Ted Nugent can be anti-drug, good on him. But if he wishes to wave the flag while doing so, he needs to know that that flag represents we the people, not the bumbling behemoth our government has become.
(EUGENE, Ore.) - In a tragically silly column in the Waco (TX) Tribune, Ted Nugent declares that President Obama should have picked him for the job of heading the White House Office of No Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). He summed up his ineloquent Prohibitionist stance with this statement:
"Every American who smokes dope, manufactures, buys or sells meth or uses any illegal drug is aiding and abetting the enemies of America. Case closed."
Mr. Nugent needs to put the computer keyboard down and stick with his guitar and his bow and arrows. He obviously doesn't understand the plate of drug policy slime he feeds from when he spouts such nonsense.
Yeah Ted, it's great to be against drug abuse, most of us are. But it's not okay to support policies which are anti-American. Which is what our nation's drug policies are - un and anti-American.
While Nugent flexes his rhetoric, he shrinks his legitimacy as a commentator on US drug policies. Precisely because (with his every swallow of drug war propaganda) Nugent supports failure, government lies and corruption and aids the cartels he professes he wants to eliminate. And in his doing so, Nugent acts as poster boy for all of today's drug Prohibitionists - up to and including President Obama.
The Transform Drug policy Foundation posted this on their organization's blog:
The WHO cocaine report the US didn't want you to see
"The largest ever study of cocaine use around the globe was carried out in the early 90's by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and funded by the UN Inter-regional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), but under pressure from the US its publication was suppressed when it became clear the report's findings were in direct conflict with the myths, stereotypes and propaganda that prop up the war on drugs"
Therein lies the rub. When the studies have been done, it hasn't been the science that won out but the pigeadedness of bureaucrats grown comfortable with hiding truth and facts.
When Richard Nixon was handed Pennsylvania governor Ray Shaffer's report on cannabis ( The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding.) he shelved it and ignored its recommendations.
In its final comments the report said this:
"Considering the range of social concerns in contemporary America, marihuana does not, in our considered judgment, rank very high. We would deemphasize marihuana as a problem.
"The existing social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm engendered by the use of the drug."
And its recommendation:
- POSSESSION OF MARIHUANA FOR PERSONAL USE WOULD NO LONGER BE AN OFFENSE, BUT MARIHUANA POSSESSED IN PUBLIC WOULD REMAIN CONTRABAND SUBJECT TO SUMMARY SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.
- CASUAL DISTRIBUTION OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIHUANA FOR NO REMUNERATION, OR INSIGNIFICANT REMUNERATION NOT INVOLVING PROFIT WOULD NO LONGER BE AN OFFENSE.
A significant study 2 years later conducted in Virginia and funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) found the opposite of what they were looking for. While seeking evidence of cannabis harming the immune system they found instead that it actually is a potent anti-cancer agent:
US: Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew In '74
That study was buried. Imagine... a policy so rigid and narrow-minded that they would hide a possible cure for cancer. Talk about bureaucratic terrorism...
President Obama in his June 4th speech in Cairo Egypt said "[...] no matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who would hold power: You must maintain your power through consent, not coercion [...]"
That is all the drug war is - coercion. It is unshakably wrong, it has been based on lies (Anslinger's "Reefer Madness") and it has denied science and compassion and existed solely on government power.
Mr. Obama also said that we will return to respecting science and work towards "ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."
Well, the gig is up. The cat is out of the bag. Prohibition is a lie. The drug war is a scam that threatens us all.
Ted Nugent can be anti-drug, good on him. But if he wishes to wave the flag while doing so, he needs to know that that flag represents we the people, not the bumbling behemoth our government has become.
Recommended reading this week:
- Nicholas Kristof in the NY Times, Drugs Won the War
- On Charles Lynch, Morro Bay Pot Store Owner Gets 1-Year Sentence
- Marc Emery, Why I Will Plead Guilty in a U.S. Court to Distributing Marijuana
- Marie Myung-Ok Lee, from the LA Times (via the Ashland OR Daily Tidings), Link
- On Ted Nugent, Ted Nugent: A Terrorist Threat From Within - Op-Ed by Tim King Salem-News.com
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After receiving training as a photographer and photographic systems repairman in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War period, Allan Erickson went on to work behind the camera as a photojournalist (California Advocate, Fresno, CA), a commercial products table-top photographer (Gottschalks advertising, second camera behind Richard Eissler), and he has photographed weddings, anniversary celebrations, political meet-and-greets, concerts, baseball games (currently working for the Eugene Emeralds, the San Diego Padres' short season single A affiliate, as their team photographer), school events, kids' soccer, portraits and my favorite venue, nature.
More than anything, Allan Erickson cares about the health of Oregon and he works closely on drug policy issues as a member of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Send Allan an email at this address: allan_e@efn.org
Visit Allan's blog as this link: morningdonut.blogspot.com
The Drug War's Big LieSalem-News.com