Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2014
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2014 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Cindy George
Page: B1

DA: OBAMA'S COMMENTS ON POT RECKLESS

President Barack Obama's comment that marijuana is less dangerous than
alcohol was a reckless statement that could encourage use of a harmful
drug, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said Monday.

"I adamantly disagree with the president," Anderson said in a news
release. "According to a 2012 Drug Use and Health survey, marijuana is
the number one drug that citizens over the age of 12 are addicted to
or abuse. The negative effects of marijuana use on a developing brain
can be permanent, and our president is recklessly giving what amounts
to parental permission to our most impressionable citizens to break
the law. Marijuana is creating deadly situations right here in Harris
County."

Anderson issued the statement after news reports of Obama's comments
to the New Yorker magazine.

"As has been well documented," the president said, "I smoked pot as a
kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from
the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk
of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol."

Obama clarified that marijuana was less dangerous "in terms of its
impact on the individual consumer. It's not something I encourage, and
I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not
very healthy."

Anderson, who was appointed district attorney last September after the
death of her husband, District Attorney Mike Anderson, is the only
Republican candidate who has filed for the office in the March 4 primary.

Anderson's criticism of Obama's comments is consistent with her late
husband's "tough on drugs" stance, reflected in his reversal of his
predecessor's decision to prosecute trace amounts of cocaine as a
ticketable offense rather than a crime punishable by jail time. Devon
Anderson has said she would continue her husband's policy.

Lloyd Oliver, a Democratic candidate for district attorney, said he
disagrees with the president and only concurs with parts of Devon
Anderson's comments.

"It's not OK to smoke weed. ... Don't give young people the impression
that it is OK, and don't compare alcohol to marijuana," he said. "It's
not the same. I could sell a person a beer and it's a gateway to what:
Good scotch whiskey? Marijuana is simply a gateway drug."

Kim Ogg, a former Harris County prosecutor now in private practice who
also is a Democratic candidate for district attorney, supports
diversion programs for people apprehended with small amounts of pot.

"In 2013, more than 12,000 people were arrested for marijuana and sent
to jail in Harris County at a cost of more than $4 million," she said.
"Marijuana is illegal in Texas but jailing offenders in possession of
small amounts is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Instead, those funds
should be spent prosecuting violent offenders, gang members and thieves."

In the New Yorker interview, Obama said penalties for marijuana
possession fall disproportionately on people of color and the
financially disadvantaged.

"Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids
do," the president said. "And African-American kids and Latino kids
are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and
the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt