U.S. marijuana arrests declined somewhat in 2008, according to figures released by the FBI today. According to the just-released Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. law enforcement made 847,863 arrests on marijuana charges last year, 89 percent of which were for possession, not sale or manufacture – more arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. One American was arrested on marijuana charges every 37 seconds.

Marijuana arrests peaked in 2007 at over 872,000, capping five years of all-time record arrests. [Read more →]

The new National Survey on Drug Use and Health is out, and it puts the final nail in the coffin of the war on marijuana conducted by George W. Bush’s drug czar, John Walters.

Walters’ fanaticism about marijuana is epitomized by a November 2002 letter sent to the nation’s prosecutors by his deputy, Scott Burns, claiming that “no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana.” Walters carpet-bombed the nation with anti-marijuana propaganda – TV, radio and print ads, reports, press conferences, news releases, etc. – and quickly began to follow up with exaggerated claims of success.

That game is now over. [Read more →]

I don’t normally blog about my own TV appearances, but Thursday night on CNBC, debating medical marijuana with former prosecutor and Drug Watch International board member Terrence Farley, I found myself almost feeling sorry for him. Not because I’m such a hotshot debater — watching the encounter later, I could easily spot a dozen things I could have done better — but because I suddenly saw what it was like to be on the losing end of history.

Now I think I know what it must have been like to be, say, the last premier of East Germany, standing guard over the fading embers of an empire in irreversible decline. It’s a little sad. Like them, the Terrence Farleys of this world no longer have a real case to make or a reason to justify their existence. They just cling to what they do because, well, it’s what they do and they don’t know anything else.

Still, those last rulers of East Germany hurt — and sometimes killed — an awful lot of people whose only crime was to seek freedom. The Terrence Farleys of the world hurt a lot of people too, so I won’t shed too many tears when they end up on the ash heap of history next to those who ruled the last remnants of the old Soviet empire.

Marijuana Use Rates, Age 12 and Up

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released its annual state-by-state breakdown of drug use rates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And once again, the data (based on the 2006 and 2007 surveys) don’t match the official mythology — namely, that tough anti-marijuana laws reduce marijuana use.

As of the survey dates, 11 states had decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, while 39 retained the threat of arrest and jail for even small-time marijuana possession. And, like previous surveys, use rates in the decriminalized states were statistically indistinguishable from the non-decriminalized states. Some decriminalized states, such as Nebraska and Mississippi, had use rates well below the national average. And some that maintain criminal penalties, such as New Hampshire and the District of Columbia, were well above the national average. [Read more →]

Today the Obama administration unveiled a new antidrug strategy for the Southwestern border, a region plagued by horrendous violence from Mexican drug cartels. Alas, the plan simply rearranges the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic.

Lovely chairs they may be, but the boat’s still going down. [Read more →]

In his first interview as White House drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske signaled a huge shift – at least rhetorically – in federal drug policy.

“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re not at war with people in this country.”

Yes, the fallacy of pursuing U.S. citizens who use illegal drugs as though they were enemy combatants was obvious the minute President Nixon made it official policy – against his own experts’ advice – 35 years ago. And no, Kerlikowske isn’t calling for an end to the policies that fuel that failed war. Marijuana prohibition, for example, isn’t going anywhere, according to the new drug czar.

Still, Kerlikowske’s rejection of drug war ideology is a dramatic – and possibly significant – departure from his drug crusading predecessors.

Of course, if you really want to end the war on drugs, then maybe it’s time to end marijuana prohibition. Let your representative know with a phone call or an e-mail.

In yet another sign of the growing acceptance for marijuana policy reform, MPP’s Rob Kampia appeared on MSNBC and CNBC yesterday to discuss California Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger’s recent statement supporting an open discussion about ending marijuana prohibition.

You can see his MSNBC appearance here and the CNBC one in which he debates former drug czar official and lifelong drug warrior Kevin Sabet here. (Just to prove it’s really live TV, you’ll notice Rob’s audio feed cuts out at one point, causing him to talk over Sabet for a bit. Aw, shucks.)

By the way, here’s a shot of Rob during his MSNBC appearance that we kind of got a chuckle out of. I mean, drug warriors love accusing marijuana policy reformers of supporting terrorism, but actually being a terrorist? Now that’s playing hardball.

Former drug czar John Walters wants Americans to believe that his draconian policies caused drug use to drop, especially among young people. He and his spokespeople credited their ad campaigns for cutting teen drug use, despite expert evaluations that showed otherwise. And in a pair of Wall Street Journal op-eds published this March and April Walters again warned against any change of course that might deviate from his alleged “success.”

This is not news, but it’s important to address because this line of argument will be raised against any effort by the Obama administration or Congress to shift even modestly toward more rational marijuana policies. [Read more →]