Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2003 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2003 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www2.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV)) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm (ONDCP Media Campaign) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) A DRUG WAR SLUSH FUND Perhaps one has to give some die-hard prohibitionists points for brazenness and for honesty of a sort. Last Thursday, a subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee specifically authorized the "drug czar" to use taxpayer money in political campaigns - as long as it is "to oppose an attempt to legalize the use" of any currently illegal drug. Previously, the "drug czar," formally the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, was legally barred from using the money appropriated for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign for "partisan political purposes." Drug-war leaders have wiggled around this requirement for years, of course. In 1996, then-drug czar Barry McCaffrey, with his repeated trips to meet with officials and express alarm, was almost the entire campaign against California's Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative approved by voters. Advocates complained about the possible use of taxpayer money to influence a political campaign. Drug-policy spokesmen said nothing incorrect was done and that Gen. McCaffrey was doing it on his own time, but never furnished documentation. Last fall in Nevada, there was a ballot initiative to virtually decriminalize marijuana. Current drug-policy leader John Walters spent considerable time in the state seeking places to speak and media interviews in opposition to the initiative. The Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., has filed complaints with both federal and state authorities, alleging that Mr. Walters used taxpayers' funds to influence an election and demanding that he be required at least to file a campaign finance report declaring how much money was spent and where it came from. So far they have gotten no response. So some members of the House thought it would be smart to specifically authorize Mr. Walters to use as much as he deems desirable of the $1.02 billion he will be receiving over the next five years for TV ads to oppose grass-roots efforts to reform drug policy. This would be a profoundly corrupt and corrupting policy. In a democratic (or republican) society, the core idea is that the government is supposed to work for the people. To have the permanent bureaucracy using the people's money to influence the people's votes is manifestly unfair and thoroughly backward. We don't know whether a move to give the drug czar a billion-dollar political slush fund reflects insecurity over what the people might do if not properly instructed by their betters or the simple arrogance of the longtime political-bureaucratic operator. Whatever the motivation, this is bad policy. The full Government Reform Committee will consider the bill with the slush-fund provision tomorrow. It should eliminate it immediately. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart