A national commission to study drug policy
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) introduced the National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 last week, an exciting piece of legislation that will create a commission to study, among other things, America’s war on drugs.
The commission will look broadly at criminal justice reforms, with an emphasis on reducing America’s rising prison population (now the largest in the world per capita). Centered in that debate is the hard truth about America’s punitive drug laws. One-third of U.S. inmates are drug offenders, and many of them are in jail for possession, not sale or manufacture.
Senator Webb’s legislation calls, specifically, for a close look at our drug laws, and his remarks before the Senate show a refreshingly honest approach to the issue:
The elephant in the bedroom in many discussions on the criminal justice system is the sharp increase in drug incarceration over the past three decades. In 1980, we had 41,000 drug offenders in prison; today we have more than 500,000, an increase of 1,200% … and a significant percentage of those incarcerated are for possession or nonviolent offenses.
Webb isn’t playing it safe. Many politicians like to skirt around the edges of criminal justice reform, pursuing incremental changes and avoiding politically risky topics. Webb’s critique, on the other hand, is fundamental.
Tagged with: Criminal Justice and Prohibition and Senator Jim Webb by the author
31 comments
Webb is exactly playing it safe. With all due respect, the results of this study will come just before the next election cycle, when republicans can use any softening of drug policy against candidates up for re-election.
We already did the most comprehensive study ever by a U.S. Government agency in 1970. We do need some specific studies done, but the case for Cannabis is made.
Webb’s offer of decriminalization will merely make it law that anyone caught using any illegal substance must be put through for-profit rehab and testing, or go to a for-profit jail. Better then straight to prison, but far from the control, regulation and education that ending prohibition would bring.
@ Glen
At least he is talking about the right things. Sure, I’d rather see him introduce legislation to legalize marijuana, but I won’t belittle the courage it takes for him to take on criminal justice reform in an honest way.
NOWHERE in this bill is there any hint of a proposal for legalization, so I am not optomistic that this will do anything but piss us off even more with their likely final determination that marijuana should remain illegal.
You know, we the people make the laws. And we have wanted this law changed for 30 years but nothing gets done. We have the right to revolution and its about time we considered it. Seriously!
Honestly even if it is to help him on the next election cycle, the information gathered by the commission will be open to the public.
now i know that doesn’t sound like a big deal but think of it this way.
there is a TON of people in the gov getting paid to put folks into prison and to keep them there. So not only is this a “ray of light” onto our drug policies but also he is looking at reforming our prisons and the management of said prisons. also the commission will be looking into making sure the time fits the crime, not an exact quote but he said something on the lines “of removing people from jail who don’t need to be there, while at the same time keeping our streets and communities safe.”
the commission will NOT be making friends with this bit of information gathering. (if the information is honest that is)
so all i can say is: at least someone is putting their neck out on the line, even if when its all said and done it ends up being not as far out on the line as it first appeared to be. we need more folks like him to bring change, even if its small bits of change at a time.
Good points
Change of any importance is almost always unexpected. It is true that the more things change, the more they stay the same; however, at truly pivotal moments in time, the opposite is equally true. Maybe.
Yeah this doesnt mean a thing. Im sure it will be business as usual.
Thank You for posting this. Go to Norml and petition your represenative. They have an already written letter that you need to personalize along with the heading. GO NOW!
It’s better than nothing. GO….GO!
I live in VA and this is a big step. I appreciate the fact that Senator Webb is realizing something needs to change.
This clearly isn’t the straw that will break the Drug War’s back, but hey we should take what we can get. It’s something to keep an eye on any way.
This is not good news, I can’t understand why this was posted.
Whichever side decides to use the new information gathered from this are only going to come under fire from the other about softening on drugs, and it is going to work like it always has.
What new information could possible be needed anyways? Fact is, we already know it’s broken, we already know how to fix it, discovering exactly how broken it is will only be a waste of time and money.
It’s nice that Jim Webb realizes need for reform, and I will definitely thank him for his efforts, but this bill is too little, too late. It has already been proven, by the Schafer Commission (among others) that cannabis should be “decriminalized”. Yet whenever a committee does a study, governments have a tendency to not take the recommendations of the study when it comes to cannabis.
For example, in the UK, before re-classifying cannabis to Schedule B, it was determined by a commission that it should remain Schedule C (a less restrictive schedule). But against the advice of the commission, cannabis was rescheduled to B.
My guess would be that if this bill passed, and the commission studied the drug war, they would also come to the conclusion that cannabis, at the very least, should be decriminalized. But then, Congress could just ignore the recommendation and continue to arrest people for pot. We need Barney Frank/Ron Paul to re-introduce the Federal decriminalization bill.
go to senator webbs and arlen spectors web site and thank them for couragously taking on this issue for us. this is very encouraging for thge legalization movement
In 1914, the Federal Government estimated that 1.3% of Americans were hooked on illegal drugs. Today that percentage hasn’t change a bit, it’s still 1.3%. The only thing that’s changed is the increasing numbers of people jailed and the profits generated from this 1.3% group for the Government and private industries associated with convictions.
If your thinking Revolutionary strategies to win the war on drugs here folks, plan on recruiting more than the present 1.3% of Americans. We ain’t that big of a group.
California’s number ONE employer is the Department of Corrections and this may uncover much of the correption that has infected this state with a blood sucking drug policy that is choking the life out of the people here. This can only be a good thing for us and will show the over paid TICKS in office what WE already know.
Drug War = Failure for America
Hey Tennessee,
The people that are pissed about the way drug policy is bullshit is WAAAAAAAAAY beyond just the “Addict” and as the boys in Iraq return the numbers of those wanting to smoke out will ONLY grow.
Thanks jeff #16 & #17,
Yes sir, I know that but didn’t want to go into long facts and percentages and ended with an incomplete thought. The type of comment I made above is designed to make people think, it’s an incomplete thought, going forward, “Just how big is our percentage of marijuana advocates in America?
jeff, you catch on fast, ! I’ve learned from most National Organizations that an average of 65%, maybe more, of Americans favor MJ for medicinal & private use. That’s a lot of Americans. Organizing marijuana advocates is like hearding cats, until the end of this past year. In the near future, “It’s got to be legal in One out of Fifty States in a America. ” When that happens the Federal Government should end prohibition immediately in all 50 States of the Union to prevent massive population shifts geographically. That’s my slant as writers say.
Your kind response shows you know your stuff, the mark of a true MJ activist, jeff you don’t let grass grow under your feet do you? Thanx for the response.
As for the Boys in Iraq, they deserve what they’re asking for. The VA benefits department needs to lighten up on disqualifying people who test positive for marijuana.
I want to see these things happen in my life time.
Later,
Author Mr. R.D. Seymour
USMC DRILL INSTRUCTOR RETIRED (1977-1983)
Memberships: MPP, NORML, LEAP & Veterans For Safe Access
Where this issue is concerned, our president should act now and answer questions later. No debate, no argument, just sign the damn paperwork and eradicate the drug war in one swift motion. People who would throw a fit over it would still get to throw their fit, but by the end of Obama’s first term it would be incredibly obvious to the whole country–and all other countries–that ending the war on drugs was the best thing our president could have chosen to do at this time.
To ignore this issue, to laugh and scoff at the idea just because of the fear of being seen as “soft on drugs” is total crap. Lack of action NOW might very well doom our country to economic collapse. Literally every day I read in my local paper about businesses doing massive layoffs, going out of business, filing for bankruptcy. I’m reading that in my area (southern Oregon) the unemployment rate is now at 25% and rising each day. I’ve read that our local DHS offices have seen more than a 400% increase in people getting on Food Stamps and other public assistance.
I am a cashier in one of those low-price warehouse type grocery stores where the poor go to shop. Prior to working there, I worked for one of those ritzy, expensive Fred Meyer shopping centers. Lately I have been noticing a huge shift in the type of people that shop at my store. The once financially secure, degree-holding working class that always shopped at Fred Meyer are now shopping at my store–and paying with Food Stamps. What does that say to you? Things are sad, much much sadder than you might believe. Any time you want to know how the economy is faring, go ask a cashier.
We need this change now more than we ever have. I fear that if our president refuses to even address this issue, he will be condemning America to complete poverty, chaos and total economic collapse. If that happens, what then would become of the people? I think we’re closer to that possibility than we think. I hope Obama realizes this and acts accordingly… though I don’t think he would ever be that brave.
Im in Iraq right now! When i get back im gonna smoke the biggest fatest joint i cant get my greedy hands on. I say screw the drug test. I will drink a crap load of water and energy drinks. It just sucks that i have to do that. I know in my unit about 40 percent of us smoke out! More people smoke then even we know about. I talk 2 my fellow soldiers and they want to smoke too. Only think holding them back is the monthly random drug testing. I wish i had a fatty right now
It is not just drug laws that he needs to look at but the justis system it’s self . prosacuters are not judged on the quality of convictions but the quanty of those convictions
The giant scaffold of lies that the drug war is made of truly is rickety. We need to keep knocking out sticks to aid in it’s collapse. Almost any change is a good change. The matter needs to be held in the limelight at all times. Voters born in the 1990’s are replacing voters born in the 1930’s every day. With our new global brain/memory network (interweb thingy) it is suddenly much, much more difficult to get kids to believe ridiculous anti-marijuana lies.
Everyone should write physical paper letters to their Senator urging them to support this. If your senator is an anti-drug asshole, just tell them you support this bill because you are concerned about anal rape of heterosexual teenagers in jails. (this is an area covered by the commission). It might just hit a little too close to home for some Republican senators.
Everyone also needs to write physical paper letters to their House representative urging them to support HR 1866 aka “The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009″ which was introduced by Barney Frank and Ron Paul.
YTF don’t you have obvious huge links on the front page to assist people in writing congress on these specific two things NORML? WTF?
Oh, sorry. You are not NORML. So, put up some f’ing links on the front page in big as letters MPP! WTF?
Why are politicians scared to talk about Marijuana? I’m thinking they are afraid of losing out on “donations” from their corporate pharmacy “supporters”.
End political “donations” and we’ll end the corruption. This country is run by big corporations…not the people in office.
Thank you Clown-post2o – I say “Support the Troops and give this man a “CIGAR”. I mean a “Marley”. That would brighten up some spirits. In Vietnam-they smoked weed out of a shotgun barrel. That’s where the term(for you younger folks) SHOTGUN comes from.
My hope is that this will finally bring to the forefront the Government’s misguided classification. Our Government always talks about following the letter of the law…. so why can they get this one straight:
(1) Schedule I.—
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.”
If treating cancer patients with marijuana to alleviate nausea from Chemotherapy… or HIV/AIDS patients for wasting sydrome…. glaucome patients for their sight… How is this not “accepted medical use in treatment”???
Schedule II.—
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
(C) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.”
Can’t be placed in this schedule either… “may lead to severe psychological or phyical dependence”…. no proof has ever been made that there is “severe” dependence for marijuana after use.
Schedule III.—
(A) The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules I and II.
(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
(C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.”
IF you can accept that there could be “moderate or low” physical dependence or “high” psychological dependence that at the most marijuana should be classified as a Schedule III Substance.
Personally I believe that the first step in our fight is to get the politicians to follow the classifications that they themselves created. Our doctors, not our politicians, should control what “drugs” are sucessful in treating the patient’s condition. I am hopeful (yet still guarded) that this piece of legislation will be the cornerstone of the reform movement. The most important thing that we can do is to keep this out of the back rooms and into public view. Confidential meetings, debates and recommendations are unacceptable. We expect this to be discussed and debated in a place where we can be involved and our voices can be heard.
BTW – Marinol is a Schedule III drug….
How is it that the synthetic form of THC which is created in a laboratory by man is better and safer than the substance grown out of the ground?
It amuses me that Marijuana Reform is generally blocked by Republicans. The majority of Rebulicans seem to have policies that are foundationally made due to their personal belief in God. —- Stem-cell research is bad because it’s killing a potential life…. gay rights are bad because homosexuality is “unnatural”… —-
God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. 10 And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. 12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
So did your omnipotant God mess up when he created marijuana? If it is on the earth it was put here by your God… did he just not want us to use it? Doubtful….. “and God saw that it was good.”
It’s funny that they use their religion to oppose everything under the sun, but when it comes to a plant their Bible goes missing!!!
Glen…open your eyes! Let’s see…what have we seen happen in just the past few years, months and weeks? Let’s start with Charlie Lynch, who stands to go down in history as the first, publicly focused everyman to NOT be prosecuted on a federal level because a federal judge ruled that he would honor a states rights legislation (kudos to Judge Woo!)….
And then of course there’s not one, but two states introducing legalization, regulation and taxation legislation ….not to mention the.. what…12 (or is it more?) states that have medical marijuana laws on their books…..
How about the mountains of scientific research, not the least of which being the discovery of the endo-cannabinoid regulatory system which proves that for millinea, we have had the very substance we need to heal ourselves growing in about every climate and country the world over…where there have been people, there’s been cannibis…..
And Bruces recent juicey bit of info about the December issue of The American Journal of Public Health’s Report on the findings of the Investigation of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign …in a nutshell, it hasn’t worked ( excellent info Bruce, your forgiven for being late with this one!)….
We’ve got law enforcement(L.E.A.P.)….The scientific and medical community (I.O.M., A.C.P, A.N.A. …this list would take pages) ..and even the religious community (I.D.P.I.), pushing for the end of this insanity….
Doesn’t it stand to reason that we’re going to see more and more Ron Pauls, Barney Franks and Jim Webbs standing up and saying “Enough Already!”
Much like a snowball growing as it rolls downhill, this issue has incrementally gained speed and has gotten so big and is moving so fast, that those that don’t have the sense to get out of its way will surely be squashed!
I have a daily ritual of checking our progress here..as well as at NORML…not to mention the myriad of other sites dedicated to this issue (when I have the time) and I am heartened by the fact that, that light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter every day…
I am not personally a user of cannabis though many years ago in my youth during and after my service in Vietnam I was a regular user.
Unlike others, I am very lucky not to have been caught and suffer a permanent criminal record as a result.
Over the years, the public was led to believe that cannabis caused death, brain damage, psychosis and loss of will resulting in horrific criminal acts.
Through education, we now know none of these dire predictions were likely or even realistic. Unfortunately we have been fed an ongoing political lie.
This is an activity engaged in by many people from all walks of life with no harm done to others.
The sad downside are the many thousands of people are caught, jailed and their lives turned upside down.
This shouldn’t be allowed to happen to anyone especially when this activity affects no one but the user.
It certainly doesn’t lead to the use of harder drugs other than forcing the person buying cannabis to frequent a dealer who likely also sells the hard drugs.
With the wealth of information available today, it’s hard for me to understand anyone still believing in the evils of the “killer weed”.
Cannabis has been decriminalized in Massachusetts since January and I have not read or heard of any drastic increases in its use or of problems associated with the new law.
It appears crime has not gone up significantly nor have reports of accidents increased as a result of decriminalization.
It seems fear of the unknown has been the driving force in some communities to increase local penalties for public consumption.
The down side to our decriminalization law is that a user must still break the law to grow or purchase their cannabis.
While I am not in favor of legalizing all drugs, it seems to me this may be an opportunity for the US to once again lead the World in standing up for individual liberty and freedom.
No less important would be the benefits to be gained from taxation and regulation on a National level.
In the 1930s when New York State realized the futility of prohibition they rescinded their liquor laws placing the burden of prosecution on the Federal government.
No law, no matter how well intended or well written can force people to abstain if the people feel the law is unjust.
The last 80 years of cannabis prohibition has borne this out and has instead had the unintended consequence of putting many hundreds of thousands of otherwise law abiding people in jail.
The time has come to take a stand for personal privacy and individual liberty.
these are some very trying times if there is no change we will continue to see the same stuff at the borders and law inforcement will take a bow to cartels and drug money just like it does every day now . i will beleive it when i see packs of joints buy one get one free. help us out obama or are oyu taking a bow to the cartels to.
And so the U.S. government calls for another another commision to study marijuana. Deja vu.
I predict the results of this study will be the same as the ones we have done in the past. They will waste a lot of time and money and the report will conclude that Marijuana is harmless.
Our officials will not care.
And the wheels on the bus go round and round.
Study time is over. Time to take the test and Vote. Vote wrong and lose your constituency.
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