The Bush year 2002 “National Drug Control Strategy,” released by the White House Tuesday, inappropriately calls for the “compassionate coercion” of millions of otherwise law-abiding American citizens who smoke marijuana responsibly, NORML’s Executive Director Keith Stroup said today.
“The overwhelming majority of our nation’s drug users and drug arrestees are pot smokers, most of whom do not need treatment – coerced, compassionate or otherwise,” Stroup declared. He added that the administration should abandon its current strategy of criminalizing and demonizing marijuana users, and instead implement policies such as those that have been successful in reducing cigarette smoking and drunk driving.
“As a nation we have significantly reduced the prevalence of tobacco smoking and drunk driving in recent years. We have not achieved this by banning the use of alcohol or tobacco, or by targeting and arresting those who use them responsibly, but through honest educational campaigns. We should apply these same principles to the responsible use of marijuana.”
This year’s $19 billion federal anti-drug budget is the largest ever approved in U.S. history.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre at (202) 483-8751.