're OK with the President of the United States having done"

You mean Bill Clinton right?

[tekisui]

2. I think so.

And I applaud him in any efforts to that end. He has said that he wants to reform criminal justice and has criticize the warondrugs. He wants to do away with or greatly reduce mandatory minimums. And get racist drug laws fixed.

[Elspeth]

3. I hope he doesn't feel pressured to do exactly the opposite.

To prove it was just a youthful indiscretion.

[lurky]

4. I hope so, but...

I'm sure his advisers are telling him to do the opposite, in order to avoid being seen as soft on drugs, crime, etc. Especially given his youthful intake, they will want him to be especially strident on drugs in order to inoculate himself against attacks.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. That's what I'm afraid of too. nt

[mrreowwr_kittty]

6. Having a prominent successful leader like him admit to drug use could help

It could help to change the perception in many peoples' minds that drug users are monsters. Obama could use it as a teaching moment, showing Americans through his own experience how intervention set him on the right path in his youth. He can compare his experience to the fate of young people, particularly African American males, when they are thrown into the criminal justice system for drugs.

I know I'm being too optimistic here but this is the way I hope it will be used.

[MethuenProgressive]

7. No. The GOP is drooling over the chance Obama might mention legalizing drugs.

Who will Obama blame then?

[Windy]

8. THIS GARBAGE NEEDS TO STOP. GET BACK TO THE ISSUES!

Its not flying nationally or in Iowa. Most people don't hold a person's actions before becoming an adult against them. SAD

[joeybee12]

9. Why isn't drug laws/prevention/rehabilitation an issue?

The war on drugs has been a bust...maybe this could open the door to a legitimate discussion of what can and cannot work...somehow, though, I doubt it.

[Karmadillo]

10. 5,000,000 arrests for marijuana since 1992 is an issue.

nt

[HuffleClaw]

11. would be nice if he did

but the 'war on drugs' is a BIG cash cow.

[Maven]

12. He hasn't proposed anything particularly daring in any other area

So I doubt he'll start here.