Friday, March 20, 2009

GOP senator blasts new medical marijuana policy

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley says the Obama administration's change in policy toward medical marijuana is a bad idea.

The Iowa lawmaker is criticizing the Justice Department's new policy of targeting California's medical marijuana distributors only if they violate both federal and state law.

That's a break from the Bush administration, which targeted dispensaries under federal law even if they complied with the state's law allowing sales of medical marijuana.

Grassley says the new policy outlined by Attorney General Eric Holder Wednesday is counterproductive because marijuana leads to use of harder drugs.

The senator said Thursday that Holder isn't doing health care reform any good.



Comment: No matter which side of this issue you stand, the data does not support Grassely's comments. The “war on drugs,” which Grassely has perpetuated, has caused a growth industry in the private prison system, incredible violence along the US - Mexico border, and years of wasted tax dollars for an ever growing federal government bureaucracy.

I will pull back a little and not discuss the drug issue, but only point out how the US Senate, through its huge oligarchical power position, has kept larges sums of federal dollars rolling into programs that has not succeeded and is not supported by any conclusive data. But most importantly, Senate has continued to mandate this program without any review (check) on their decisions.

Do you think that if our state governments were represented in Congress, as the founders intended, we would be continuing down this road of a clearly failed federal public policy decision? I think not.

No comments: