It is bad enough that the United States government year after year spends enormous sums and violates rights in abandon to continue fighting in America its war on drugs — a war it has been losing and will continue to lose. Unfortunately, the US government keeps pursuing its war on drugs abroad as well.
Tag: Drug Policy Alliance
Maybe you thought the United States government legalizing marijuana would just mean the US government would butt out, leaving people alone to smoke joints or eat chocolate chip and marijuana cookies in peace. Unfortunately, national marijuana legalization will not be like that if 12 organizations behind a new report have their way.
The Washington, DC machine is kicking into gear to ensure that national marijuana legalization, which looks inevitable given public support, is laden with many new US government dictates. Among other goals, the 12 organizations are advocating in the new report that the US government micromanage marijuana so much that US law effectively builds a wall between marijuana and both alcohol and tobacco.
You might think of the Drug Policy Alliance as a single-issue organization focused on ending the war on drugs. In fact, in a section titled “A Broad Coalition” at the “About Us” page of the organization’s website, the Drug Policy Alliance declares that “Our supporters are individuals who believe the war on drugs must end.” This description fits in perfectly with the idea that the Drug Policy Alliance advocates regarding drug policy on behalf of a broad coalition of people who disagree on many things but all support ending the drug war.
At least recently, though, it seems the organization’s focus has changed. Case in point, the Drug Policy Alliance proclaimed this week that it has a “queer agenda” that goes far beyond policy related to drugs.
Over the last two years, I wrote several times regarding the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a bill that sought to legalize marijuana on the national level in a way that appeared to ensure almost no Republican House of Representatives or Senate members would support it. In particular, I pointed out how Republican legislators would tend to dislike the bill’s race-based provisions and marijuana business subsidies.
It is outside the routine to hear an interest group publicly claim it drafted legislation that has been passed on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. An interest group may let it be known that it worked with the sponsoring representative on preparing legislation or that the sponsoring House member drafted legislation in part due to the organization’s request. But, an organization publicly declaring it drafted legislation approved on the House floor is a bigger and less usual claim.