PRESS RELEASE
May 26, 2010
Candidate Dave Glissmeyer – Policy Statement on America’s Failed “War on Drugs”
When I made the decision to run as an independent candidate for Congress, I also made a personal commitment to speak frankly and honestly about hot-button issues that our bought-and-sold politicians, political parties, and appointed bureaucrats refuse to touch.
Today, I want to follow through on that promise by making a policy statement on a very controversial problem – America’s failed “War on Drugs”, and in particular, our misguided laws aimed at controlling marijuana use.
The “War on Drugs” has been waged for some 40 years now and consumed $1 trillion in tax dollars, yet a recent FBI report documents a harsh reality: in spite of the enormous efforts and expenditure, drug use is as prevalent as ever in our society (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/arrests/index.html). Today, illegal drugs are less expensive, more readily available, and more potent then ever before. We incarcerate a higher percentage of our citizens than any other nation and many of those are in prison for nonviolent drug crimes at a cost to the taxpayer of $30,000 or more per year.
Can any sane person say this “war” is working?
Before I jump into the pool with policy recommendations, let me make a couple of things clear right upfront. I do not promote, encourage nor advocate the use of any illegal drug, including marijuana, and I am very concerned about the abuse of all drugs in general. Here are home in Utah we seem to have a particular problem with Prozac or its generic equivalents, and the abuse of legal drugs can have health and social consequences every bit as serious as the abuse of illegal drugs. My focus is on getting effective help for those that want and need it, drugs have touched my life in a very painful way and we need fresh solutions, not the same old business as usual approach that is clearly not working.
Notwithstanding my personal objections to casual drug use for no other purpose than to get “high”, common sense cries out for some new approaches in this failed “war” and the best place to start is with marijuana. I have publicly stated that I endorse the use of marijuana for legitimate medical purposes under the supervision of a physician, because marijuana has proven benefits in the treatment of glaucoma and as a low cost appetite enhancer for those suffering from cancer. Moreover, marijuana is inexpensive and could greatly reduce crippling drug expenses for seniors and others for whom it is medically useful. Nonetheless, the time has come to move beyond the “medical marijuana” debate and engage a public discussion on the question of marijuana legalization in general.
In 40 years of observing drug use in my own community I am convinced that marijuana is less seductive, less addictive, and contributes to fewer social problems than the currently legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco. Frankly, I see no logical reason why marijuana should be treated any differently than alcohol in terms of possession and legal use in our society. When you get right down to it, the abuse of both marijuana and alcohol is primarily a health issue, not a crime problem. Our response to regulating these substances should be substantially the same. However, by forcing marijuana users to purchase from criminals, we have unwittingly created an increasingly violent black market with ugly repercussions for U.S. crime enforcement and civil society south of the border in Mexico.
Although exact figures are unavailable, some analysts have estimated that marijuana is the single greatest source of revenue for Mexican drug gangs. We are talking about billions of American dollars here folks. Across the border in Mexico, American dollars from the drug trade are funding the destruction of the social order, including the murder of public officials and law enforcement officers. The problems are especially acute in the border regions, with violence bleeding across onto U.S. soil. Among other ills, this social disintegration also contributes to the flow off illegal immigrants across our borders -- people simply trying to flee from the terror of violence and chaos.
In my view, the violent crime surrounding the illegal marijuana trade is a LARGER and more serious problem than the abuse of the drug itself. Last time I checked, nobody was being kidnapped, beheaded, or shot while going to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of hooch. We are wasting a tremendous amount of money by continuing to include marijuana as part of the “War on Drugs” and that money would be better spent on the education and rehabilitation of individuals, not on incarceration in our ever-expanding prison system. Moreover, we arguably have a moral obligation to our Mexican neighbors to stop the flow of drug monies to the violent gangs that are tearing their country apart.
As a first step to re-inventing the “War on Drugs”, the time has come to make some common sense changes in our laws governing marijuana use in order to bring our dollars and our problems back home where they belong. I propose allowing our citizens to either grow a few plants for their own consumption (not for resale) or to purchase commercially grown cannabis from a state-controlled outlet, in the same manner we purchase alcohol. I reject the fear-based arguments that this would lead to an increase in drug use, especially among the young, because the polling and surveys taken simply do NOT predict such an outcome. However, I’m quite certain that this change would wipe out a major chunk of the criminal drug market, provide additional tax dollars to our cash-strapped governments, eliminate criminal pot farms on our public lands, and reduce our bloated and costly prison population as well as put a major dent in the drug smuggling sector of our illegal immigration problem.
It is fair to ask why our elected officials continue to blindly support our failed drug policies when common sense cries out for a new approach. There may be no simple answer to this question but some ideas come to mind. First, many voters have a strong moral objection to drug use, and politicians are undoubtedly afraid to confront those strongly held values. I fully comprehend the moral dimension of drug abuse, especially when such abuse leads to broken homes, financial distress, lost productivity and other negative social outcomes. (I have lost a child to an accidental heroin overdose, so I know the matter firsthand.) Nonetheless, throwing public monies toward ineffective programs has a moral dimension as well, especially when it means lost opportunities for better educational programs, drug rehabilitation programs and other approaches that bring real and measurable results.
Politicians may also dodge the issue because of pressure from special interests. When government spends billions of dollars on any program somebody is cashing those checks. There is a long list special interests and corporations who make a handsome profit from our drug wars, including the private prison industry, and those interests clearly put pressure on the politicians to keep money flowing their way.
In conclusion, I ask you to remember that over seventy years ago, Utah voters, against the wishes of ecclesiastical leaders, made a courageous decision to end our nation’s failed experiment with the prohibition of alcohol. This was not a vote in favor of alcohol consumption, but a vote in favor of realistic and sensible government, and perhaps personal freedom as well. The parallels between Prohibition and our current policy towards marijuana are remarkable and compelling. I am reminded of the famous dictum that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Are we ready to get to work and reinvent failed social policy? That is what I believe is necessary and I ask you to study this issue, think bravely and creatively, and join me in this effort. I realize there are people who will hysterically oppose any meaningful discussion of reform, but there are also increasing numbers of citizens who want to move forward with new approaches and all voices need to be heard.
Finally, take a minute today and talk with your kids about drugs; do the same tomorrow and make it a habit in the years to come.
Dave Glissmeyer, Candidate for Congress, Utah’s 2nd District
A few useful references:
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php (LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)