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2016: When Republican presidential candidates will finally take drug policy reform seriously
By Chris Moody
October 7, 2014
Shortly after Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, he traveled to Colorado, where a reporter in Denver asked for his thoughts on medical marijuana. The conversation did not go well.
Romney scowled and cut reporter Shaun Boyd off midsentence.
“Aren’t there significant issues that you’d like to talk about?” he protested, looking uncomfortable as Boyd continued her questioning.
“This is significant in Colorado,” she replied. Indeed, it was. Six months later, on the same night that Romney lost his bid for the White House against President Barack Obama, Colorado voters would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Washington state did the same, making them the first states in the nation to take such action.
But in that meeting two years ago, Romney didn’t want to talk about it. “The economy, the economy, the economy. The growth of jobs. The need to put people back to work. The challenges of Iran,” Romney told the Denver CBS reporter. “We’ve got enormous issues that we face, but you want talk about — go ahead — you want to talk about marijuana?”
It was a performance typical of the mainstream of the Republican Party. During its presidential primary process that year, illegal drugs rarely became an issue deemed worthy of serious discussion, and the only candidates who wanted to talk about sentencing reform and drug legalization were those on the party’s ideological fringes: Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who would go on to run on the Libertarian Party line.
But as Republicans approach another presidential campaign season, those who’ve given signs they will run are showing a much greater willingness to discuss drugs as a public policy issue worth a serious person’s time, heralding what many observers believe might actually be the first major right-of-center discussion about the government’s role in handling drug cases in years.
Republican governors such as Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas have been actively pursuing approaches to tackling drug abuse in their states that emphasize treatment for addicts instead of prison time. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has partnered with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, on legislation to change how the federal criminal justice system treats drug users. This year, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joined Paul as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act, which would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for many nonviolent drug crimes. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan — who had his wrists slapped by the Romney campaign for saying, as its vice presidential pick, that he supported a state’s right to legalize medical marijuana — is a House co-sponsor of a similar bill.
To be sure, none of these politicians has called for the outright legalization of any illegal drug, (although Paul has said that states should have the freedom to establish their own drug laws.) They have, however, expressed an eagerness to overhaul the nation’s approach to drug use, sponsoring legislation that moves away from the tough-on-crime model that has dominated GOP thinking on drugs ever since Richard Nixon announced the “war on drugs” in 1971.
That’s created an opening for a serious conversation about drug policy to be part of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
In New Jersey, Christie in particular has poured significant time and resources as governor into championing a program for the state that treats drug users as disease victims in need of treatment, instead of punishment. Since he was elected in 2010, Christie has advocated for drug courts that sentence nonviolent offenders to mandatory treatment programs in lieu of jail time. For help, he’s partnered with local community groups, drug rehabilitation centers and New Jersey churches to implement a plan to make access to drug treatment available throughout the state in cooperation with state government initiatives.
Last week, Christie spent several hours discussing the program with policymakers, treatment advocates and recovering drug addicts at a forum at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. The summit, called "The Many Faces of Addiction: Ending the Stigma,” was designed to highlight how the reality of addiction differs from the stereotypical depiction of addicts. The event aimed to show that people from every race and socio-economic class suffer from drug addiction, and it featured testimonials from recovering users. Christie is also backing a campaign for former and current addicts to tell their own stories in an effort to show how widespread the problem is.
Continued here http://news.yahoo.com/why-drug-poli...t-republican-presidential-race-214935540.html
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R Paul for president.. If he can get in and has a chance to repeal the "Patriot Act", hold the outta control gov to the constitution, and end the "Drug War" he would be my hero
. Im telling you all, this cat is no joke.. he is not some hand puppet of the corrupt system.. he is there to do what he feels is the best for the american people. fukn not kidding. America needs to elect this person. Regularly crosses party lines on issues when he feels the goal is whats right for the people.. telling you right now.. he's not a republican.. he just plays one on TV so he is included in the two party monopoly exclusion.. I dont agree with everything he says, but I do believe that he actually stands for what he says. Done with the hand puppet loosers.. done with the loby deap throating whores, done with the clowns.. I want to see a real leader patch this ship up.. I think this is our man.
By Chris Moody
October 7, 2014
Shortly after Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, he traveled to Colorado, where a reporter in Denver asked for his thoughts on medical marijuana. The conversation did not go well.
Romney scowled and cut reporter Shaun Boyd off midsentence.
“Aren’t there significant issues that you’d like to talk about?” he protested, looking uncomfortable as Boyd continued her questioning.
“This is significant in Colorado,” she replied. Indeed, it was. Six months later, on the same night that Romney lost his bid for the White House against President Barack Obama, Colorado voters would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Washington state did the same, making them the first states in the nation to take such action.
But in that meeting two years ago, Romney didn’t want to talk about it. “The economy, the economy, the economy. The growth of jobs. The need to put people back to work. The challenges of Iran,” Romney told the Denver CBS reporter. “We’ve got enormous issues that we face, but you want talk about — go ahead — you want to talk about marijuana?”
It was a performance typical of the mainstream of the Republican Party. During its presidential primary process that year, illegal drugs rarely became an issue deemed worthy of serious discussion, and the only candidates who wanted to talk about sentencing reform and drug legalization were those on the party’s ideological fringes: Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who would go on to run on the Libertarian Party line.
But as Republicans approach another presidential campaign season, those who’ve given signs they will run are showing a much greater willingness to discuss drugs as a public policy issue worth a serious person’s time, heralding what many observers believe might actually be the first major right-of-center discussion about the government’s role in handling drug cases in years.
Republican governors such as Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas have been actively pursuing approaches to tackling drug abuse in their states that emphasize treatment for addicts instead of prison time. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has partnered with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, on legislation to change how the federal criminal justice system treats drug users. This year, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joined Paul as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act, which would eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for many nonviolent drug crimes. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan — who had his wrists slapped by the Romney campaign for saying, as its vice presidential pick, that he supported a state’s right to legalize medical marijuana — is a House co-sponsor of a similar bill.
To be sure, none of these politicians has called for the outright legalization of any illegal drug, (although Paul has said that states should have the freedom to establish their own drug laws.) They have, however, expressed an eagerness to overhaul the nation’s approach to drug use, sponsoring legislation that moves away from the tough-on-crime model that has dominated GOP thinking on drugs ever since Richard Nixon announced the “war on drugs” in 1971.
That’s created an opening for a serious conversation about drug policy to be part of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
In New Jersey, Christie in particular has poured significant time and resources as governor into championing a program for the state that treats drug users as disease victims in need of treatment, instead of punishment. Since he was elected in 2010, Christie has advocated for drug courts that sentence nonviolent offenders to mandatory treatment programs in lieu of jail time. For help, he’s partnered with local community groups, drug rehabilitation centers and New Jersey churches to implement a plan to make access to drug treatment available throughout the state in cooperation with state government initiatives.
Last week, Christie spent several hours discussing the program with policymakers, treatment advocates and recovering drug addicts at a forum at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. The summit, called "The Many Faces of Addiction: Ending the Stigma,” was designed to highlight how the reality of addiction differs from the stereotypical depiction of addicts. The event aimed to show that people from every race and socio-economic class suffer from drug addiction, and it featured testimonials from recovering users. Christie is also backing a campaign for former and current addicts to tell their own stories in an effort to show how widespread the problem is.
Continued here http://news.yahoo.com/why-drug-poli...t-republican-presidential-race-214935540.html
.............................................................................................................................................
R Paul for president.. If he can get in and has a chance to repeal the "Patriot Act", hold the outta control gov to the constitution, and end the "Drug War" he would be my hero
. Im telling you all, this cat is no joke.. he is not some hand puppet of the corrupt system.. he is there to do what he feels is the best for the american people. fukn not kidding. America needs to elect this person. Regularly crosses party lines on issues when he feels the goal is whats right for the people.. telling you right now.. he's not a republican.. he just plays one on TV so he is included in the two party monopoly exclusion.. I dont agree with everything he says, but I do believe that he actually stands for what he says. Done with the hand puppet loosers.. done with the loby deap throating whores, done with the clowns.. I want to see a real leader patch this ship up.. I think this is our man. NSFW:
