The Drug Czar Was Right!

I don't get to say this often, so here goes: The latest statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration support one of White House drug czar John Walters' most frequent claims about marijuana.

According to the just-released CARAVAN Study for SAMHSA on Addictions and Recovery, John Walters, who likes to call marijuana "the blind spot of drug policy," is correct that most Americans just don't share his view that marijuana is "The Greatest Cause of Illegal Drug Abuse."

In fact, according to the survey (Page 9), Americans rank marijuana below prescription drugs, other illicit drugs, and even alcohol among various drugs' harm to society.

If the Office of National Drug Control Policy director's obsession with marijuana puts him outside the mainstream, it's not for lack of trying. Mr. Walters has spent eight years and upwards of a billion dollars in advertising trying to scare us about marijuana, but it just hasn't taken.

Which leaves two possibilities: The world (or at least two-thirds of Americans) has gone crazy, or the drug czar has.