Bush’s nominee for Drug Czar, John P. Walters, may be trying to soften his hard-line image when it comes to the issue of medical marijuana, according to an article published today in Time.com. Nevertheless, Walter’s past record makes it clear he is no “compassionate conservative” as it pertains to the use of marijuana as a medicine.
According to Time.com, Walters favors “loosening federal rules so that doctors can prescribe or recommend marijuana for certain seriously ill patients.” The authors speculate that the Czar-to-be will testify in favor of allowing its medical use at his upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.
If so, it would be a dramatic departure for Walters, who argued in a December 1996 Weekly Standard article, entitled “Medical Reefer Madness,” that federal law enforcement authorities should sanction doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients in states where it is legal to do so. He wrote: “Nothing … prevents [the DEA] from moving unilaterally against the small number of pro-pot physicians who are likely to recommend marijuana for their patients. … Under a ‘public interest’ provision of the Controlled Substances Act, the DEA can revoke the ‘registration’ license every physician needs in order to store, dispense, or prescribe controlled substances.”
Walters further wrote that marijuana is “not medicine” and alleged that it “has never been scientifically demonstrated to provide ‘relief’ for any medical condition.” He claimed that voters in states that have passed medical marijuana laws were duped by “potheads [with] money.”
For more information on Walters, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751.
