Liberal fascism continues its march through the political landscape, now with a pro-pot scattering of Congressmen demanding the removal of DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg. Rosenberg's sin, it seems, is that he said that "medical" marijuana is "a joke."
Rosenberg's statements are "indicative of a throwback ideology rooted in a failed War on Drugs," the letter, spearheaded by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D.-Or.), begins.
One might forgive a fellow who was appointed to lead the Congressionally-mandated effort to suppress drug use for not sharing the view that the effort has failed, especially since we have no way of knowing what levels of drug use would be but for that effort. Still, you get the point. You either agree with the views of the 1.3% of legislators who signed the letter, or you are unfit for office.
I should say, for full disclosure, that CJLF takes no position on pot legalization; that Kent views it as inevitable, and that Chuck Rosenberg has been a casual friend of mine for years, since we worked together as Assistant US Attorneys in Alexandria, VA in the 1990's. I don't know Chuck's political affiliation. I do know that he was universally respected in the Office for his sobriety, fair-mindedness and even temperament.
For however that may be, the letter demanding his ouster is nonsense.
First, Chuck was telling the truth. The campaign for "medical" pot is a joke. This is not to say that pot has no medical uses; THC, its active ingredient, does have medical benefits, which is why it has been available in a legal pill, Marinol, for many years. The campaign is a joke because it's rooted in deception. The idea is to open the door to unlimited recreational use of pot by calling it "medicine," knowing full well, and not caring, that its "medical" uses will be, in relative terms, few and far between. It's "use-it-as-you-care-to" in a thin disguise.
This has been California's experience. California broke the ground on this issue almost 20 years ago with the Compassionate Use Act. Since then, it has become clear that the Act's supposed regulation of "medical" marijuana is a fraud. Almost no one even pretends that a "patient" needs to show a serious medical condition in order to get his pot supply. If you say you're "depressed and anxious," that's enough, here's your baggie.
Translation: You can get "medical" marijuana if you want to get stoned -- which is fine, except that it's, well, shake-and-jive. It has next to nothing to do with medicine as normal people understand that term.
Second, it's bizarre to demand a person's removal for doing the job the law requires him to do. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug. It is explicitly illegal under the very federal law Chuck Rosenberg was put in office to enforce. If Congress wants to change that law, it has that prerogative. But it hasn't.
The reason it hasn't isn't hard to discern. Seven pro-pot legislators is not a majority in Congress. Indeed, it's barely a minority. It would be more correct to call it a fringe. The head of the DEA can hardly be expected to conform either his statements or his official behavior to placate a Congressional fringe.
Finally, the DEA is a component of the Justice Department, of which Attorney General Loretta Lynch is the head. Ms. Lynch said point-blank at her confirmation hearing that she opposes the legalization of marijuana.Thus it would be not merely inconsistent with standing law (affirmed by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Raich) for Chuck Rosenberg to approve "medical" pot; it would be, in a significant sense, insubordinate.
The recently failed Florida voter initiative for "medical marijuana" was similar to California's, in that a "medical practitioner" could approve your marijuana purchase and use, said medial practitioner undefined except for perhaps wearing a pair of scrubs and waving a sign after passing a 10 hour course on how to speak dope. The constitutional amendment in Florida needed 70% of voters to approve and only reached something like 68%. It will be back.
I have my doubts about the WOD, but if we're going to legalize narcotics, let's be honest & call this what it is. Florida's constitutional amendment was wrapped up in poor, sick children needing pain relief from cancer, when it was really about dopers selling high-THC content merchandise to anyone who claimed to have a headache, backed by well funded business groups from the industry.
So, at least in this instance, "medical marijuana" was so much peace and love BS.
JCC
"Florida's constitutional amendment was wrapped up in poor, sick children needing pain relief from cancer, when it was really about dopers selling high-THC content merchandise to anyone who claimed to have a headache..."
Bingo.
That is the movement in a nutshell. A bunch of potheads hiding behind children.
Have never had a problem with marijuana as a medical pain reliever in the same way that morphine is a pain reliever. But, anyone with sense who read the so-called "medical marijuana" initiative in California knew it was a doobie dressed in scrubs. It's right up there with bogus service dogs.