L.E.A.P released a statement about Obama's intentions to give us a better approach to the 'war on drugs' model which EVERYBODY knows is more than just a failure. It's a counterproductive stratehy that has directly resulted in what Kerlikowske said about drugs being even more of an issue.

The drug czar is saying all the right things about ending the 'war on drugs' and enacting a long-overdue balanced strategy focused on a public health approach," said Neill Franklin, a former Baltimore cop and incoming executive director of LEAP, according to a release. "Unfortunately the reality of the budget numbers don't match up to the rhetoric. Two-thirds of the budget is dedicated to the same old 'war on drugs' approach and only a third goes to public health strategies. My experience policing the beat tells me that it's certainly time for a new approach, but unfortunately this administration is failing to provide the necessary leadership to actually make it happen instead of just talking about it." The White House characterized law enforcement's role in the strategy as "critical," but placed much of its emphasis on creating new community treatment centers and exploring new options for eradicating addiction. It also points at prescription drug abuse as the nation's fastest-growing drug-related health problem. "It's great to see the administration starting to talk like they want to actually change failed drug policies," Franklin added in the LEAP advisory. "But we can't let them get away with claiming that they've ended the 'war on drugs' while we continue to arrest 800,000 people a year on marijuana charges alone."

Back to the AP article: John Walters the Drug Czar under Bush begs to differ with the idea it's all been for naught:

Walters insists society would be far worse today if there had been no War on Drugs. Drug abuse peaked nationally in 1979 and, despite fluctuations, remains below those levels, he says. Judging the drug war is complicated: Records indicate marijuana and prescription drug abuse are climbing, while cocaine use is way down. Seizures are up, but so is availability. "To say that all the things that have been done in the war on drugs haven't made any difference is ridiculous," Walters said. "It destroys everything we've done. It's saying all the people involved in law enforcment, treatment and prevention have been wasting their time. It's saying all these people's work is misguided."

Freak.

Anyway, be sure to click the link and read the AP article.

Some on the Left feel that AP is not the most credible organization these days; I am arguing it's relative but quite important.

It's AP that's been one of the MAJOR news/news-relaying organizations who have helped feed the general public a steady diet of misinformation, particularly about "marijuana".

Now here they are ripping it to shreds.

They see the connection between our war on drugs and the Mexican Cartel violence.

In a closely related article, Dr. Ethan Nadleman talks about cannabis reflrm as a civil rights issue.

Of all our drug law reform efforts, however, marijuana law reform should be at or near the top of our racial justice priorities. Why? Of the 1.8 million drug arrests made last year, 750,000 were for nothing more than possession of a small amount of marijuana. That represents more than 40% of all drug arrests. The best available national evidence indicates that roughly the same proportion of blacks and whites use marijuana — but that black people are roughly three times more likely to be arrested for possessing marijuana. ***** Clearly marijuana prohibition is unique among American criminal laws. No other law is both enforced so widely and harshly yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the populace. Recent polls show that over 40% of Americans think that marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol; it's roughly 50% among Democrats, independents, adults under age 30 and voters in a growing number of western states. What's difficult to understand is how and why the number of people arrested annually for marijuana possession has roughly doubled during the past 20 years — even as support for ending marijuana prohibition has also doubled during the same period of time.

He talks about how race is a main factor in this, while I constantly blame the GOP as they have made this their religion since Nixon declared a war on drugs.

It's a litmus test for GOP biggies if they want to go anywhere. : Sarah Palin had to stop smoking the weed and renounce it (bad example for the children, she said).

I believe the arrest rates have gone sky high because of all the anti-marijuana propaganda - reefer madness - that has polluted the airways since Reagan's days. LOTS of people (still) believe it! Whips people into a fervor.

Again, the truth is the war on drugs is an unmitigated disaster that has caused far more strife and waste than it thought it could prevent.

It's been 40 years of fail.