Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) calls for an end to the war on drugs

[RainDog]

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/06/rep-steve-cohen-the-war-on-drugs-has-been-a-terrible-mistake/

via the transcript here - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/16/985836/-Congressman-Cohen-Calls-for-An-End-to-the-War-on-Drugs

The War on Drugs was initiated by President Richard Nixon and he said we could have a War on Drugs 40 years ago. And the fact is 40 years later, we've spent nearly 1 trillion dollars on the War on Drugs, we have just as much as drug use in this country as ever before, we've incarcerated millions and millions of people for victimless crimes, and when we get people who sell drugs, which we need to do, all that happens is like a shark's teeth, they're replaced by the next in line... somebody else wanting to make money from a program that the public endorses and supports.

So the War on Drugs has been a terrible mistake.

Medical marijuana is an issue that's come up in this country and most states that have had the opportunity to deal with it have passed it mostly by percentages of over 60 percent. I had a good friend named O.J. Mitchell. O.J. Mitchell was a Navy SEAL and one of the strongest, toughest, best friends I've ever had. When O.J. was 54, he got pancreatic cancer and pancreatic cancer destroys a person, just whittles them away. And the guy was 210 lbs can do all those things SEALs can do, the hand-to-hand, the paratroops and uh—he used medical marijuana and his grandmother and his mother said "Thank god, for the marijuana. It allowed him to have a sense of humor and to eat. It worked." I yield back the balance of my time to urge us to solve the War on Drugs by getting out of it. It is a war. It is a crime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

from Raw Story:

"Marijuana use has not skyrocketed in the last year, but arrests are vamped up and they use arrest as a basis to get people, particularly people of color where it’s 7 times more likely you’ll be arrested if you’re African American and 4 times more likely you’ll be arrested if you’re Latino and more likely if you’re African American or Latino that you’ll spend a night in jail than if you’re Caucasian,” he noted.

As noted on another thread, this war could end now - and should.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4886218&mesg_id=4887641

[Ramulux]

1. Pretty incredible to hear this from a rep from Tennessee

[RainDog]

3. Even some republicans in TX have talked about mmj for vets

to help them deal with PTSD. During the run-up to the last election, several Republicans talked about this issue as one of honor to our vets - to allow them access to the best medicine available - after the VA said that veterans in states with MMJ laws would not be discriminated against by the VA.

...and this is true - it is a shame that veterans are not able to access the best medicine for them simply by the trick of fate that has them residing in one state v. another.

but the right wingers also have to frame this in ways that make it palatable for their constituency - the stoner stereotype is dearly loved by right wingers - no matter how erroneous that stereotype may be.

Cohen represents Memphis, so the issue of the racist application of the law is something he's surely aware of. This same rep. called the tea baggers racists. Doesn't look like he's afraid of a fight.

[AC_Mem]

9. He is our Democratic rep

and Thank God we have him! He is a breath of fresh air in a stinking Tennessee congress.

Shine on,
Annette

[RainDog]

11. He sounds like someone who actually cares about people

...unlike too many who could do something about this issue but won't.

[99th_Monkey]

2. I'm loving this recent chorus of voices, all singing the same tune. Stop the WOD!! nt

[RainDog]

5. I think, if the American people are given facts...

...most can see that this is a failed policy, a waste of money, needless destruction of people's lives - and, as I've noted before, I think most people know someone who has been personally effected by cancer - either their own or a family member's.

who wants a stupid war on drugs when there are medical benefits that are denied because of prejudice or special interests that care more about their entrenched positions than they do about facts and the reality of needless suffering and intrusion into people's medical decisions?

with the Republican congress at something like 18% approval ratings - seems people don't like their intrusion into people's private medical decisions on other issues as well.

The reality is that Americans have favored Dr. prescribed MMJ by an overwhelming majority for nearly two decades - NORML has lists of surveys and the questions asked since the late 1990s, after the initial passage of the CA MMJ law.

And, again, this could all end tomorrow if someone had the guts to do the right thing - Congress doesn't even have to be consulted - tho it would be nice to see them come down on the right side of history for the record books.

[UrbScotty]

4. Wow. Cohen is somewhat conservative, IIRC.

If he sees it as a bust, then that should tell you something!

[RainDog]

6. not so sure about that...

His reaction to right wing health care reform liars.

“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing. And Congressman Cohen didn’t stop there...

His remarks were about lies but his remarks were labeled as hate speech by the right wing b/c he invoked the Nazis to describe right wing tactics on the issue.

Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover," Cohen said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/abc-news-jonathan-karl-reports-the-newfound-civility-didnt-last-long-political-rhetoric-in-congress-doesnt-get-much.html

[Mimosa]

7. K&R ! n/t

[Fly by night]

8. Steve Cohen has been a medical cannabis supporter for two decades, ...

... sponsoring a bill to re-establish Tenbnessee's mmj program when he was a state Senator here. There is nothing conservative about Steve at all.

His chief of staff read my piece "President Obama: free cannabis ... or get off the pot", posted here two weeks ago. Hopefully she forwarded it on to Steve. (He and I were also classmates at Vanderbilt in the late 60s.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1232695

[RainDog]

10. Interesting to know

You would be an expert witness for rescheduling, or rather, descheduling.

[RainDog]

12. kicking to note Carter, a TN rep and a Drug Policy advisor all call for an end

to the real "reefer madness."