Why Drug Use Has Increased: It Starts With Medical Marijuana
by GREGORY D. LEE
September 28, 2010
Last week, a national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was released and concluded, “The use of illicit drugs among Americans increased between 2008 and 2009. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows the overall rate of current illicit drug use in the United States rose from 8.0 percent of the population aged 12 and older in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009. This rise in overall drug use was driven in large part by increases in marijuana use.”
So it begins.
The Director of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske, said, “The findings are disappointing, but not surprising. Youth attitudes about the dangers of drugs have softened in the past couple of years (emphasis added). In the past this has often signaled that increases in use are coming.” The drug czar got it right, and you can count on further increases of drug use.
In the past couple of years, so-called medicinal marijuana clinics have flourished in California, especially in the Los Angeles area. The city council finally woke up when it realized that in some places in the city, over a dozen marijuana clinics exist within a mile radius. It now is considering taking steps to control their spread. In the meantime, this November, there is a proposition on the California ballot to legalize the “recreational” use of marijuana.
Couple the above with the election of President Obama and the takeover of both houses of Congress by Democrats. The Senate has yet to confirm Michele Leonhart as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a position for which she was selected during the end of the Bush Administration.
My sources tell me that Acting Administrator Leonhart received a terse phone call from the White House after it was apparent her agents would continue to crack down on illicit medical marijuana distribution centers in California. The message was clear: Stop enforcing marijuana laws!
On October 19, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memorandum to its U.S. Attorneys titled: “Investigations and Prosecutions in States Authorizing the Medical Use of Marijuana.” It essentially fulfilled the president’s campaign promise to go soft on medical marijuana dispensaries. It also reined in the DEA. If the U.S. attorney is not going to prosecute persons involved in marijuana distribution in states that authorize marijuana medicinal clinics, then state prosecution was also not an option. These drug distributors got a free pass. The memorandum did authorize the continued enforcement of federal marijuana laws when violators were “not in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law.” This tiny loophole allows enforcement operations but confuses the marijuana user community when it hears reports of DEA raids at a favorite marijuana “clinic.” Marijuana users feel that the president has reneged on his campaign promise. In reality, marijuana distributors using state laws as a disguise to make a lot of illegal money while trying to appear concerned about the medical conditions of their customers can still be pursued.
In light of all this, is there any wonder marijuana usage is up?
When young people see medical marijuana clinics blocks from their homes and progressive states like California have ballot measures to legalize its use, it sends a clear message that marijuana isn’t harmful. After all, it’s medicine!
What marijuana proponents don’t say is that it is the most frequently used “starter” drug for addicts.
Not all marijuana users become methamphetamine and heroin addicts. But every meth addict and junkie I have ever met always seemed to have a little pot in his or her pocket or purse.
The president’s 2010 National Drug Control Policy emphasizes that he is “restoring balance in our efforts to combat the drug problems that plague our communities. . . This new, balanced approach will expand efforts for the three critical ways that we can address the drug problem: prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.” Translation: law enforcement is now the lowest priority of his three-prong strategy, as it always seems to be with a Democratic administration.
Educating kids on the harmful effects of marijuana and other drugs is the most important element, followed closely by enforcement to eliminate their availability. When demand for illicit drugs disappears, so will drug traffickers and all the violence and chaos they create. But so long as Hollywierd liberals and the rest of California portray marijuana use as a form of “recreation,” instead of deviate, destructive behavior, then drug usage will continue to flourish.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Gregory D. Lee is a retired Supervisory Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the author of three criminal justice textbooks. While on DEA diplomatic assignment in Pakistan, he was involved in the investigation of several notable terrorism events and arrests. He recently retired after more than 39 years of active and reserve service from the U.S. Army Reserve as a Chief Warrant Officer Five Special Agent for the Criminal Investigation Division Command, better known as CID. In 2011 he completed a combat tour of duty in Afghanistan while on special assignment to the Special Operations Command Europe. Visit his website at http://www.gregorydlee.com/ and contact him at info@gregorydlee.com.
.
blog comments powered by Disqus