If Intern Story is Fair Game, Open Season On Bush's Cocaine Habit?

[DrFunkenstein]

Despite significant media attention this week, the only government official to touch upon the disconnect between the drug use of political leaders and the punitive drug policies that they often espouse was Sen. John Kerry.

On Monday, Kerry was asked by reporters to explain why he thought that questions surrounding George Bush regarding whether or not he had used cocaine were more substantively relevant than Gore's use of marijuana. Kerry, noting that Al Gore had already admitted his use of marijuana, said:

"(H)e (Gore) said 'I used it.' So that's not an issue... And I don't think Al Gore intends, you know, to make prior use an issue of other people, except to the degree that it affects public policy."

Pressed later on the question of the Bush cocaine rumors, Kerry laid out his thinking on why Bush's drug use, if substantiated, is indeed an important issue for voters to consider:

"The issue about George Bush is not the fact that he may have used it, said Kerry. "The issue about George Bush is, how can you, if you have (used cocaine), have a position that is so at odds in terms of being a governor where you send a lot of other people who may have done the same thing you do to jail. That's the issue. It's not a question of whether he used it or when he used it, it's a question of what his policy is today and whether that's hypocritical and dangerous."

The Week Online spoke with Kerry Spokesman David Wade, who reiterated the Senator's position.

"The Vice President has long admitted that he has used marijuana," said Wade. "Governor Bush, on the other hand, will say only that when he was young and irresponsible, he was young and irresponsible. But when Bush has had the opportunity to score political points in Texas by promulgating tough, extremely punitive new laws against drug users, he has been happy to do so."

http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/123/gorequestions.shtml

First he refused to confirm or deny it. Later he would say only that "when I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible." Next he said that the issue wasn't relevant. Then he said that he wouldn't address "rumors." Then he said that he could pass a standard security check dating back seven years. Finally, he said that he could've passed the security check in his father's White House -- fifteen years. Though he had to think before specifying whether he could've passed it then or now. Now, no matter what he says, the issue seems destined to dog him until the day he comes clean.

http://www.progress.org/archive/drc12.htm

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. yes

Bush coulda done that scene in 'Scarface' where Al Pacino dives face-first into the mountain of coke.

We should bring this up anyway. Hell, we should use everything we've got.

They're gonna.

[DrFunkenstein]

I'd Like To Know Why He Stopped Taking Medical Exams

Once the national guard instituted drug checks (January 1971).

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/02/02_400.html

[mmonk]

2. Yes, it is.

[Eloriel]

3. Is it just me, or is that response from Kerry really weak?

To Kerry it's just the HYPOCRISY that bothers him? What about the LEGALITY? Hmmmmm.

[AP]

4. Kübler-Ross’s five stages of coping with death:

denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. Oops! Almost Forgot Bush's Stint As A Cheerleader!

[Qutzupalotl]

8. That's not a megaphone, it's a cokespoon.

Or a big fattie. Fuckin' A.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. Politics is fun when we're fighting Republicans and not other Dems!

[Qutzupalotl]

7. You know, I'm starting to warm up to your guy.

It is the hypocrisy. The illegality is just a result of hypocrisy.

Hopefully this is a harbinger of a more sane and forgiving drug policy.

Has Kerry ever said whether he's used cannabis or drugs?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

11. In the Boston debate

COOPER: All right, we are getting a lot of e-mail pouring in. Probably a predictable question just got asked. It is an e-mail from a viewer: 'Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?'

And they want us to go around and ask each of you.

Governor Dean?

DEAN: We'll all keep our hands down on this one.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: John -- Senator Kerry? Yes or no?

KERRY: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Congressman Kucinich, yes or no?

(APPLAUSE)

KUCINICH: No, but I think it ought to be decriminalized.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Reverend Sharpton?

SHARPTON: I grew up in the church. We didn't believe in that.

COOPER: OK. Senator Edwards?

EDWARDS: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Senator Lieberman?

(APPLAUSE)

LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers in Democratic debates. I never used marijuana, sorry.

COOPER: General Clark?

CLARK: Never used it.

COOPER: Ambassador Braun?

MOSELEY BRAUN: I'm not going to answer.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: And Governor Dean?

DEAN: Yes.

COOPER: Yes, all right.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64721-2003Nov4?language=printer

Notice Kerry did not hesitate to answer, unlike some others.

[Qutzupalotl]

12. Thank you.

Getting more relieved by the minute.

[Mick Knox]

9. Everything is fair game...

Its gonna be a roll around in the mud fight... Issues is out of the question.... He who has the least mud stick to him wins... I dont think there was ever any doubt this would be dirty.

[chocolateeater]

10. Go for it! n/t

[forgethell]

13. Everything's fair

for us and for them. I bought a nice new yellow raincoat and a Auburn unbrella ( didn't want the stuff to mess up my Crimson Tide one) It is really going to be fun. I love election year. sarcasm on/off/ You decide

[cap]

14. if Bush wants to indulge in sex scandals, then he should be outed.

all sex scandals should be on the table!

[forgethell]

16. I did mention

everything is fair, didn't I. But we will get it, too. Whining, though, does not win votes, hence the raincoat and umbrella

[LTR]

15. Go here for a primer

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=bush+cocaine&btnG=Google+Search

166,000 pages of reading. Good luck, folks!

[DrFunkenstein]

17. Kerry Favors Holland-Style Hands-Off Approach To Pot

-You have talked in the past of smoking pot when you returned from Vietnam. What do you think of the way the pot laws are prosecuted today?

-We have never had a legitimate War on Drugs in the United States, ever, and we won't until we have treatment on demand for addiction and until you have full drug education in our schools. The mandatory-minimum-sentencing structure of our country is funneling people into jail who have no business being there.

-And every year, the number of people arrested for marijuana offenses goes up.

-I've met plenty of people in my lifetime who've used marijuana and who I would not qualify as serious addicts -- who use about the same amount as some people drink beer or wine or have a cocktail. I don't get too excited by any of that.

-Would you favor decriminalization?

-No, not quite. What we did in the prosecutor's office was have a sort of unspoken approach to marijuana that was almost effectively decriminalization. We just didn't bother with small-time use. It doesn't rise to the level of nuisance, even. And what we were after was people dealing with heroin and destroying lives, and people who were killing people. That's where you need to focus.

http://www.rollingstone.com/features/nationalaffairs/featuregen.asp?pi...


In Holland, smoking pot is still illegal, but there is an official blind eye turned to it. This would seem a perfect solution for defusing conservatives that would freak out (with middle America) over immediate de-criminalization.

----------------------------------------------------

Here is something I found from a quick Google search:

MacCoun warns against using the experience of the drug-decriminalization states to make arguments for outright marijuana legalization or for decriminalizing harder drugs.

His research shows that marijuana use didn't increase much in the 1970s in the Netherlands when the Dutch police stopped enforcing laws against marijuana possession. But the government began allowing pot to be sold openly at coffee shops in the 1980s, and marijuana use almost tripled among 18- t0 20-year-olds by 1996, his studies found.

The Dutch experience suggests that not throwing drug users in jail is different - and has much less impact - than actually allowing commercial access to marijuana, MacCoun said.

"The Dutch have made a choice," MacCoun said in his congressional testimony. "Less black market activity at the retail level and less police intrusiveness in ordinary life in exchange for higher levels of marijuana use."

Advocates of marijuana legalization also cite studies from Holland showing that overall, marijuana use in Holland remains below that in the United States and that adolescent marijuana use is nearly twice as high in America compared to the Netherlands - with Dutch per-capita spending on drug-related law enforcement well below that in the United States.

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n975/a09.html

Training was tough, and exhilarating. I also got some plum training assignments-- I first went to California as a freshly minted naval officer and was assigned to remarkably difficult duty -- Treasure Island, San Francisco. I got to know San Francisco dangerously well for a 23 year old as I learned how to navigate complex challenges -- the Filmore West, the Grateful Dead, and the Rolling Stones.

After coming back from my first tour of duty in Vietnam, I was then assigned gunboat command and went to Coronado, San Diego to train. Again it was tough -- living in an apartment on Pacific Beach -- surfing everyday until we dropped -- returning from survival training in the mountains to the greatest beer I ever tasted.

We made the most of that time, feeling very young and invincible even as we trained for the missions of our lives.

http://www.usmilitarysupport.org/veterans_history/john_kerry.html

[HuckleB]

21. Well, I'd prefer that it be standardized and taxed as much as booze.

But that's just me.

[JVS]

18. It isn't as though we've held this back, people didn't care

but I guess we might as well try

[JI7]

19. Bush's love affair with cocaine and alcohol

bush cheated on his wife with cocaine and alcohol. laura bush was about to leave him and forced him to choose between her or his alcohol and cocaine. while they claimed bush stopped drinking, video later showed bush drunk at a party which was taken after the date bush claimed he stopped drinking. his sniffing at one of the gore/bush debates showed he was on cocaine, and the pretzel incident involved use of drugs. and there was that one news conference on iraq where he was clearly drugged.

[HuckleB]

20. Yup. And all those arrests. And the drinking. And wasn't there an abortion

in there somewhere? Hmm. Wanna play dirty, do you, Karl? OK. Let's play.

[JCMach1]

22. This also ties into AWOL through his Flight Grounding

we need to hit that because it is better documented.

Unless more witnesses come forward, cocaine use is not.

I have really been revisiting this in the past 48 hours for a possible DU article.

[Qutzupalotl]

23. I can only speculate that Bath and Bush

were doing the same things. It is suspicious, and now that we have this document, reporters ought to ask why Bush didn't take his physical.

Bath was an investor in Arbusto, wasn't he? Or am I thinking of the Carlyle Group?