Pubdate: Fri, 3 Apr 2009
Source: Cornell Daily Sun, The (NY Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Cornell Daily Sun, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.cornelldailysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1758
Author: Cody Gault
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama

RELAX, MR. PRESIDENT, YOU'RE FALLING OUT OF TOUCH

In a world where technology becomes obsolete only a few months after
it hits the shelves, how long will it take for the shiny new President
to become outdated and out-of-touch?

Last week the White House held an online town hall meeting, inviting
Americans to submit their questions and concerns for the President's
consideration. Overwhelmingly, the question most frequently asked was:
"With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why
not legalize, control and tax marijuana to change the failed war on
drugs into a money-making, money-saving boost to the economy? Do we
really need that many victimless criminals?"

Obama, who in 2004 called the war on drugs an "utter failure," seemed
uncharacteristically outdated when he answered mockingly, "No, I don't
think it's a good strategy," and in response to the question's
popularity snarked, "I don't know what this says about the online audience."

Has it really been that long since Obama turned in his trusty
Blackberry for the White House? Has he already forgotten his
digi-roots? Or is this more of Obama's not-so-funny, "Special
Olympics" brand of humor?

In case memory loss has set in, one of Obama's aides should remind him
of the unprecedented role the Internet played in raising awareness of
his platform, coordinating the rallies in support of his candidacy and
raising $500 million for his campaign in online donations.

More importantly, three of four Americans use the Internet. Even
Senator John McCain Twitters. The "online audience" isn't some fringe
subculture of stoners hell-bent on derailing Obama's online town hall
meeting. They are the burgeoning mainstream.

Knuckleheaded comment aside, I suspect Obama isn't so out of touch
that he doesn't realize what's happening out there in cyberspace. In
fact, I don't think Obama is out of touch at all. I think this gaff is
just the latest manifestation of his current obsession with obtaining
bipartisan support.

I'm all for finding common ground, but if Obama thinks he can co-opt
the GOP by distancing himself from drug law reform, he is sadly
mistaken; Republicans don't do compromise.

If Republicans had their way, the war on drugs would continue with the
same unyielding arrogance they've maintained since the early '70s,
when President Nixon began the impossible mission of purging America
of illicit drugs. The Republican Party would simply continue its jihad
against pot, continue to arrest African Americans at five times the
rate of whites and try to top the 872,721 marijuana-related arrests in
2007.

Luckily, this is Obama's turn at the wheel and, despite what his
performance at the online town hall would have us believe, the wheels
of progress are already spinning.

Just last week Obama appointed Seattle police chief R. Gil Kerlikowske
to be White House director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, a move which begins a shift in the definition of illicit drug
use from a criminal model to a medical one.

"Combating drugs requires a comprehensive approach that includes
enforcement, prevention and treatment," Kerlikowske explains. "The
success of our efforts to reduce the flow of drugs is largely
dependent on our ability to reduce demand for them."

As a police officer, Kerlikowske experienced the war on drugs
firsthand and is acutely aware of its immense toll on police
resources. Many officers feel that they could better protect and serve
their communities if they did not have to police the recreational use
of drugs. As it stands, marijuana-related arrests outnumber all
violent crime arrests combined, and the war on drugs costs taxpayers
upwards of $40 billion a year -- a massive sum that could be better
spent on rehabilitation facilities for drug users and funding for
universities and colleges.

Betty Yee, Chairwoman of the California Board of Equalization, the
state's tax collector, estimates that selling marijuana the way
cigarettes are sold would raise $1.4 billion in taxes annually in
California alone.

That's simply far too much stimulus for Obama to scoff
at.

Beyond the monetary benefits of ending the war on drugs, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton underlined a more important moral
responsibility: America also needs to rethink its drug policies in
light of the Mexican drug wars and the heroin and opium operations
that are financing Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. She
explains, "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade."

Indeed, the violence and destruction that America's war on drugs has
spawned is a monstrous mutation of the kinds of criminal syndicates we
saw flourish during the alcohol prohibition era of the 1920s and early
'30s, like some hideous repeat of a failed social experiment.

I appreciate the nuanced way in which Obama is handling drug reform.
It is undoubtedly a more effective strategy than coming at it guns
blazing and causing a culture war between the Democrats and the
Republicans. But we mustn't forget that beyond this political dance
there are people incarcerated and dying daily because of a stupid,
unwinnable ideological war.

And in a country where 40 percent of the population supports
decriminalizing marijuana and 70 percent approves of the President, it
would have been nice to see Obama show a little more character and a
little less calculation.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake