cannabisnews.com: Government is Right About Marijuana Government is Right About Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on August 31, 2004 at 22:16:37 PT By Kevin A. Sabet, Guest Commentary Source: Union Leader The federal government recently announced that the growing potency of America’s most popular illegal drug, marijuana, and the number of kids seeking help to get off the drug (one in five users) worried them so much that they were soliciting new marijuana-research proposals and urging local law enforcement to crack down on those who sell the drug. The pro-marijuana lobby was furious and immediately charged the feds with fear-mongering and clamoring to protect their (not so glamorous, actually) jobs in Washington, D.C. Their cries rested on claims that more potent marijuana is not tantamount to more dangerous marijuana and that the rise in the number of treatment beds for marijuana users is due to criminal justice referrals, not the drug’s harmfulness. But the evidence shows the government indeed might have it right. The pro-drug movement, fueled with the motivation to legalize harmful substances and angry at the attack on its values of “drug use for all,” is putting kids at risk by playing down the known dangers of marijuana. Although not as destructive as shooting heroin or smoking crack, marijuana use is unquestionably damaging. Today’s more powerful marijuana probably leads to greater health consequences than the marijuana of the 1960s: Astonishingly, pot admissions to emergency rooms now exceed those of heroin. Visits to hospital emergency departments because of marijuana use have risen steadily during the 1990s, from an estimated 16,251 in 1991 to more than 119,472 in 2002. That has accompanied a rise in potency from 3.26 percent to 7.19 percent, according to the Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi. More potent marijuana is also seen as more lucrative on the market. Customs reports claim that a dealer coming north with a pound of cocaine can make an even trade with a dealer traveling south with a pound of high-potency marijuana. It makes sense that people pay more for stronger pot because the high is better. A flurry of very recent research studies — concerning withdrawal, schizophrenia and lung obstruction, for example — have also shown marijuana’s unfortunate consequences. These conclusions were not being reached in the ‘70s and ‘80s (legalizers often point to the Nixon-commissioned Shafer report, which said nice things about the drug, as evidence of marijuana’s harmlessness), because marijuana from that era was weaker and less dangerous than today’s drug. The May 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the number of marijuana users over the past 10 years stayed the same while the number dependent on the drug rose 20 percent — from 2.2 million to 3 million. And although a majority of kids in treatment for marijuana are referred there by the criminal justice system, it still remains only a slight majority — about 54 percent. The rest is self, school or doctor referral. To paint the picture that the reason marijuana dependence looks higher is because of the criminal justice system is disingenuous (especially because most people who use only marijuana never interact with law enforcement as a result of that use). Some people still argue that it’s wrong to arrest kids and force them into treatment. It seems like the government can never win: If they arrest and lock people up, legalizers kick and scream that we’re not giving users “alternatives to incarceration.” If they arrest kids as a way to get them help, and not as a punishment mechanism, all of a sudden the government is giving in to George Orwell. It’s too bad that pot apologists don’t see what most parents do see: Marijuana is a harmful drug with serious consequences, and mechanisms — even a brush with the law to help a user realize that what he’s doing is harmful — to help stop the progression of use should be seen as a good thing. That’s not government propaganda. That’s common sense. And it may save a few lives. Kevin A. Sabet recently stepped down as senior speechwriter to America’s drug czar, John P. Walters. Source: Union Leader (NH)Author: Kevin A. SabetPublished: September 1, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Union Leader Corp.Contact: letters theunionleader.comWebsite: http://www.theunionleader.com/Related Articles:Potent Argument: The Latest Marijuana Scare http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19330.shtmlThe 'Potent Pot' Mythhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19259.shtmlBush Targets Marijuana Smokers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19229.shtmlU.S. Drug Czar Warns of Potent Pot Herehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19209.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #58 posted by Hope on September 04, 2004 at 06:26:31 PT Oh my Ron, BGreen. You guys are wonderful. Thank you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #57 posted by ron on September 04, 2004 at 00:22:07 PT I second that emotion, BGreen Hope's name speaks for her, and Jon Doe could be anyone - maybe even a psyops pro sowing salt with seed. Thanks for your quick insight, Shishaldin. And your moderating influence FoM.Nice to see kaptinemo's trenchant comments are back. [ Post Comment ] Comment #56 posted by BGreen on September 03, 2004 at 23:14:43 PT Hope I wanted to write earlier but I didn't want to cause any problems. Nobody who knows you from your previous posts would see anything but the sweet, caring ray of Hope that casts a little more sunshine over the Cannabisnews.com community.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #55 posted by FoM on September 03, 2004 at 22:22:28 PT And Thank You Hope We are a good community and we most definitely have different political beliefs but we have a common interest. We think the drug laws need to be changed. Reforming bad laws is a good cause. Helping one another is a good thing. Tolerance is important but we should be able to tell someone to please stop if it hurts us. That's how a community works well. It's been a good day for me too. I can't really explain why it was a good day but it was. We were able to get a loan to put two new roofs on houses that my father in law willed us. They desperately needed roofs and finally we can have the contractors start the jobs. I want to be a good stewart of what was given us so that's why it is a good day. [ Post Comment ] Comment #54 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 22:12:06 PT Thank you, FoM I needed to know that and I appreciate it.One thing, though...I'm probably going to dream about trolls tonight!Oh well. (with a shrug and a wry smile)It's been a pretty good day. [ Post Comment ] Comment #53 posted by FoM on September 03, 2004 at 21:37:15 PT Hope Please don't let it worry you. It isn't worth it. I've been doing this long enough to know that he just wants to argue. He won't be posting here for a while. It's very easy to allow people to hurt a web site. CNews is a sanctuary for many and a place to discuss our topic or some of the issues we've been talking about but not a place to be rude. I am a member of the CCC list. You must be invited into the list. It is not an open list. What I mean is you get approved to be in the list. The people in the list ok new people and that's how it works. They want to know why you are interested in their list. I told them my reasons and Dr. Russo gave me a good recommendation. I've only commented once or twice and not on Canadian issues just a comment. I learn from reading. We as a reform community have matured into quite a great group of people and we all have learned when things are getting out of hand. I've never figured out why it happens but it does. Even my music board I go to had a terrible problem with fighting and banning and I waited until it got back on track to post. I stayed out of it and I kept reading and learned more from just taking it all in and not talking or getting into it. This is a link that has taught me how to separate things and this is how I make decisions. Remember there are people who don't want the laws changed or just don't care for whatever reasons. Please don't let it bother you. I've learned to get tough because I feel I must protect this community from things that could cause it to have a lot of problems. I didn't know that I would have to be tough because all I wanted to do was post good news and have intelligent comments. It came with the territory though.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/troll.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #52 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 21:16:50 PT When I said "if that's what you are saying"...I meant I couldn't quite understand the way you worded it...but that I thought it might mean that you were sick or had been sick. [ Post Comment ] Comment #51 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 21:14:54 PT I often think about the sick and those in pain that read and post here. I know there are a lot. I admire their strength and courage greatly. I'm not very strong or courageous when I'm sick. I'm a flat out wimp when it comes to pain and sickness. So I'm always amazed at those that still put out the effort to share their thoughts with us. I appreciate it and think it's quite noble. I'm not, but I'm capabable of being amazed at and admiring those who are. [ Post Comment ] Comment #50 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 21:08:30 PT Oh no I've been sick for nearly two years with raging ulcers. The treatments were horrible, the doctor said they were just like chemo for some people. I have been TOO sick, many times in the last year or so, to walk in here and turn on the computer. Or even to look at it when someone else turned it on. I've lost about forty pounds and a lot of time.I was dead serious. [ Post Comment ] Comment #49 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 21:05:18 PT Oh lord Sorry, Jon Doe. One of those comments was mine. I dang sure didn't mean it to be condescending! By stepping out of the shadows, I meant from "lurking"...which I thought was common internet language. Sorry. I didn't mean to sound condescending. I don't think I have a condescending bone in my body. I'm sorry it sounded that way. [ Post Comment ] Comment #48 posted by FoM on September 03, 2004 at 20:26:41 PT jon doe You are trying to pick a fight. That's what I won't tolerate. You are new here. I said I like peace not fighting. [ Post Comment ] Comment #47 posted by jon doe on September 03, 2004 at 20:12:09 PT Hope “Sorry to hear you were sick. If that's what you are saying. I've been too sick to turn on the computer, too.”No that’s not exactly what I was saying, YOU did sound a bit condescending though.“too sick to turn on the computer”I know it’s all in good fun, and I love you ,but I think fom wants us to tone it down.PEACE [ Post Comment ] Comment #46 posted by jon doe on September 03, 2004 at 19:59:38 PT Sorry fom Sorry for the condescending comments fom, however they were in response to the condescending comments of others directed at me.Example:“stepping out of the shadows” “polluted information”“a source clearly tainted ““I guess I was completely brainwashed by the Jehovah's Witnesses because I STILL don't trust my government” ECT. I was not insulted or angered by these comments at all, but I did feel they needed to be responded to. I love to debate and will try and not cross the line. Thanks to all who entered this debate, I really enjoyed all of you.Note: My comments in this latest post are not intended to be condescending, they are from the heart.PEACE [ Post Comment ] Comment #45 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 19:06:21 PT Jon Doe Sorry to hear you were sick. If that's what you are saying. I've been too sick to turn on the computer, too. Glad you're better and welcome back...Jon Doe.I enjoy hearing different opinions. I'm no good at debate...or even arguing. But I do like to hear other's opinions as long as their opinion isn't that I'm a "criminal" for seeking an end to our present form of drug use management. My own dad...really my stepfather...but a dad to me...recommended in anger and disgust, at my daring to think that the nation’s drug policy needs some serious adjustment...that I just leave the country if I don't like the laws, instead of trying to change them. My mom always knows what to say. When she found me, in the restroom of the restaurant we were in, trying to dry my tears. She hugged me and said, "Don't pay any attention to him. He loves you. He just doesn't realize you are a real patriot and care so much and want this country to be the best it can be." She's a good one. I thank God for her.He didn't believe in any one 'disagreeing' with any laws. His idea of being a patriot didn't involve having a thought of his own or that you needed to keep an eye on government or it would ruin itself. It hurt to the bone...and deeper. I've had others say it...but when he said it...it hurt. So...I don't like being told what to think and where to go if I don't think like everybody else.This beautiful nation has a big canker sore across it’s heart caused by it’s sorry drug policy. I want us to clean that thing up and help heal it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #44 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 18:34:10 PT Well then... Thank you,Jon Doe for the welcome. My bad! The handle was familiar...but of course it would be. [ Post Comment ] Comment #43 posted by FoM on September 03, 2004 at 17:12:05 PT jon You might have posted here before we required registration but you are new to us. You sound condescending in your comments. We don't talk down to each other and people have every right to ask for proof. Trolling has caused problems all over the Net and people become very cautious. In time we will believe you but it takes time. That is the nature of the Net with forums like this one. [ Post Comment ] Comment #42 posted by jon doe on September 03, 2004 at 16:56:33 PT welcome hope Hope, I want to make clear that all the info I posted was accurate. If you have info that contradicts anything I said you should post it. Debate is always a good thing!I know the word cult can be inflammatory but it is also accurate and does not change the facts. ------------------------------Hope said ”thanks for “stepping out of the shadows” and posting. Welcome to Cnews”I have posted on c-news many times over the years, long before we had to register a name. So welcome to you hope!!! Do to medical issues I have had to refrain from posting for a while now, so welcome back to me!!!Btw hope: You know what they say about Opinions, everybody has one. PEACE [ Post Comment ] Comment #41 posted by FoM on September 03, 2004 at 09:52:22 PT jon doe Thank you for the compliment. We really have good people here. I get fighting mad when people want to fight and love peace. Debating is a good thing. Just a suggestion it's best to provide a link when you post something controversial so that others can check out the source. [ Post Comment ] Comment #40 posted by Hope on September 03, 2004 at 09:28:33 PT Jon Thanks for the transcript. I don't remember seeing or even hearing about that particular Talk Back Live program. I'm very much a fan of Kevin Zeese's and I would have loved to have seen it. Since I don't watch or keep up with television regularly...I missed it. I do very much appreciate the information about Sabet. About the press release. It's very important that we, the resistance, get absolutely accurate and clear information. In fighting prohibition, we are up against hypocrites, prevaricators, out right liars, and merciless killers. We have to know that there aren't any blanks or misfires in our "munitions". An altered press release could have us walking around with polluted information. We are trying to clean up this mess. Our “cleaning solutions” have to be pristine. So make sure information you share with us is accurate to the last "jot and tittle".Thanks again, and thanks for “stepping out of the shadows” and posting. Welcome to Cnews. It would have been fine, had you told us that you think the group is a "cult". That's fine. Opinions mean something. Just make sure we know it's your opinion. [ Post Comment ] Comment #39 posted by jon doe on September 03, 2004 at 06:03:07 PT thank you fom Much thanks to fom for being so tolerant and allowing us to debate here. I have read c-news for many many years now and fom is a true angel.My other posts were planned to spark debate and draw attention to our human brother mr.sabet. Thanks to all who joined in.Kevin Sabet Is one of the youngest and brightest stars the prohibitionist have and their best debater. He may have just stepped down as the senior Ghost Writer for the drug czar but he is still in the business $$$$$ and the next generation of Anti-drug law reformers.This kid has been the mastermind behind the drug war for the last 6+ years, Setting the agenda and leading the direction at the highest levels of government.PEACE AND LOVE [ Post Comment ] Comment #38 posted by ron on September 03, 2004 at 02:44:25 PT Thanks for your latest posts, JD I guess that was the "debate" with Mike Gray that his biography brags about.However, you still don't seem to understand why CNewsers were upset. Like I said before the facts are the facts. Cult or no cult. I don’t expect the Baha’I to refer to themselves as a cult in there own press release, so I corrected them.Next time you "correct" someone, make it clear where your "corrections" start and end. That would make us all happier. [ Post Comment ] Comment #37 posted by jon doe on September 02, 2004 at 19:56:29 PT part 3 ZEESE: Kevin, can I ask you a couple of questions, Kevin? First off, I'd love to look to see the numbers where that multibillion-dollar legalization is, because it doesn't exist. There's a lot more money being spent on... (CROSSTALK)SABET: I'll tell you where that comes from. That... ZEESE: Let me ask you this question, though: What did I say that was inaccurate? What did I say that was inaccurate?Do we have record overdose deaths? Yes or no? We do. Do we have AIDS spreading? Yes or no? Of course, we do. Hepatitis? Yes, its' spreading. Emergency room mentions (ph) in hospitals at a record highs. What do you see right now you like about that? Do you like that the cartels and the gangs are getting richer? Is that what you want to see? SABET: The correlation between hepatitis, AIDS and the other -- racism and the other things that he's saying I don't believe are correlated with the drug war. And the multibillion-dollar effort... ZEESE: Have you ever...(CROSSTALK)SABET: ... that I'm talking about -- let me answer about the multibillion-dollar effort, because I think it's really important. I'm talking about the money that people like the Lindesmith Center and others, and people that want to legalize drugs like George Soros and others are pouring into states like California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Alaska and other states to try to soften our attitude by saying: Well, we'll legalize it for medicinal purposes. It's amazing, I'm from -- actually, I'm from California. I'm from Berkeley, California, and in California, yes, we don't have anymore marijuana users: they're all patients. And that's a fraud, and it's a shame that we have some money going into pot that's only there to hurt my generation. ZEESE: Kevin, you'll probably acknowledge, the most recent household survey of drug use in the United States shows that drug use did not go up after that initiative passed. So, it did not make California more of a drug haven in passing that initiative.I would, by the way, trade the drug czars PR budget for the reform movement's PR budget and day because the drug czar is spending a lot more on supporting prohibition even though the drug czar's representative did not stick around to debate the issue, which I think is a real shame, because I think they should abandon that policy.(CROSSTALK)BATTISTA: I've got to take a break here, quickly. I got to take a break, you guys. We'll be back in just a few minutes. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)BATTISTA: Let me -- I was just chatting with the audience really quickly, and since we're a limited on time, let me just ask the question here, whether Kevin -- Kevin Sabet, do you feel like -- maybe we ought to go back to the core of the problem here -- and do you feel that we can have a drug-free society, that drug use is not inevitable, that you absolutely can eradicate it totally?SABET: Well, first of all, that's a couple different points. Drug use is not inevitable. That's more of the rhetoric that people who spew decriminalization, harm reduction, legalization efforts like to say is that everyone's going to do it so let's just make it easier, cut our taxes. BATTISTA: Not everyone, but a big segment of society, right? SABET: Right. Well, I think, I -- yes, I think I agree with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and referring back to what Dr. Vereen was saying about, in 10 years, how our picture can look a lot different in this country in getting our youths -- right now, we have about six percent of the American public...BATTISTA: But, you know what? He doesn't know. It could be worse. SABET: That's right, it could be. But I'm saying if you -- we have six percent of the American public using illicit drugs. If we get can that figure down to about three percent or less, we've had a success. Of course we will never fully, 100.0 percent, eradicate drug use. No one is saying we're going to do that. But if we can get it low enough, down three percent, not in our cultural, not making it a norm of society, then we've done our job. And we need to focus on proper science-based treatment, science-based evaluations for what a drug is and what medicine is; and also on drug prevention, which we all know can work.ZEESE: There's a lot I agree with what Kevin just said there, I must say. He's right. We cannot have a drug-free society. That means, if we choose a drug war, we're choosing a drug war forever. This is not a policy that's temporary; we're going to have a law-enforcement approach to trying to control drugs forever. So, if we recognize no drug-free society, we also recognize drug war forever.In addition, I think it's important to recognize that we really don't have control right now. Right now, control is in the hand of mobsters, gangsters, cartels. It's undermining foreign governments, it's pushing toward us into a military entanglement in Colombia. It's very dangerous and counterproductive the approach we're taking.BATTISTA: But Kevin, if it's legalized, will those -- if it's legalized, those Colombian cartels will still make money, yes? ZEESE: Who knows. A legal market, I think, you have a regulated market where legal is under the control of government; regulated businesses are selling the products; you have a much better chance of keeping control. We were able to reduce, for example, tobacco and alcohol use among youth this year. Alcohol use and tobacco use went down for kids. We did it without criminalizing people, without mass arrests, I mean a million arrests a year, without mass incarcerations, and yet tobacco and alcohol use went down. SABET: Again, that's a false comparison.BATTISTA: Kevin Sabet, do you feel like alcohol, cigarettes, everything, should be wiped out.SABET: Of course not. No one is advocating for the prohibition, again, of alcohol and tobacco, or at least most people, because, like I said, you have to look at the other element, which is the cultural element; and like I said, most people who get involved in alcohol don't get in trouble; most people who get involved with illicit drugs do get in trouble, and I think that's a problem.ZEESE: Oh, that's so inaccurate. Oh, please, please, please. Alcohol is the most dangerous of these drugs, as far as violence inducing, as far as problems in families, as far as abuse goes; alcohol is much more prevalent as far as homicides go than crack is.SABET: It has a lot to do with its legality, too. ZEESE: I think you're misunderstanding. And by the way, Kevin, I also want to applaud you for something you said earlier about relying on science. If we relied on science, we'd have a very different policy than we have today because marijuana is one of the safer drugs. SABET: Not at all.BATTISTA: Well, maybe -- I have to take another break. I have to take another break again, but perhaps all these cultures need to be studied separately, whether it's alcohol, marijuana, cocaine. And one of our audience members will talk about that in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)BATTISTA: OK. Let's -- we don't have that much time. Let's only get some quick thoughts from the audience, Richard. RICHARD: I was just saying that I think it's pretty very important that we separate the drugs and consider each one in isolation. Marijuana, the drug marijuana and its culture is very different from the drug cocaine and its culture, which in turn is very different from, say, heroin and its culture. I believe if we were to legalize marijuana it would not -- it would rid America of these cartels and it would not have a major effect on the degeneration of society, where perhaps if you legalize possibly cocaine and certainly heroin the results of legalization would certainly have a major effect on the degeneration of society in America. BATTISTA: Thanks very much, Richard and Lillith (ph). I'm so sorry; we're out of time. You'll have to come back. Kevin and Kevin, thank you both very much for joining us today, appreciate both of your insights. And we'll see you again tomorrow for more TALKBACK LIVE. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com MAP posted-by: Don Beck [ Post Comment ] Comment #36 posted by jon doe on September 02, 2004 at 19:54:55 PT part 2 BATTISTA: Let me go Steve in the audience here. Oh, I'm sorry, Kevin, go ahead. You go first.SABET: I was just going to say that that's a very simplistic way to look at drug use. Obviously, racism is probably the worst thing that we have this in country right now, our worse problem, and it is linked very closely to economic disparity, and that is a root cause of, many times, of drug use. You go to a city like Baltimore, where you have policies that lean towards harm reduction or legalization, and you go in there inner cities, and just see what disastrous effects that even the little more availability and less enforcement has done, and you won't agree with that. There's no doubt that racism is a huge problem in this country and should be addressed differently. Ending the drug war certainly isn't it. BATTISTA: Steve, in the audience.STEVE: Personally, I don't believe that marijuana or cocaine should be legalized, because I don't believe that our country is mature enough to take on something like that. There are enough problems with alcohol and cigarette use. It's like, there is a small amount of people who are mature enough to use alcohol in a moderate manner. But for the most part, it usually ends up in some kind of violent act -- you know, speaking about alcohol. Drunk driving, parent -- I mean, you know, abuse, child abuse. BATTISTA: I understand what you're saying. I understand your point. Let me try to get some more voices in here. On the phone with us, Chris (ph). Are you there? South Dakota? Chris, are you there? CHRIS: ... South Dakota. Little-bitty town here. I have a sister and her husband on this crack, and I don't know where this Mr. Gray is coming from. He's comparing statistics in Amsterdam to the United States of America. I mean, Amsterdam is a tiny little country, tiny little town. They tried at "Needle Park." It didn't work.If they want to do something about the war on drugs, quit sending money to Colombia for aid. Good God. When are we going learn to quit sending our money to these countries that are producing these drugs and shipping them into our young people.I mean, I'm just -- I'm livid about this. This young man from Chicago, I commend him. Mr. Gray, I mean, I don't where you're coming from. You're just acting in la-la land somewhere. .GRAY: Let me tell you where I'm coming from. I just got back from Colombia. I was just down there. I spent two weeks in Bogota and interviewing government experts and talking with U.S. embassy officials. And we've spent a billion dollars down there and we've managed to double drug production in Colombia. That's been the net effect of our efforts. The mistake that everyone here is making is assuming that prohibition works, that we are actually accomplishing something. I spent six years researching this project, and I can tell you that in the history of prohibition on this planet it has never worked. It has invariably, as it did with alcohol prohibition, it invariably produces exactly the opposite of the intended results. It creates heroes out of people like Al Capone and increases the gun play and increases the availability of drugs all over the place. Before prohibition, if you wanted drugs, you at least had to go to a drug store. Now you can get anything you want from a neighbor's kid. You're in a small town in North Dakota, I believe, you said. There are drugs available there now that 10 years ago they had never even heard of drugs in small Midwestern farm towns.BATTISTA: All right. Mike, I'll tell you what, we're running out of time. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry we are out of time and I appreciate you're joining us today, Mike. I'm sorry we had to pull the clock on you. We'll be back in just a second.(APPLAUSE)(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(APPLAUSE)BATTISTA: Welcome back. Let me take a quick phone call from Washington State, because Kellan's (ph) been hanging on for a while. Go ahead. KELLAN: Hi. I would just like to say I'm really tired of -- I've been a smoker for over 23 years.BATTISTA: Smoker meaning marijuana. KELLAN: Marijuana. I'm so tired of being considered a criminal and part of the underbelly of society. I'm a good guy. I don't do anything violent. I'm a nice, normal person. I read, I study, I learn.People are just, you know -- with them being illegal you have the criminal society, you've got gangs, drive-by shootings, you've got all this violence associated with drugs being illegal.BATTISTA: Kellan, do you...KELLAN: Decrimalize. They need to keep laws on them, age limits. BATTISTA: Kellan, let me ask you, why do you smoke so much? KELLAN: Because I like it myself. I've had a great time my whole life. BATTISTA: Do you have any idea what it could be doing to you physically? KELLAN: Yes. I've studied the health reports on both sides of the issue, and yes, it's my life. For smoke, yes, smoking anything is bad. BATTISTA: OK, Kellan, thanks very much. Joining us now is Kevin Zeese with Common Sense for Drug Policy. The other Kevin is also still with us. Kevin, what is your problem with the way this whole war, shall we say, is being fought?KEVIN ZEESE, DRUG WAR CRITIC: Well, I would say this war is not just a fraud and failure, but a disaster, and it's resulted in record overdose deaths from drugs. It's resulted in the spread of AIDS and hepatitis. It's created an immense prison state with the highest incarceration rate we've ever had in this country. We have hundreds of thousands of people behind bars, many in the black community unfortunately.If you look at the statistics of the federal enforcement, 55 percent of the people in jail are in the youthful age group of 20 to 30, where Governor Bush had his youthful indiscretions. Those people, though, that 55 percent who are in jail are not getting a second chance. They're not going to get to run for governor. They're going to have a 15-year term in jail that's going to ruin their lives. And we're doing that all over the country. We're seeing in urban areas around the country one out of two young black men in their 20s incarcerated or under criminal justice supervision, one out of two. What more do we need for police state? If I was David Duke trying to create a racist America, I couldn't come up with a better policy. So we're making disease worse. We're making racism worse. We're making urban problems worse. And we're doing it at a cost of $50 billion a year with federal, state and local tax dollars, and we're not getting much bang for the buck.We could do a better job with a legal market, regulating these substances. I'm not saying kids should have access to these drugs. In fact, one reason why I advocate looking at legal controls is because right now any kid who wants to buy drugs can buy it in their school. In fact, many of the kids, people who sell drugs, are kids on the street corners. In fact, studies by that same group that Kevin in Chicago mentioned, Joe Califano's group in New York, show that it's easier for kids to buy marijuana than buy beer. So we are not protecting our kids with this policy. We're, in fact, hurting our kids. So not a safer and healthier society because of the drug war. BATTISTA: Kevin, go ahead.SABET: Let me respond to that.BATTISTA: Kevin Sabet, go ahead.SABET: All of that really is not true. That is the kind of rhetoric that this multibillion-dollar, well-financed, very well- calculated... ZEESE: Multibillion-dollar!SABET: ... legalization effort is trying to spew on to us. ZEESE: Uhh.SABET: What Mr. Gray said earlier about how he studied the history of the drug war and what we've done obviously forgot to look at the period between 1979 and 1992 where we cut regular drug use by two-thirds in this country because of concerted prevention movement with groups like National Families in Action in Atlanta, groups like Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America in Washington, D.C., Drug Use Is Life Abuse in Orange, California. These prevention messages work. We cut drug use by two-thirds in '92. Soon as the voice of the legalizers and financier like Mr. Soros came in with financing all the money that he has toward drug legalization came in, the voices got louder. The message was not as clear. It was more ambiguous, and we had more abuse. [ Post Comment ] Comment #35 posted by jon doe on September 02, 2004 at 19:50:04 PT Q&A part 1 Partial TRANSCRIPTGRAY: As I said, Bobbie, the problem is that when we began this mess we did not have a drug problem in the United States. In 1914, the rate of addiction was three people per thousand; now it's 15 people per thousand, that's a five-fold increase. That's what we bought with a trillion dollar drug war that took 80 years. The Dutch have had quite a different experience. Back about 20 years ago, when the United States really started cracking down drugs, the Dutch decided to go the other direction and they made marijuana freely available to anybody over 18 and they stopped cracking down on hard-drug users as long as they weren't a public nuisance. And today, the difference is dramatic. We in the United States, our drug use is -- we use twice as much marijuana as the average Dutch. We use three times as much heroin. We snort five times as much cocaine. And so this is a clear indication that our policies of repression don't work and the Dutch policies which are much more liberal are tremendously successfully in decreasing the rate of addiction.BATTISTA: Are you advocating legalization then as part of the answer? GRAY: Absolutely. Legalization is the only answer. Now, when I say legalization, I'm not using the term like Bill Bennett or the White House would use the term. It's not -- I don't mean free crack-vending machines in the school lunchroom. I'm talking about tightly regulated government control. Right now, the mob is in control. The one thing that we all should be able to agree on is we should be able to get -- keep drugs out of the hands of our children. And the policies that we've been using for the last 80 years have not only made drugs readily available to children, they've put children in the frontline as drug runners in the marketplace so dangerous they have to be armed. BATTISTA: Well let me ask one of those young people, because Kevin is 20 years old, and Kevin, you feel like young people are at the heart of this whole discussion, and that you should be the ones holding the dialogue on where this goes, correct? Why do you feel that way?KEVIN SABET, CO-FOUNDER, INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN ACTION: Well, I think it's important that youth have a, you know, are not put to the side during the anti-drug debate, and really put to the forefront of the agenda, which is what we're seeing going on right now. But to comment on what Mr. Gray was saying about our -- the drug war, unfortunately, you know, we're not living in the early 1900s anymore and 1914 is what he eluded to. We're living in the 1990s and on the brink of the 21st century, where there are sophisticated criminal, ruthless cartels that are invading our streets and our inner cities, where there's a multi-billion dollar movement to legalize all drugs and make them available here in the United States. So I think it's really important to look at the context of the time, and if we want to take about the Dutch example, their percentages among youth and among children and adolescents during the time where before they didn't have these policies until the time where they really liberalized it, really just destroyed the whole Dutch generation with 15 percent use in '84. Here we are now at 45 percent in '96. They've caught up with Americans, who always traditionally had larger uses of marijuana.BATTISTA: You know what, let me take a phone call from Robert in Georgia, who says he lived in Amsterdam. Robert?ROBERT: Hi, Bobbie. Well, what I noticed when I was living in Amsterdam is that the parents of the children educated the children from a very young age and warned them about the use of drugs. And when you would walk down the streets or be in cafes, and you smoked a joint in a restaurant or a place like that, it was taboo, you know, it was culturally taboo. You know, there's a time and place for everything, but it was treated like alcohol or tobacco.Another thing is, I've had AIDS for 17 years and I'd have to go through two bouts of chemotherapy with two different types of cancer, and I would not have made it through the chemotherapy without smoking marijuana. In fact, my doctor told me to smoke marijuana because the traditional medications did not work. So you know, I think it's insane to be, you know... BATTISTA: Robert, you bring up a good point, and best of luck to you, by the way, and that -- this whole issue does come to the forefront again because of the medicinal use of marijuana also being heavily on the discussion agenda these days. Kevin, your organization is largely against any legalization of drugs I would presume? Is it more of a moral stand or... SABET: No, it's not more of a moral stand. A lot of it is based on science. If you look at the -- matter of fact, all of it is based on science. If you look at the report that was commissioned by the White House -- finally, we had a report by the Institute of Medicine, which came out last year. It took about one year, about $1 million report. Their own report and known study said that smoked marijuana should generally not be recommended for medical use, because of the harsh delivery system that you do when you smoke a joint.BATTISTA: But when you have a terminal disease do you think that matters to people?SABET: No. I think if we do short-term clinical trials and we do -- we really call marijuana medicine and make it medicine, which would do double-blind studies and that kind of research with informed consent, and like I said, for people that are -- have debilitating illness, which -- when it's clearly not about just drug recreational use, which is about what most of what this medical marijuana is about, then no one is opposed to medical marijuana. But we have already synthesized the powerful component in marijuana, THC, into Marinol, which is now actually a schedule-three drug, and that's been around for quite sometime with some proven results. Regarding what he said about Amsterdam and the Netherlands, he said, you know, to treat it like alcohol and tobacco. Well, we better make sure that marijuana is not treated like alcohol and tobacco here in the states. We see the tremendous, terrible problems that go along with legalizing a drug, even for people over 18 or 21. There is just widespread rampant availability and use of both of those two legal drugs, which are the cause of most of our deaths, because of their availability. So let's hope we don't do that. BATTISTA: Let me get Mike in here quickly before the break. Mike, do you want to address that?GRAY: Kevin, I would just recommend that you read my book. It'll be an eye opener for you.During alcohol prohibition, the murder rate in the United States doubled, went up by a factor of 10. We went from, in 1900, one murder per 100,000 to 10 per 100,000 by 1932. And in 1933, we ended alcohol prohibition and the murder rate dropped precipitously over the next 11 years to half of what it had been before. Now it's back up where it was in 1933, at 10 per 100,000, due largely to the drug war.The clear indication from these statistics is that we could cut our murder rate in half by ending the drug war.BATTISTA: We have to take a break. We'll talk more about this when we come back.In December, voters in Switzerland rejected legalizing drugs in their country with 73 percent saying no. Before the vote, the Swiss government tried a needle park where open drug use was allowed. The area was shut down due to increased crime and prostitution.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BATTISTA: In 1995, about 12.8 million Americans were illicit drug users, meaning they had used and illicit drug in the month prior to the U.S. Health Department's survey. That's about half the number of drug users in 1979, when the number peaked at 25 million users. Let me get some reaction from the audience here. Tina, go ahead.TINA: Well, I'd like to see the criminal element be removed. I'm not one to condone drug use. I don't personally use drugs. But quite frankly, in today's society, if you have the propensity to use drugs, you're going to be able to find them, whether or not they're legal, and by making it legal or somehow regulating usage to whom we can issue drugs, maybe we can get them out of the schools, and maybe it'll be a safer place to live. BATTISTA: Kevin, does eliminating -- theoretically, eliminating that -- well, one more person over here who agrees with her. Eliminating that criminal element that you spoke of, does that perhaps go a long ways to eliminating a bunch of other associated problems? I grant you, you're probably exchanging one set of problems for another. SABET: Exactly.BATTISTA: But which is worse?SABET: Well, you'll increase a lot of the harm. There's some good research done about availability and how that is correlated with use, whether it be alcohol, tobacco or on illegal drugs.And if you look today, in terms of if you want to talk about the criminal element, you look at our jails today, a report out of Columbia University, the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, says that only 2.1 percent of people in our jails are there for possession of a drug. So it's not about putting everyone in jail about it. We want to get people that are addicted treated, and we know that treatment can work, and we know that addiction, like what Dr. Vereen said earlier, is a brain disease. It changes the chemistry of the brain.So anyone that thinks this drug war or our drug effort is uncompassionate needs to really look back at the facts.And I must say, going back to what Mr. Gray said about alcohol prohibition, that analogy is really a false one and a deceiving one. First of all, during alcohol prohibition it was not really prohibited; it was decriminalized, meaning you couldn't sell it but you could possess it. Second, and most importantly, alcohol has a long history of widespread accepted use in our culture, dating back to the Old Testament in ancient Greece. Drugs do not, and we've got to make sure that they don't. We've got to make sure illegal drugs stay out of society, and don't become a norm, don't become a cultural norm, or else you'll have the disaster of what you see in the Netherlands.(APPLAUSE)BATTISTA: Mike. GRAY: Marijuana has been used for 5,000 years. It's in the pharmacopia -- was prescribed in this country, manufactured by Merck and other pharmaceuticals up until 1937.The issue of compassion I want to address specifically, because one of the thing that I think that everybody needs to focus on is the rate of incarceration of black people in this country. We -- because of the drug war, the black population in the United States is roughly 13 percent. And they use drugs just about the same rate as white people. However, they account for 75 percent of the drug war prisoners. And that means that a black kid is five times more likely to go to prison for the same offense under the same circumstances than a white kid. I rode around with police officers in Chicago, undercover officers, for a period of time, and I watched this in action. I know that this happens. Anybody who is aware of this incredible disparity and continues to sustain this policy is, in my opinion, guilty of augmenting a race war. [ Post Comment ] Comment #34 posted by jon doe on September 02, 2004 at 19:32:11 PT Anti- cannabis cult VitaminT “altering a press release to replace the word Faith with the word Cult”The word faith was not altered, Replaced or edited out at all, in fact the word faith never appeared. -------------------------------------------------Vt. “a source clearly tainted by alterations.”The facts remain the same with or without the word cult. The 3 cult references were put in to expose this anti-cannabis cult for what it is-bigoted against cannabis. Another anti-cannabis cult that comes to mind is scientology. ------------------------------------------------------------------Vt. “Hitler's religion? Immaterial”Well you brought it up VT. When you said, “Hitler was a Christian “ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------RonLike I said before the facts are the facts. Cult or no cult. I don’t expect the Baha’I to refer to themselves as a cult in there own press release, so I corrected them."The Baha’i cult has been governed by a group called “Hands of the Cause,” with world headquarters being in Haifa, Israel." "The doctrine of the Baha’i cult contends that the prophecies regarding the Second Coming of Christ were fulfilled with the arrival of Baha’u’llah. Such a theory, of course, is void of any evidence. ""The Baha’i movement is greatly at variance with biblical revelation. The system must be opposed. Its sincere disciples should be exposed to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus." http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/bahai.htmAbout This Web Site--Christian Courier Many other forms of sowing the seed are useful, and they have their place. But none can compare with the reach of the internet. http://www.christiancourier.com/about.htm---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ron ask‘Where is the Bahai press release you're invoking?”circa 2000 - I suggest google. As to the Q&A it's from talkback live cnn, see my next post! [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by Max Flowers on September 02, 2004 at 11:06:28 PT This kid is like a Hitler youth Very dangerous, programmed by government and used by them as a tool, an agent. He understands nothing about personal freedom and the rights of sovereign individuals.He will eventually learn the hard way that there is a natural law which takes care of people who use too much energy meddling in the lives of others. [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by ron on September 02, 2004 at 09:46:17 PT Kevin Sabet - Debater? Thanks for providing the bio on Sabet JD. Two things I'd like to comment on:1. Did Kevin start writing speeches for the PeeCzar when he was still in high school? Sounds like he's only 21 now.2. Drug warriors don't debate. I assume their new strategy is to brand heavily edited radio and TV faceoffs with spokespeople calling for reform, "debates". [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by ron on September 02, 2004 at 09:34:07 PT Maybe we should spell it out for you, Jon Doe If you don't like Sabet's religion, say it straight. Don't disguise your prejudices by weaving them into another quote. Italics don't help. You have to make it clear when you are speaking and when someone else is.The second link you provided only shows where you got the info - it doesn't justify your insertions into Sabet's biography page. Where is the Bahai press release you're invoking?Maybe you could give us a link to the "Q & A" bit in your first post - or is that your writing too?Regarding Hitler's Christianity, see:http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0901-03.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by VitaminT on September 02, 2004 at 07:59:33 PT jon doe The only reason I posted yesterday was to confront what I saw as bigotry in the form of your altering a press release to replace the word Faith with the word Cult. I don't and didn't judge your motives - only your words. The contents of the press release presumably were not written by the author of the article above, so I don't see how that can be said to reflect the formulation of drug policy in his mind. Perhaps it could, how would I know? Why would I assume? Particularly from a source clearly tainted by alterations.Hitler's religion? Immaterial. I said he was nominally a Christian - The same is true of me, I was raised in an environment where the dominant religion was Christianity. If I were to be identified with a religion by someone who doesn't know me they'd likely assume I was Christian.Hitler's religion and mine are beside the point - Do our respective words and actions reflect on all others who embrace the faith(s) with which we are identified by others? I think not. [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by jon doe on September 01, 2004 at 21:39:24 PT Bad Shishaldin -threat No threats necessary shish. Don't do that again!“Don't do that again, or I'm sure that CNews'ers will do more than admonish you next time…”??? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------VitaminT“Criticize the author, but I don't see how you can logically put his words in the mouths of all Bahais.”You are right vt ,however this was a press release from the bahais themselves.WHEN Friday, 8 September at 8 p.m. WHERE The Baha'i Unity Center 2370 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur, Georgia ©Copyright 2000, Atlanta Baha'i Community ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vt “I don't know how this writer formulated his twisted logic on drug policy and I guess it's fair to say it may be informed in part by his religous beliefs.” Vt,your right again! I guess it's fair to say it may be informed in part by his religous beliefsExample: Additionally, Sabet's belief in Baha'u'llah, Prophet-Founder of the Baha'I Faith, provides a strong foundation on which he reaches out to others who are or have been affected by drug and substance abuse. p.s I did not know Hitler was a Christian . Vt, Do you have any good info. On that.Peace! [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by warhater on September 01, 2004 at 19:44:27 PT: Re: putting kids at risk In addition to the fear mongering that MikeEEEEE points out, the anti-legalization to save the children argument is also hypocritical.Legalization makes it harder for kids to get drugs. In my town bars don't see kids booze and convinence stores don't sell them tobacco products. If these people were really worried about kids smoking pot they would advocate legalization.This BS about potency is getting old. I have never seen or heard of anyone getting so freaked out on pot they had to go to the hospital. The only drug I have ever seen send someone to the hospital is booze. [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by jon doe on September 01, 2004 at 18:15:45 PT Copy & paste cult The 3 cult references I added to the/my original Microsoft word doc. were put in -italics- and for whatever reason did not transfer when I copied and pasted. However here is where I got the cult reference. http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/bahai.htmInvestigating biblical apologetics, religious doctrine, and ethical issues.One of the rapidly growing religious movements today is the Baha’i group. Originating in Iran in 1844, this cult has been established in thousands of places around the world. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by mayan on September 01, 2004 at 15:52:29 PT Desperation When the prohibitionists start slinging such blatant lies like this it means we are getting close! Even my grandmother knows this article is a bunch of bunk! I hope Sabet keeps it up as he is discrediting prohibitionists everywhere. Maybe his lies already got the best of him...Kevin A. Sabet recently stepped down as senior speechwriter to America’s drug czar, John P. Walters. That must have been this idiots dream job! I serioiusly doubt if he "stepped down". Sorry, Kevin.Maybe Johnny Pee's speechwriter got him in some hot water...New Federal Report Contradicts Drug Czar's Claims: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19398.shtmlJust put two and two together. [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by BGreen on September 01, 2004 at 13:05:35 PT Sabet Ignores The Basic Teachings of Baha'u'llah Cult or not (I was a member of the Assemblies of god cult) Sabet ignores most of the following "Basic Teachings of Baha'u'llah," especially the one that deals with "truth:"the abandonment of all forms of prejudiceassurance to women of full equality of opportunity with men recognition of the unity and relativity of religious truththe elimination of extremes of poverty and wealththe realization of universal educationthe responsibility of each person to independently search for truththe establishment of a global commonwealth of nationsrecognition that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledgeSabet is a joke whether representing Baha'u'llah or the drug czar, albeit a very dangerous joke.The Reverend Bud Green Basic Teachings of Baha'u'llah [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by The GCW on September 01, 2004 at 13:04:53 PT Hitler a Christian? That is like, Bush is a Christian.There are 2 types; Good Christians and Bad Christians.Bush, holding records for murder is not a good Christian.Good Christians do not kill; they obey Jesus Christ and love one another as it says over and over in John 14-16 and 1 John..You can not kill someone and love them at the same time.Also, You can not love someone and cage them for using what God said is good on the 1st page of the Bible... [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 12:33:06 PT Indeed I took it for a press release at first, too. Should have known there was no press release or media printing of something like that. fooled me...and I clung to the delusion for a moment. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by Shishaldin on September 01, 2004 at 12:24:18 PT Bad jon doe! Monkeying with the press release like that! I took it at face value, although I should know better. Don't do that again, or I'm sure that CNews'ers will do more than admonish you next time...Belonging (not by choice) to what would be considered a "cult" at one point in my young life (Jehovah's Witnesses), I had my Fundamentalist grandmother telling me that I shouldn't believe in cults or (later) study hypnotism because they were "of the devil". Anybody see the movie The Waterboy? Kinda like that. "That foosball's the devil!" Anyway, the "cult" that I attended actually taught me to distrust my government, because they worshipped a false idol (the flag). I guess I was completely brainwashed by the Jehovah's Witnesses because I STILL don't trust my government :) [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by VitaminT on September 01, 2004 at 11:40:05 PT jon doe I don't know how this writer formulated his twisted logic on drug policy and I guess it's fair to say it may be informed in part by his religous beliefs.But I get lost when you characterize the Bahai' Faith as a cult and continue to disparage all Bahais with such abandon. Broad generalizations of this sort, usually point to bigotry. Of course, If this is how you feel about organized religion in general, fine - a case in theory could be made that cults are the origins of religions.The Bahai' I believe, do not partake of alcohol or other drugs but neither do they try to force their opinions and beliefs on others - particularly by political means.Criticize the author, but I don't see how you can logically put his words in the mouths of all Bahais. Nominally speaking, Hitler was a Christian but should his words and deeds reflect on all of Christendom? [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 11:26:26 PT I think I misread He's a follower of the Prophet, himself. He's not the Prophet. Hmmm....still. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 11:20:31 PT Isn't a Czar a bad thing too? That's always bothered and irritated me, too, FoM. Why a Czar? What in the world? [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 11:19:00 PT and...perchance with some of this 'preaching to the choir' business we all feel like we are engaged in from time to time, some prohib, of one sort or another, lurking about beneath an "open window" somewhere, might overhear something that they understand.It could happen. Probably. Maybe even our Joyce…whom, I have greater respect for than most of the prohibs. She actually spoke to us. I think that was remarkable on her part. She’s not especially cowardly. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 11:07:00 PT That *was* going to be my tagline I am often amazed at the coincidence, to the point of serendipity, how so many of us can all be thinking exactly the same thing all over North America. It happens often and always seems a bit amazing. It is encouraging and comforting to know. Thank you guys for being here. It’s good to encourage each other. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 01, 2004 at 11:06:41 PT Hope I got one for you! Isn't a Czar a bad thing too? [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 10:56:59 PT Right Cult? Doesn't this ring scary to anybody in government? I can just see this guy sweeping through the halls of power. And, no...I don't want to see his picture. Isn't a Cult a, well... bad thing? Hmmm.All my indoctrinations fail me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Shishaldin on September 01, 2004 at 10:51:08 PT Hope That *was* going to be my tagline, but I decided to change it. Bugs Bunny said it best, "What a maroon!"I like this line in the press release, too: "Kevin Sabet, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, is a remarkable 21-year-old Baha'i CULT member"Hmmm, I always was taught to stay away from CULTS. Can't imagine that word appealing to many Fundimentalist Xtian types who also support the Drug War. Strange days these are... [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 10:50:31 PT I guess that (quote of the "Prophet" in my previous comment) could cause a sense of extreme revelation, a regular epiphany, in the followers of K. Sabat, "Prophet". [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Hope on September 01, 2004 at 10:45:48 PT "What a maroon!" "...most people who get involved in alcohol don't get in trouble ; most people who get involved with illicit drugs do get in trouble, and I think that's a problem.” [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Shishaldin on September 01, 2004 at 10:34:25 PT Doesn't this guy watch COPS? Kevin Sabet, do you feel like alcohol, cigarettes, everything, should be wiped out?SABET: “Of course not. No one is advocating for the prohibition, again, of alcohol and tobacco, or at least most people, because, like I said, you have to look at the other element, which is the cultural element; and like I said, most people who get involved in alcohol don't get in trouble ; most people who get involved with illicit drugs do get in trouble, and I think that's a problem.” [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by jon doe on September 01, 2004 at 10:17:34 PT more-on Kevin Sabet TOMORROW BELONGS TO THE CHILDREN"Creating drug-free families and communities"WHOKevin Sabet, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, is a remarkable 21-year-old Baha'i cult member who has appeared on CNN's Talkback Live, delivered expert testimony before Congress three times and is a popular radio and television debater on prevention of drugs and substance abuse. He has been featured in the California Journal for Higher Education, "Teen" and "People" magazines, and acted as an advisor to CBS's 60 Minutes II. Most recently, he helped revise the White House policy stance on drug legalization, and he acts as the youngest delegate to Drug Watch International and Advisory Board member of the Drug Free America Foundation, where he serves alongside Florida Governor Jeb Bush. $$$ At 17, Sabet debated Orange County Superior Court Judge James Grey. Since 1999, Kevin has debated "High Times" Senior Editor Steve Bloom, Criminal Justice Foundation President Eric Sterling, and National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML) Executive Director Keith Stroup, among others, on national radio and television. WHATKevin Sabet will deliver a talk titled "TOMMORROW BELONGS TO THE CHILDREN: creating drug-free families and communities". The Baha'is cult of South DeKalb sponsor the event where light refreshments will be served. WHY? - $$$In 1994, Kevin Sabet became passionate about the problem of youth drug and alcohol abuse after the death of a friend in a drugged driving accident prompted him to investigate the issue. "Day after day, headline after headline, we hear of sobering news related to club drugs," said Sabet, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley and President of International Students in Action. "Whether it be new information on how ecstasy destroys the brain, or another kid admitted to an emergency room after a party because of drug use, this is an international epidemic and someone needs to respond." Additionally, Sabet's belief in (the cult) Baha'u'llah, Prophet-Founder of the Baha'I Faith, provides a strong foundation on which he reaches out to others who are or have been affected by drug and substance abuse. Q & AKevin Sabet, do you feel like alcohol, cigarettes, everything, should be wiped out?SABET: “Of course not. No one is advocating for the prohibition, again, of alcohol and tobacco, or at least most people, because, like I said, you have to look at the other element, which is the cultural element; and like I said, most people who get involved in alcohol don't get in trouble; most people who get involved with illicit drugs do get in trouble, and I think that's a problem.” Picture, bio, e-mail and more-on Kevin Sabet http://www.emory.edu/NFIA/about/students/isia-board-ks.html----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control mans' appetite through legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not even crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our Government was founded" President Abraham Lincoln (December 1840): [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 01, 2004 at 08:53:25 PT global_warming Thank You. I have the article posted now.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19420.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 01, 2004 at 08:40:05 PT putting kids at risk The lowest of the low use children to dictate policy for adults. Children are at risk for a lot of things, diseases, walking across the street, guns, etc.All too often children are used for these agendas. He should be ashamed of himself, he stands behind the children scaring parents, when these young people don't have a say, or cannot understand how they're being used.The cries of children have very little to do with making drug policy, there's more to do with the economy (being fed by their parents), healthcare and physical/mental abuse. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by global_warming on September 01, 2004 at 08:33:29 PT NJ & MMJ The subject is starting to heat up here in NJ. gwMedical marijuana use has bipartisan support Wednesday, August 25, 2004 By MARK PERKISS Staff WriterDon McGrath watched his 5-foot-11 son dwindle to 97 pounds because of cancer that wracked his body and heavy doses of chemotherapy that sapped his appetite."He couldn't eat and was wasting away," McGrath, a Washington Township resident, said of his son, Sean, 28, who died in June after a two-year battle with the disease."It was devastating to watch. The medicine they gave him to combat the effects of the chemotherapy didn't work. The only thing that did work was when he started smoking marijuana. That brought back his appetite and gave him some comfort."Now, McGrath wants to help other people suffering from cancer and other painful terminal illnesses find the same kind of relief by legalizing marijuana for medical use.The cause has found support from an unlikely combination of New Jersey lawmakers from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum - Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Princeton Borough, one of the Assembly's most liberal members, and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris Township, an ardent conservative.The two have teamed up and are drafting a bill to make New Jersey the 10th state in the nation to decriminalize the medical use of marijuana, even though federal laws still apply in those states."Where other pain medications leave off, medical marijuana can fill in and provide relief," said Gusciora, who said he and Carroll plan to introduce the bill in the fall."We're talking about people with terminal illness who deserve some comfort before they pass away," he said. "We shouldn't make criminals of people on their death beds."Carroll agreed."If you can go to your doctor and get a derivative of the poppy to treat pain, why can't you get a derivative of the cannabis plant to treat your symptoms?" he said."There is no such thing as an evil plant," Carroll said. "If a doctor using his or her best medical judgment thinks marijuana is the best thing for the patient, he or she should be allowed to prescribe it. Use it as medical science decides it should be used. We're not talking about a Grateful Dead concert."Other conservative lawmakers say they might be willing to support the measure."Generally speaking, I don't believe we should be legalizing marijuana, but if the controls are serious and strong and the uses are limited, I could see myself voting yes," said Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Washington Township, Morris County. "There's merit to the argument that we should allow terminal patients comfort in their last days."Gregg said he is concerned about how marijuana would be distributed if it were made legal for medical purposes.A spokeswoman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said the governor opposes legalizing marijuana for medical use.Even if New Jersey were to adopt the proposed Gusciora-Carroll bill, federal law still prohibits growing, selling and using marijuana.Carroll said he is not concerned about that. "What the states are doing and what my goal is is a statement to the federal government to go back and look at its policy because the current policy makes no sense. It limits how doctors treat their patients," he said.For Sean McGrath, the idea of using marijuana came from his doctors in New York, said his father, who has joined the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, a year-old group pressing for the legal use of the drug for terminal patients, and is hosting a public forum on the issue for the organization Saturday."He was in pain and not eating, and his doctors off-the-record suggested the use of marijuana," said Don McGrath. "Sean never used drugs so he had no idea how or where to get it, but he used his . . . connections and was able to get it."He would have preferred to use a legal drug, but there was no alternative," McGrath said. "He felt uncomfortable because it was illegal, but he was more concerned about the college kids who were delivering it to him. He didn't want them to get arrested."Ken Wolski, a nurse for the state Department of Corrections, who co-founded the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, said the organization's goal is simple."We're trying to right the injustice of keeping medicine that prevents suffering from sick and dying people. These people need it," he said. "It's an issue that cuts across all political boundaries. It's not a liberal or a conservative issue. It's a human rights issue."NOTE: Contact Mark Perkiss at mperkiss njtimes.com or at (609) 943-5727. Medical marijuana use has bipartisan support [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by siege on September 01, 2004 at 07:02:49 PT Open Mouth Insert Foot Kevin A. Sabet A flurry of very recent research studies — concerning withdrawal, schizophrenia and lung obstruction, for example — have also shown marijuana’s unfortunate consequences. These conclusions were not being reached in the ‘70s and ‘80s A survey of 79 mental patients found that those who used marijuana reported relief from depression, anxiety, insomnia, and physical discomfort, as well as fewer hospitalizations;57 a second survey also found fewer hospitalizations in schizophrenics who used marijuana.58 Some psychiatrists are currently prescribing Marinol for depression. by Dale H. Gieringer, Ph.D. August 1996http://www.marijuana.org/DalesReport.html#foot2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by BigDawg on September 01, 2004 at 04:52:05 PT Gotta love it He starts by saying that the pro-pot people claim that the criminal justice system making referals for "treatment" is the reason for those rates going up, then says, "Astonishingly, pot admissions to emergency rooms now exceed those of heroin."WHAT a CROCK. Having been in and around emergency rooms for many years of my life I can HONESTLY say that I have NEVER seen a SINGLE admission for cannabis use.That is, unless what he really meant was that people admit having used pot more often... not that they were actually admitted to the hospital FOR it.More people may be admitting they use it... but more people are NOT being admitted to the ER for it... because it just doesn't happen. More than heroine? GGGGGGGG What kind of drugs is this guy on? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on September 01, 2004 at 04:01:26 PT That explains it. Kevin A. Sabet was a senior speechwriter to America’s drug czar, John P. Walters.Here is an attachment that should be added.This story may be harmful to Your health and the health of unborn babies...+ Add this as a note:New Federal Report Contradicts Drug Czar's Claimshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19398.shtml Aug. 26, 2004. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 01, 2004 at 02:11:57 PT LTE Sirs, I've got a question for Kevin Sabet. He rationalizes the current anti-pot laws by saying that "most people who use only marijuana never interact with law enforcement as a result of that use". But doesn't he realize that these same marijuana smokers are forced under the current system to buy their pot on the black market? He's a former employee of the Drug Czar's office, so he must be familiar with their ads which claim that illegal drug sales can be a source of funding for terrorism. So if the majority of peaceful marijuana smokers will never face police censure for their habit, then why not give these Americans a legal, safer, taxable way to get their supply, and put the criminals out of business? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on August 31, 2004 at 23:40:01 PT That is pure BS ...for the simple reason that the federal government has no place meddling in the lives of private sovereign citizens, PERIOD. When you back up and look at the underlying premise, it falls apart because those kinds of pious sentiments and the desire to interfere and probe into peoples' lives (yes even children and teenagers!) are totally inappropriate for the federal government, or any government except the heirarchy of a household or family.These kind of people don't even understand the Constitution and what it means, or they do and are fine with subverting it anyway. Very dangerous people. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 31, 2004 at 22:22:06 PT I Remember This Person I haven't seen any of his articles for a while. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment