Pubdate: Tue, 30 Apr 2002
Source: United Press International (Wire)
Copyright: 2002 United Press International
Author: Mike Gray
Note: Mike Gray is chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy -- www.csdp.org 
- -- and is the author "Drug Crazy."

NIXON TAPES POT SHOCKER

WASHINGTON -- The Watergate tapes from the Nixon White House are indeed the 
gift that keeps on giving.

The latest release of these secret recordings covers that period in 1971 
when President Richard M. Nixon was preparing to crank up the war on 
marijuana. In his conversations with Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman and 
others, Nixon reveals, in his down-home, earthy style, that the whole thing 
was a fraud.

The president was in a box at this particular moment because a special drug 
commission that he had appointed was spinning out of control. "The National 
Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse" was a creation of Congress, but 
Nixon had put his stamp on it by appointing a host of hard-liners. The 
headman was a former prosecutor, Gov. Ray Shafer of Pennsylvania, whose 
tough law-and-order reputation meshed with Nixon's vision.

Now there was word on the street that the so-called "Shafer Commission" was 
considering the legalization of marijuana.

The president had clearly expected Gov. Shafer to return with a damning 
indictment of the evil weed because he had already made up his mind to use 
the drug issue as a political ax in the upcoming election.

Unfortunately several of the commissioners were not in on the plan and they 
took the assignment seriously. They commissioned more than 50 scientific 
studies, surveyed judges, probation officers, clinicians, and health 
experts, and they personally went all over the globe for a first-hand look 
at the situation. It was one of the most comprehensive examinations of 
marijuana in history.

One can imagine Nixon's surprise when rumors began circulating in early '71 
that the "L-word" was on the table. He responded curtly at his next press 
conference: "Even if the Commission does recommend that it be legalized, I 
will not follow that recommendation."

This bold admission created a firestorm among the commissioners and several 
of them threatened to quit -- or worse, to produce a dissenting minority 
report. Shafer, who was also angling for an appointment to the federal 
bench, was caught in the middle. He promised the insurrectionists he would 
meet with the President and try to straighten things out.

He was finally able to get an appointment in early September but it is 
clear that he knew this meeting was window dressing. Shafer told staffer 
Egil Krogh, Jr., "I know what the game is."

All Shafer wanted was a picture of himself with the President that he could 
take back to the Commission. "I'll tell them that we met, the President 
listened, was appreciative..."

Nixon let him have the picture but he was otherwise unrelenting. While 
admitting that there were significant differences between marijuana and 
other drugs, he wanted Shafer to cover up that fact. "I think there's a 
need to come out with a report that is totally oblivious to some obvious 
differences between marijuana and other drugs."

Throughout 1971 Nixon kept up the drumbeat. "I want a Goddamn strong 
statement on marijuana," he told his high-level White House lieutenant Bob 
Haldeman, "I mean one that just tears the ass out of them." Somehow, it's 
not surprising to hear the President say, "You know, it's a funny thing, 
every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish."

On March 21, 1972, the president told Haldeman, "We need -- and I use the 
word -- 'all out war.'" The next day the Shafer Commission returned its 
report on marijuana and to the President's chagrin, not only did they 
refuse to declare war on marijuana, they recommended decriminalization.

Nixon declared his war on drugs anyway. Needless to say, Gov. Shafer did 
not get his judicial appointment and his voluminous report was swept under 
the rug.

For those who are curious about what this country might be like today if 
Richard Nixon had simply followed the advice of his own experts, we happen 
to have a comparative yardstick.

At the same moment that the Shafer Commission was hearing evidence in the 
United States, a Dutch commission was doing the same thing in The 
Netherlands and they came to the same conclusion. Unlike the Americans, 
they paid attention to their experts and decriminalized marijuana.

Today, per captia use of marijuana among teenagers in The Netherlands is 
half that of those in the United States. Meanwhile the people of this 
country were treated to a 30-year jihad that so far has resulted in the 
arrest of nearly 15 million citizens.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth