Pubdate: Fri, 05 Apr 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Peter Wehner
Note: Peter Wehner is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy 
Center. He was director of the White House Office of Strategic 
Initiatives in the George W. Bush administration and special 
assistant to the director of the Office of National Drug Control 
Policy during the George H.W. Bush administration.
Page: A11

REPUBLICANS SHOULD JUST SAY NO

Some say that the Republican Party needs to find new issues to 
champion if it hopes to become America's majority party. There is 
something to this. But being a conservative party, the GOP should 
also look to the past, where wisdom often resides.

In that spirit, Republicans once again should take a strong stand 
against drug use and legalization. Virtually no lawmaker in either 
party is doing so.

For his part, President Obama has said more about the NCAA men's 
basketball bracket than he has about the dangers posed by illegal 
drugs. Gil Kerlikowske, the president's "drug czar," said last month 
that "The administration has not done a particularly good job of, 
one, talking about marijuana as a public health issue, and number 
two, talking about what can be done and where we should be headed on 
our drug policy."

This is a startling admission, and there is a cost to abdication.

The drug-legalization movement is well-funded and making inroads. 
Voters in Washington state and Colorado passed ballot initiatives in 
November legalizing marijuana for recreational use. A bill to 
legalize marijuana was introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates 
last month. And Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to 
end federal prohibitions on marijuana use.

This is the perfect time for Republicans to offer counter arguments 
grounded in medical science, common sense and human experience.

For example: One of the main deterrents to drug use is because it is 
illegal. If drugs become legal, their price will go down and use will 
go up. And marijuana is far
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom