Wow.

Prohibition is OUT, Harm Reduction is in!.

OMG.



The Obama administration signalled today that it was ready to repudiate the prohibition and "war on drugs" approach of previous presidents, and steer policy towards prevention and "harm reduction" strategies favoured by Europe.

Just...wow.

Note the reference to "previous presidents".

Richard Nixon. Ronald Reagan. George Bush the 1st, Bill Clinton (who could have done something) and 8 years of Bush II. Those would be the previous presidents.

David Johnson, an assistant secretary of state, said the new administration would embrace policies supporting federally funded needle exchanges. The aim, he said, was to establish a policy based on public health needs. "This will result in a policy that is broader and stronger than the one we had in the past," Johnson said on the sidelines of a UN drug strategy conference in Vienna. His words come days after the nomination of the Seattle police chief, Gil Kerlikowske, to the post of director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the nation's drug czar. Kerlikowske has built a reputation in Seattle for pursuing drug policies based on harm reduction. The state has an established needle exchange programme, has legalised marijuana for medicinal purposes and has made marijuana among the lowest priorities for law enforcement.

As I said to some people a couple weeks after Obam took control and began presidentin', "Our proverbial glass is now half full, no longer half empty".

The change in attitude - even if the policies aren't as progressive as I'd like at times - the ATTITUDE is totally different. This huge decision is a reflection of that quantum change in viewpoints and "attitude".

No...nothing about "legalizing pot", but there is the reference to Seattle and Washington State making pot arrests the last priority, instead of Job 1.

Well, I spoke to soon! Some of these comments came out of hearing in Washington DC last week in which the sentiments of several Latin American leaders, particularly concerned about the escalation of violence in Mexico [1 | 2] were heard:



Those hearings followed a report by the former presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, which dubbed the war on drugs a "complete failure". Ernesto Zedillo, César Gaviria and Henrique Cardoso, all conservative politicians, blamed the US emphasis on criminalisation for the continuing toll caused by drug trafficking, and called for an approach based on public health, including the legalisation of marijuana.

I am not holding my breath on the Obama Administration rushing out to relegalize marijuana, but I have heard some definitely wonderful things nonetheless.

Hooray for the Obama Administration!

_______

@xxdr_zombiexx



About author Doc is a licensed professional counselor who writes about the reform of marijuana laws and attitudes.