Saturday, February 28, 2004

Chicago Trib tells Drug Czar's pet "doctor" that the public knows better Earlier this week, Andrea Barthwell of the Drug Czar's office had an OpEd piece in the Chicago Tribune attacking medical marijuana that I fairly thoroughly attacked here. It turns out that, while the Tribune is willing to let Andrea spout off on their pages, they apparently are not taken in by her propaganda. In an editorial today, they made the point very clear. Different people respond differently to the same treatments, which is why treatment decisions are better made in doctors' offices than in police stations. ...  On this, the public appears to be way ahead of the legislators.  A 1998 poll by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University found 67 percent of Illinois residents believe "doctors should be allowed to prescribe small amounts of marijuana for patients." ... Americans have taken a nuanced approach, according to polls.  Most support legalizing marijuana for the ill, but not for other use.  With that, the public shows admirable thoughtfulness on this issue.  So should legislators. To add insult to their failure to toe the Drug Czar's line, the Trib also printed a long letter (right next to the editorial), which responded to Barthwell's OpEd. This, along with the earlier Sun Times piece, now means that both major Chicago newspapers have endorsed medical marijuana in Illinois! Hat tip to Richard Lake and the always incredibly useful Media Awareness Project. 7:39:57 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Drug Czar Shares his Qualifications for the Job The Drug Czar went to Akron to try to score some child urine. But local officials are skeptical of the push for drug testing. The superintendent suggested that perhaps the Bush administration should test itself before requiring the same of students. This is when our Drug Czar proudly showed his credentials: Walters said some federal officials are being tested, including employees in his office, certain people under the president and vice president, and federal law enforcement officers. "Nobody likes taking a drug test,'' he said. The drug czar himself was tested before assuming his post. He passed. So Walters can pass a drug test. I'd rather he be able to pass a Constitution test. Or an intelligence test. Or a Social Studies and American History test (perhaps covering the prohibition era). Of course, when it comes to our students, the Drug Czar would rather have them pass urine than the Bill of Rights. 4:21:21 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Update on Illinois Senate Candidates I've added the Illinois Senate Candidates' responses to Vote-Smart's survey on drug issues to the Senate Candidates page. Still not enough information for me to give endorsements, but I'm working on it. If any of the campaigns wish to contact me with more information about their views, I'd love to hear from them. 12:17:20 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []