Pubdate: Wed, 17 Sep 2003
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Copyright: 2003 Seattle Weekly
Contact:  http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/410
Author: Philip Dawdy
Cited: Office of National Drug Control Policy (www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?168 (Lewis, Peter)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/soros.htm (Soros, George)

D.C. BUD?

The White House Drug Czar Blows Into Town To Talk Tough, But He Also 
Signals A New Attitude Toward Discussing Pot.

EVERY SO OFTEN, you can see a new rip, however small, in the American 
cultural fabric, a subtle sign that what was once presumed to be a settled 
issue is now up for grabs. Last week there was a moment at a drug treatment 
center in Rainier Valley that was one of those times.

That's when John Walters, the White House "drug czar," came to Seattle 
backed by a platoon of bodyguards--and unwittingly admitted that the feds' 
60 Years War on marijuana didn't have the grip on the American public that 
it once did.

Walters' announced purpose in coming to town was to stand before the 
assembled media and say that federal, state, and local agencies should work 
hand in hand in combating drug use in Seattle, and that more resources 
should be devoted to the treatment of drug addicts (though he offered no 
new money for local treatment programs).

Walters decried general drug use (heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine), 
and then he got down to the real reason for his trip: to inveigh against 
Seattle's I-75, which was before voters Tuesday, Sept. 16. The local ballot 
measure would make enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest priority of 
Seattle police and the city attorney's office, which is responsible for 
prosecuting misdemeanor pot cases.

Walters called I-75 the result of "living in the past and ignorance, a wink 
and a nod, 'Let's play dumb'" on marijuana. It's not the first time Walters 
has traveled outside the D.C. Beltway and tried to bigfoot a local measure 
that would soften, however imperceptibly, marijuana laws. He did it last 
fall in Nevada, and earlier this year officials from his Office of National 
Drug Control Policy campaigned against a local measure in Missouri. In both 
cases, he won.

But the Emerald City is harder slogging for the czar than the Silver State.

This week, the measure was winning overwhelmingly before all absentee votes 
were counted. Surprisingly, Seattle's media, even the usually pliant 
television news, largely declined to help Walters make his case to the 
public. Only KOMO-TV sent a cameraperson to the press conference, but it 
didn't air any footage that evening. Other than that, there were only a few 
print and radio reporters, and their subsequent coverage was hardly the 
level of drum banging Walters' visits have generated elsewhere.

But the Seattle media also missed a shift in the pot war. You had to listen 
hard, but it was there: Deep in his remarks about I-75, Walters made an 
admission you wouldn't have heard from federal drug enforcement officials 
even during the Clinton administration.

"The real issue is should we legalize marijuana," Walters said. "Let's have 
a debate about that."

Ever since the 1930s and propaganda films such as Reefer Madness, the feds 
have waged a multibillion-dollar war on marijuana use. Rarely have they 
acknowledged that millions of Americans actually like pot and use it 
responsibly, let alone that there might be a need for a national debate on 
how America should treat marijuana under the law.

ASKED WHAT FORM the debate would take and how the White House would kick 
start the process, Walters--usually a polished, intelligent advocate for 
his position--went into duck-and-cover mode. He blamed marijuana advocates 
and their financial backers like billionaire George Soros, who supported 
last year's failed legalization initiative in Nevada, for stifling debate 
and for preventing "clear information" from reaching the American public. 
He also accused them of risking youngsters' lives in the deal. Walters had 
nothing to say about the estimated 700,000 Americans sitting in state and 
federal prisons on marijuana charges or about the more than 700,000 
Americans arrested each year because of pot--each of whose lives and 
well-being is at risk for partaking of a substance that millions in this 
country (and a country to the north) have accepted as not being the Demon 
Weed the feds claim it to be.

All the same, what Walters said was an admission pot advocates found amazing.

"That is fascinating to hear from the man who on every occasion refuses to 
debate us," said Bruce Mirken, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy 
Project, who added that his group, partially funded by billionaire Peter 
Lewis, has offered before to square off with the czar. "He flat-out 
refuses. I'll debate John Walters anytime he wants."

Mirken might want to think about warming up with Tom Carr, Seattle city 
attorney. Carr ran for office in 2001 as the liberal answer to years of 
civil-rights-abusing Mark Sidran. But in introducing Walters at the press 
conference, Carr sounded like he was applying to become deputy drug czar.

Saying that he was "proud" to stand shoulder to shoulder with Walters, Carr 
said that I-75 would "have us look away from the marijuana problem."

But in an interview last month, Carr described his opposition to I-75 as a 
5 on a scale of 1 to 10 and never portrayed marijuana as a sizable problem 
in Seattle.

Many Seattleites would seem to agree, based on this week's vote. The tally 
late Tuesday night had I-75 winning by more than a 15 percent margin.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom