Report Will Offer Point-By-Point Rebuttal To Drug Czar’s Office “Open Letter” To U.S. Prosecutors Claiming, “No Drug Matches
The Threat Posed By Marijuana”
Washington, DC: A point-by-point refutation to a recent “open letter” from the Drug Czar’s office to America’s prosecutors claiming, “No drug matches the threat posed by marijuana” will serve as the centerpiece of a new marijuana “truth” campaign to be launched by NORML next week.
“To definitively counter the increasingly extreme anti-marijuana rhetoric spouted by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, NORML will be issuing a comprehensive report next week separating marijuana fact from fiction,” NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said. “We encourage anyone who is interested in drug policy to read the ONDCP’s letter, and then read NORML’s rebuttal, and decide for themselves who is lying about marijuana and why.”
The ONDCP’s letter and NORML’s response will appear online next week on NORML’s website.
In a so-called “open letter” to America’s prosecutors, ONDCP Deputy Director for State and Local Affairs Scott Burns urges prosecutors to “aggressively prosecute” marijuana violators, and “work with your legislators to update local laws [that] impede marijuana prosecutions” (such as state laws legalizing the use of medicinal marijuana). The letter further urges prosecutors to “tell Americans the truth” about marijuana, and then lists more than a dozen unsubstantiated, misleading and fallacious statements regarding cannabis – including the allegation that pot is more addictive than “alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and all other illegal drugs combined.”
“Has this administration forgotten about the very real risks of truly dangerous drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine?” Stroup responded, adding that, “NORML has decided it is time to blow the whistle on this shameful exercise in government propaganda. Ultimately, this type of rhetoric only serves to undermine our nation’s anti-drug efforts because it adversely impacts the current administration’s credibility, and with it, their ability to effectively educate teens on the harms of legitimately dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.”
Stroup further questioned whether it’s appropriate for prosecutors to be engaged in the sort of direct lobbying requested by the ONDCP. “For years, law enforcement have alleged that they don’t make the laws; they merely enforce them. However, this letter asks America’s prosecutors to publicly spread misinformation about marijuana in order to justify a failed federal policy, and further requests them to lobby against any legislative reforms that seek to liberalize that policy. Are either of these activities an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?”
NORML expects to launch its new “truth” campaign early next week.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or NORML Communications Director Nicholas Thimmesch at (202) 483-5500.