MPP’s Pen Pal
You wouldn’t know it from their Web site, but it turns out the White House drug czar’s office is legally required to provide the public with facts that are, well, factual. Under the Data Quality act, all government agencies, including the Office of National Drug Control Policy, are responsible for “ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information.”
You could print out the material on ONDCP’s site, throw a dart at the printout, and probably hit an assertion that’s at least suspect. We picked one we found particularly egregious – the demonstrably false title of the drug czar’s publication, “Marijuana: The Greatest Cause of Illegal Drug Abuse.”
On Oct. 16, 2008, my colleague, Nathan Miller, an attorney here, filed a petition calling on the drug czar to correct the title, which obviously refers to the long discredited “gateway theory” fantasy (see Question 6).
On Dec. 28, the drug czar’s chief scientist, David Murray (who isn’t a scientist, by the way — his degree is in anthropology) responded, but didn’t really address the substance of the claim. His letter is pretty short and straightforward if you want to look at it, but basically he made two bizarre arguments: 1) that titles are inherently statements of opinion or policy and therefore not subject to DQA standards, and 2) that the word “cause” shouldn’t be read to refer to the gateway theory.
Nathan responded last week, pointing out that Murray had failed to adequately address the underlying falsehood as he is legally required to do. We’ll see how that goes.
Tagged with: drug czar and drug war and drug warriors and gateway and junk science and MPP and ONDCP and science by the author
17 comments
You know, the police can come and lock anyone in a cell with out ever breaking the law to begin with. There is no rule of law, if there was the government would be held to follow it. So marijuana is legal already because you can be punished even if you think you follow their quasi-legal system. Its all set up to defend the oil monopoly and the drug company cartels. We need no government if it is the only cause of evil in our world. We need not follow a single law as the ones who wrote them choose not to as well. So please, don’t listen to their threats of violence because they can kill you even if you are 95 and in a wheelchair. Just live free and forget laws exist.
The letter talks about how 75% of all drug abuse is from marijuana. That is wrong. They consider any and all use
“abuse,” no matter how responsibly the user indulges.
Also, it appears, from my understanding of the letter, that the ONDCP admitted their policy is based on opinion and subjectivity, rather than fact.
I think you should hold on to this letter – you don’t get the ONDCP to admit that their policies aren’t factual very often.
There can’t be many more self-important blowhards in the nation than David Murray. His glee at his ability to distort, distract and mislead is palpable and disgusting.
I’m 36, married 17 yrs with 3 teen boys. I have smoked Marijuana since i was about 16-17 yrs old. I dranked Alcohol before i ever thought about smoking Marijuana as a teen child. I have never ever done Crack, Meth, Pills, or any other hard drugs. So the the Gateway thing is WRONG. I am living proof. I will donate my self for test or any other studies they wish to have to help and save others. It’s all about rights when it comes to Marijuana. And we want the right to choose what we put in our bodies. Please give us that RIGHT and not lock us up. I have never been in trouble for drugs or anything. Just a hard working, tax paying American. I vote, i Love my family and love my Country.
I would consider something that lowers ones inhibitions a “gateway” drug… like alcohol!
We have been tossed aside once again. Even with the huge support of millions of people that helped to get him elected, we get “expanded drug courts” and the same bogus medical information that we know is not factual.
I started a thread at The Daily Show and the Colbert Report, my reasoning is thus, we need to get this debate on the national stage, and mainstream media is sweeping us (we the people) under the rug. This issue is perfect for them as they are going to need something to rass the President about, his and his staffs, ignorance to what the people are saying, is just what these comedic pundits should be hammering him over.
I urge you all to join in the frey, let’s make ourselves very squeaky, so this wheel might get some grease.
Thanks everybody, peace
By using ONDCP’s logic, you could conclude that Caffeine is a gateway drug. Shit, you could probably even say that Aloe Vera is a gateway drug. The world is a dangerous place when the opinions of others are made into laws and enforced with guns.
Look where that got us last time. Burning witches left and right. Same stupidity, same bullshit scare tactics, different time period. History repeats itself when the powers that be fail to learn from its valuable lessons.
Jesus said we are not judged by what we put in our body but by what comes out.
Walters and his ilk are liars. There is nothing more to that. Cannabis is not a drug. It is a gift from the creator.
If it is a gateway plant the only direction it has led me was to sanity. It also forces people to bond with each other.
Fact-I have been driving tractor-trailers for 31 years. I have 31 years safe driving with no accidents or tickets. I have been smoking the lord’s herb for 40 years. Figure that one Walters.
Hey! Anthropologists are scientists too! You don’t have to wear a lab-coat or own any beakers to use the scientific method.
People willing to blatantly lie, knowing their lies block access to medicine that could help many people, are either fabulously ignorant or lacking a conscience.
In Murray’s case, his 6-figure position helps him to forget about his conscience and all the “ethical entanglements”, as he spouts lie after lie after lie regarding Medical Cannabis.
You’d think with the Data Quality Control Act, the ONDCP might be just a little more beholden to the truth, because of possible lawsuits.
Why aren’t there more lawsuits? Can we sue them for not following this ACT and put an end to their endless propaganda.
I read the letter sent to you all. It smacked of waste. What should have fit on one page caused three pages to be used.
Keep on calling them out on their lies and libel!
One of the side effects of marijuana is said to be paranoia.Well truth or not 99% of my paranoia comes from the worry of my government breaking my door down with the possiblity of being shot for nothing more that smoking marijiuana.
It is time for change, Marijuana is very similar to coffee as it calms you, it is similar to alcohol in the way that it is widely used and accepted all over the world the only people for the most part that are opposed to it is the people that are uninformed or those that are afraid of being attacked because it’s stigma as a drug or the drug and cigarettes companies may lose money on sales to states if they take advantage of the new revenue from the sale and taxes It is certainly no where near as harmful as cigarettes or alcohol its time to legalize and regulate marijuana the American people can use it responsibly and take the profit away from the countries that send it across are borders.
I see a heavy conservative “slant” in the way that present data. You can say you are 8 times more likely to try cocaine if you smoke pot. Who is to say people who end up using cocaine arent 8 times more likely to try marijuana? I knew people who became drunks in their 20′s and up and one day stopped drinking and but in trade took up smoking a joint once a day instead. The alcohol was the gateway drug to the marijuana. I know people that was introduced to marijuana when they were already heavily addicted to cocaine… they ended up replacing the cocaine with a joint a day habbit as well. Havent touched cocaine in 20 years and the alcoholic has gone 10 years without a drink. OK they took the easy way and substituted one addiction for another, but in both of these cases, the Marijuana habbit was much much better for their lives then the original cocaine or alcoholism. The put their lives back together in spite of smoking marijuana and the marijuana replaced their need for the harder substances.
That Govt pamplet is so slanted at being closed minded.
Marijuana has been victimized by the establishment, drug/chemical
industry. Propaganda lies were told. Now there are independent studies
that prove pot is good medicine. Even better than we thought! And the Latin American ex-presidents report calls the drug war a failure and they recommend legalization of marijuana.
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