cannabisnews.com: Drug Czar Accused of Campaign Violations Drug Czar Accused of Campaign Violations Posted by CN Staff on December 04, 2002 at 16:18:52 PT By Alex Johnson, MSNBC Source: MSNBC Activists fighting to relax marijuana laws called for national drug czar John Walters’ ouster Wednesday for what they said were his “illegal and dishonest activities” in allegedly using taxpayer money to campaign against legal-marijuana initiatives last month. Stung by big defeats at the polls in several states on Election Day, legal-marijuana groups signaled Wednesday that they were shifting tactics to directly take on Walters, who has made zero tolerance for any use of marijuana — even for medical purposes — a cornerstone of federal drug policy. The Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization financed by three wealthy businessmen, including billionaire George Soros, filed a formal complaint with the Office of Special Counsel accusing Walters of violating the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that bars government employees from many election activities. The filing alleged that in a series of speeches and other appearances, Walters explicitly campaigned against Question 9, a voter initiative in Nevada that would have legalized possession of as much as 3 ounces of marijuana for personal use. The Nevada initiative failed, drawing only 39 percent support. Marijuana-related initiatives in South Dakota, Ohio and Arizona also failed by similar margins. Walters made a series of appearances in those states before Election Day to denounce any movement to ease legal restrictions on possession and use of marijuana and other drugs. The complaint, announced Wednesday in Washington, D.C., was accompanied by a letter that the Marijuana Policy Project, which sponsored Question 9, sent to the Nevada secretary of state’s office accusing Walters of also violating state law by failing to report his activities as campaign contributions. WALTERS PUBLIC COMMENTS CITED In its filing with the Office of Special Counsel, the Marijuana Policy Project noted numerous examples of Walters’ speaking out in general against drugs in Nevada in the weeks leading up to Election Day. It also cited a Las Vegas Review-Journal article that quoted Walters at one appearance as specifically promising opponents of Question 9 that “we will stand with you.” Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in an interview that Walters “broke the law by using the authority of his office to conduct a political campaign, and it was absolutely a campaign of lies and distortions designed to frighten people.” The group’s action would appear to have little chance to succeed, however. The Hatch Act specifically exempts Cabinet officials, like Walters, and others who are subject to Senate confirmation from its provisions. Noting the exemption for Cabinet members, Thomas Riley, a spokesman for Walters, said Walters was “going to talk about drug legalization whether there’s a ballot initiative or not. Even if that was campaigning, he’s allowed to.” Even so, Riley disputed activists’ contention that Walters targeted specific ballot questions in his appearances before last month, saying part of Walters’ job was “to oppose efforts to legalize drugs.” “The idea that he should say, ‘Well, I’m not going to go to this particular state because ... gosh, they have a ballot initiative this fall’ ... is ridiculous,” Riley said in an interview. “It’s the Office of National Drug Control Policy. It’s on its face silly. He was just doing his regular job.” NEW STRATEGY FOR MOVEMENT The filing seems geared more toward shifting the focus of the legal-marijuana movement away from the ballot defeats last month toward activists’ campaign to depict Walters as a right-wing ideologue who is failing at his job, which Mirken said “is to explore drug policies that work rather than breaking the law to defend a bankrupt and failed system.” “At a certain point you have to say enough is enough,” said Mirken, who defended a Marijuana Policy Project statement that it was “declaring war on the drug czar for his illegal and dishonest activities” as simply an echo of the government’s depiction of its activities as a “war on drugs.” “We were handed a situation not of our choosing,” Mirken said. “We will make the best of it as an opportunity to educate the public about why Mr. Walters is wrong, about why the things that he was saying were untrue, sometimes flagrantly so, and make the best of the situation that we can.”Note: Legal-marijuana activists file action over defeat of Nevada initiative. Note: Drug czar John Walters has argued forcefully that any use of marijuana can lead to abuse of harder drugs. Source: MSNBC (US Web)Author: Alex Johnson, MSNBC Published: December 4, 2002Copyright: 2002 MSNBCContact: letters msnbc.comWebsite: http://www.msnbc.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Rebellion Against the Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14885.shtmlMarijuana Rights Group Wants to Sue Drug Czar http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14790.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by p4me on December 04, 2002 at 18:50:51 PT I have said it before Walters is not fit for public service. What he is doing is a crime no matter the laws. It is somewhat opposite the thought that using cannabis is no crime even if the laws want you to think it is. The MPP should be thinking that the whole prohibition nonsense is treason to the freedoms of WETHEPEOPLE under the constitution that the misadministration is now shredding piece by piece. Somebody besides myself and MPP should ber calling for this bozo's resignation. I think if the courts and judges were not so warped I think we could get people like him hung, either for treason or murder. He is as inept at promoting the public good as Busch is.1 [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on December 04, 2002 at 18:40:25 PT Drug-War Related... Here's another very interesting piece...COLOMBIAN REPORTER TELLS ALL - TO U.S. PRESS: http://www.american-reporter.com/1987/6.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by mayan on December 04, 2002 at 18:29:35 PT Hijacked Elections... Here's an interesting story some of you may have already seen..."For the past several years, marijuana and drug policy reform measures were winning soundly at the ballot box. What happened this time around?" - see rest of story...Battelle the Truth: U.S. Elections Hijacked Again? http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14564countdown to tyranny - Urgent Alert - Stories Breaking That Saddam Has Rare Weaponized Smallpox From Russia - by Mike Ruppert: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/120302_smallpox.htmlThe Rise of the American Police State(part 2) http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/06/40/200212041121.1c7ecd4d.htmlLIES, DAMNED LIES AND TERROR WARNINGS: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12422214&method=full&siteid=50143Bush: Shoot Citizens, Ask Questions, Then Get A Lawyer: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1202-08.htmKissinger Should Be Subject of an Investigation, Not Leader of One: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1203-05.htm9/11 "Conspiracies" and the Defactualisation of Analysis: http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq37.html9/11 Skeptics Unite: http://www.osamaskidneys.com/links.htmlPaul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline: http://cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/The People's Investigation of 9/11: http://www.911pi.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by billos on December 04, 2002 at 17:52:08 PT: walters Feed the bastard with his own poison. Walters needs to go! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 04, 2002 at 16:38:41 PT Heads Up: Rob Kampia on O'Reilly Factor - 12-05 This Thursday, December 5, the Marijuana Policy Project's Rob Kampia will appear on FOX News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern. (The program is repeated at 11 p.m. Eastern; please check your local cable listings for channel and non-Eastern airtimes.)At approximately 20 minutes after the hour, Kampia will be featured in a 5-minute, one-on-one interview with host Bill O'Reilly, discussing the formal complaint that MPP is filing against Drug Czar John Walters for his illegal campaigning against Question 9, MPP's recent ballot initiative in Nevada. (See MPP's media advisory below for details.)For background on the drug czar's illegal involvement in campaigning against Question 9, see the following links.http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=2088http://www.mpp.org/NV/news_2089.htmlhttp://www.nrle.org/news/lvrj091802.htmlhttp://www.nrle.org/news/lvs091802.htmlhttp://www.nrle.org/news/lvs091902.htmlmedia advisory:http://www.mpp.org/releases/ma120202.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment