Seattle police chief to become nation's drug czar (updated 3/12 now official)

Seattle police chief to become nation's drug czar
Steve Miletich and Mike Carter
The Seattle Times
2.11.09


Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has accepted a job as the nation's drug czar in the Obama administration, according to a source in Washington, D.C., who is familiar with the administration's plans.

The source said today that Kerlikowske has been chosen to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a Cabinet-level position otherwise known as the drug czar. The office, established in 1988, directs drug-control policy in the U.S.

Other sources also said they expected Kerlikowske to be named to the job, which requires Senate confirmation.

Kerlikowske, who has led the Seattle Police Department for more than eight years, has told the department's top commanders that he expects to leave to take a top federal position, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't officially authorized to disclose the information.

One source said the Seattle office of the FBI had received a "special presidential inquiry" ordering a comprehensive background check on Kerlikowske in anticipation of his taking a position in the administration.

Kerlikowske, 59, whose law-enforcement career spans 36 years, declined to comment.

Seattle FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said the agency doesn't discuss background checks.

Edward Jurith, the current acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, declined to talk about Kerlikowske when called at home in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening.

"Nope. No comment. I can't talk about it," he said.

The White House media affairs office declined comment today.

Kerlikowske had also expressed an interest in the top job at the federal Drug Enforcement Administration but apparently has not been tapped for that post, one source said.

Kerlikowske has told his command staff that he likely will leave by this summer and possibly much earlier, sources said.

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Close to AG Holder

Kerlikowske, who was appointed Seattle chief in 2000 by then-Mayor Paul Schell, had worked the previous two years as deputy director of the Justice Department's community-oriented policing division during the Clinton administration.

Sources said Kerlikowske established ties in Washington, D.C., and has a strong relationship with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton years.

Kerlikowske won credit for stabilizing the police department after the stormy departure of Norm Stamper as chief in the wake of the 1999 World Trade Organization riots in Seattle, as well as the department's initial failure to unearth a detective's alleged theft of money at a crime scene. A genial Kerlikowske reached out to citizens. In addition, crime rates dipped during his time as chief, reaching historic lows in recent years.

But his tenure has been rocky at times, marked by controversy over allegations that he was too soft when it came to disciplining officers in misconduct cases.

New rules recommended by a mayoral panel were put into place last year to make the chief more accountable, including a requirement that he explain his reasons for reversing disciplinary recommendations made by the department's Office of Professional Accountability (OPA).

Chief's background

Kerlikowske began his career as a street cop in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1972 and went on to serve as chief in two Florida cities, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie.

He became the first department outsider to lead the Buffalo, N.Y., department in the 1990s, and left there for the deputy-director position in the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, a post he was appointed to by then-President Clinton, according to his biography on the Seattle Police Department's Web site.

Kerlikowske lists one of his accomplishments as the development of less-than-lethal force options for officers, equipping dozens of officers with Tasers. He also oversaw the installation of cameras in the department's patrol cars.

Currently, he serves as president of the Major Cities Chief's Association, which consists of police leaders from the country's 56 largest metropolitan areas.

He has been an advocate of gun control and fought to pass the assault-weapons ban and has championed closing the background-check loophole at gun shows.

During a news conference this morning on another matter, Mayor Greg Nickels wouldn't confirm whether he has heard that Kerlikowske had been nominated for the post. He said the information would have to come from the Obama administration.

He also declined to say whether he had spoken recently with the chief. However, he did have praise for Kerlikowske.

"Seattle has the lowest crime rate it has had in over 40 years. That is due at least in part to work Chief Kerlikowske has done."

Nickels said he has not considered who would replace the chief since he is not aware that there will be a vacancy. But when asked what the likely course of action would be should the chief leave, he said, "It would be important that we have a strong interim chief quickly and then we take our time and look at a permanent selection so we make sure we make the right choice."

How he'd be replaced

If Kerlikowske departs, an interim chief is likely to be appointed, a City Hall source said. Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer, the department's second-ranking official, and Assistant Chief Nick Metz would be possible candidates, along with retired assistant chief Herb Johnson, who was highly praised for his performance as acting chief after Stamper's departure.

Kerlikowske is the region's second prominent official apparently headed to the Obama administration. Last week, King County Executive Ron Sims announced that Obama was nominating him to be deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sims, who had been campaigning for a fourth term as county executive, awaits Senate confirmation for the HUD job.

Kerlikowske arrived in Seattle with a reputation as a progressive and intellectual law-enforcement official.

But his standing with the public and his own officers suffered a major blow in 2001 over handling of the Mardi Gras riot that led to the death of 20-year-old Kristopher Kime and 70 injuries.

Nickels, the incoming mayor that year, considered removing Kerlikowske but kept him after a private meeting between the two.

The mayor ultimately became one of the chief's staunchest supporters, backing Kerlikowske's handling of discipline in the department.

Nickels also supported Kerlikowske when the city's police union voted no-confidence in him in 2002 after the chief publicly reprimanded an officer for being rude to a group of young jaywalkers. Rank-and-file officers were also upset that commanders weren't disciplined for not quickly intervening to quell the Mardi Gras riot.

But Nickels bent to public pressure in 2007, when the chief came under criticism for his handling of officer discipline after a controversial downtown drug stop and the violent arrest of a man outside a nightclub. Nickels appointed the panel that recommended stricter standards for police oversight and accepted its proposals.

"Oh God bless us"

Kerlikowske's possible role in shaping drug policy for the Obama administration was applauded Tuesday by local medical-marijuana advocates.

In 2003, Kerlikowske opposed a city ballot measure, approved by voters, to make marijuana possession the lowest law-enforcement priority, saying it would create confusion. But in doing so, he noted that arresting people for possessing marijuana for personal use was already not a priority.

"Oh God bless us," said Joanna McKee, co-founder and director of Green Cross Patient Co-Op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group. "What a blessing — the karma gods are smiling on the whole country, man."

McKee said Kerlikowske knows the difference between cracking down on the illegal abuse of drugs and allowing the responsible use of marijuana.

Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney and advocate for medical-marijuana patients, said his first preference would be for a physician to oversee national drug policy.

But Kerlikowske would be a vast improvement over past drug czars, who have used the office to carry out the so-called "war on drugs," Hiatt said.

Kerlikowske is a "very reasonable guy" who would likely bring more liberal policies to the job, Hiatt said.

Link!

Interesting.. hopefully it means good news.

Ya this is much better than past drug czars. This guy has been the chief of police in seattle, and during his tenure seattle has been very lax toward marijuana offenses. Hopefully he will continue this on the national stage. It would have been better if he had been head of the DEA as the drug czar does not really have all that much power.

john walters...get the f@#k outta here!

Obama's New Drug Czar Couldn't Be Any Worse Than Bush's. Will He Be Any Better?

I'd have preferred someone from the public health/medical field, but, if nominated, as expected, and confirmed by the Senate, current Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will no doubt do a better job as the nation's "drug czar" than his predecessor.

John Walters, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, was a fanatic enemy of science and reason. His "reefer madness" misstatements on marijuana, his ill-conceived, mulish advocacy of drug testing in public schools, his refusal to listen to critics of the drug war (much less debate them) are all, gloriously, a thing of the past.

But what of Gil (or "Kerli," as his affectionate detractors call him)? Will the 36-year law enforcement veteran put the country on a path to more sensible drug policy?

I don't know.

Kerlikowske is president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a body whose members were helpful to me during my six years as Seattle's chief. He also chairs Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an inspired program meant to prevent children from becoming criminals. He's intelligent, putatively progressive, and more inclined toward research and evidence than your average police administrator.

But will he be open to candid conversation about what the drug war has wrought, and what tomorrow's drug policy ought to look like? What's his current take on the drug war? I'm with Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance who pointed out in a February 11 press release that, "While Gil Kerlikowske has not spoken out in favor of [needle exchanges, medical marijuana, the city's marijuana-as-lowest-enforcement-priority law, and the King County Bar Association's exploration of alternatives to prohibition], he is clearly familiar with them and has not been a forceful opponent."

I'm optimistic but the jury is out, and won't return until Senate confirmation hearings. At which time those who hunger for justice and common sense might want to think about joining the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and others to "ensure that the nominee for drug czar is thoroughly grilled at the confirmation hearings, and held accountable to the commitments and standards that President Obama has declared."

One thing I know for sure about Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske? If Michael Phelps had bent over that bong in Seattle and not in Sheriff Leon Lott's Richland County, SC, he'd have nothing to fear but a foolish and fickle cereal maker.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/obamas-new-drug-czar-coul_b_166202.html

phrozen said:

"Oh God bless us," said Joanna McKee, co-founder and director of Green Cross Patient Co-Op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group. "What a blessing — the karma gods are smiling on the whole country, man."

Click to expand...

ugh. why couldn't they take her quote BEFORE she hit the bong, MAN?

well, keep in mind this guy doesn't have free reign. if anything, his job description is probably a lot more limited than it was before.

thujone said:

ugh. why couldn't they take her quote BEFORE she hit the bong, MAN?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it is the responsibility of cannabis advocates to appear articulate and identifiable, rather than blazed hippies. Media loves quotes that continue to allow the public to see cannabis users as steriotypes.

In a Likely Obama Pick, Some Find Hope for a Shift in Drug Policy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/us/politics/16czar.html?_r=1&hp

In a Likely Obama Pick, Some Find Hope for a Shift in Drug Policy

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: February 15, 2009

SEATTLE — Washington State law prohibits the possession of marijuana except for certain medical purposes. Hempfest is not one of them. Yet each summer when the event draws thousands to the Seattle waterfront to call for decriminalizing marijuana, participants light up in clear view of police officers. And they rarely get arrested.

“Police officers patrolling are courteous and respectful,” said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

One reason for the officers’ approach, said Ms. Holcomb and others who follow law enforcement in Seattle, is the leadership of R. Gil Kerlikowske, the chief of the Seattle Police Department and, officials in the Obama administration say, the president’s choice to become the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, known as the drug czar.

The anticipated selection of Chief Kerlikowske has given hope to those who want national drug policy to shift from an emphasis on arrest and prosecution to methods more like those employed in Seattle: intervention, treatment and a reduction of problems drug use can cause, a tactic known as harm reduction. Chief Kerlikowske is not necessarily regarded as having forcefully led those efforts, but he has not gotten in the way of them.

“What gives me optimism,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, “is not so much him per se as the fact that he’s been the police chief of Seattle. And Seattle, King County and Washington State have really been at the forefront of harm reduction and other drug policy reform.”

The White House has yet to announce the nomination of Chief Kerlikowske, and a spokesman for the Seattle police said the chief would not discuss the matter. His appointment would require Senate confirmation.

Chief Kerlikowske, 59, became police chief in Seattle in 2000, after serving as a deputy director for community policing at the Justice Department in the Clinton administration. While there he worked with Eric H. Holder Jr., then a deputy attorney general and now the head of the department.

Before going to the Justice Department, Chief Kerlikowske was the police chief in Buffalo and in Fort Myers and Port St. Lucie in Florida. Under John P. Walters, the drug czar during most of the administration of President George W. Bush, the drug office focused on tough enforcement of drug laws, including emphases on marijuana and drug use among youths. The agency pointed to reductions in the use of certain kinds of drugs, but it was criticized by some local law enforcement officials who said its priorities did not reflect local concerns, from the rise of methamphetamine to the fight against drug smuggling at the Mexican border.

“The difference is I’ll be able to call Washington and get ahold of Gil and he’ll answer the phone,” said William Lansdowne, the police chief in San Diego and a member of the board of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Chief Kerlikowske is the president of the association. “He listens. He’s very open to new ideas. He’ll build cooperation.”

Chief Lansdowne added, “He’ll take a look at prevention as much as enforcement.”

But Chief Kerlikowske also has critics.

Norm Stamper, whom Chief Kerlikowske succeeded in Seattle, said he was a “blank slate” on drug policy. Mr. Stamper, who left office not long after the riots that broke out during a 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, supports legalizing marijuana and spoke at Hempfest after leaving the chief’s job. He said Chief Kerlikowske had not been a vocal supporter of some of the city’s drug policies focused on treatment, like a needle exchange program or a 2003 city ballot initiative, overwhelmingly approved by voters, that said enforcing the law against marijuana possession by adults should be the department’s lowest priority.

“The question is, if he were in a much more conservative community, would he attempt to turn that around?” Mr. Stamper said.

Others said that Mr. Kerlikowske’s role as a police chief put him in a delicate political position because he would not want to be accused of being soft on crime. They note that he did not actively oppose the 2003 initiative and that he instructed his staff to comply with it once it passed. They say that Seattle police officers in recent years have kept their distance from the sites of needle exchanges.

Drug arrests are down in the city and overall crime is at a 40-year low, though concerns have increased recently over gang violence.

Chief Kerlikowske has faced plenty of criticism during his time in Seattle. In 2001, a study found that more than half of adults arrested for drug crimes in the city were black, though less than 10 percent of the population was black. The chief vowed to address the disparity, and it has decreased.

In 2002, he received a vote of no confidence from the local police union. The year before, officers had been frustrated by his handling of a Mardi Gras riot in which one person died and dozens were injured. Some officers said they were prevented from intervening soon enough.

In 2007, a special commission found that the department had been too lenient in disciplining officers in certain situations.

In 2004, the chief’s duty weapon, a 9mm Glock pistol, was stolen from his unmarked police car while he and his wife shopped downtown on the day after Christmas. A police spokesman said later that the chief had accidentally left his car unlocked but that he had not violated department policy by leaving his gun in his car.

Obama's Pick for Drug Czar Hails from 'Cutting Edge' of Harm Reduction Approach to Drug Reform
Phillip S. Smith
AlterNet
2.15.09


President Obama has named Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), colloquially known as the drug czar's office, a White House official confirmed Thursday. It is not clear when the official announcement will be made.

It is also not clear whether ONDCP will retain its position as a cabinet-level entity, which it has been under recent administrations. That, too, will be cleared up when the official announcement is made, the official said. The drug czar possibly being demoted could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on his proclivities.

How Kerlikowske will behave as drug czar is unclear. His has not been a loud voice on drug policy, but he has been police chief in a city, Seattle, that has embraced lowest-priority policing for adult marijuana offenses and needle exchange programs, and he has gone with the flow in regards to those issues. For a keen local look at Kerlikowske, Seattle activist turned journalist Dominic Holden's musings on Kerlikowske are well worth checking out.

Prior to being named Seattle police chief in 2000, Kerlikowske served as deputy director in the Justice Department, where he oversaw the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program. He also spent four years as Buffalo's police commissioner. The military veteran has a total of 36 years in law enforcement, where he has earned a reputation as a progressive.

While Kerlikowske has a national profile in law enforcement circles, it is not because of drug policy. His interests have been around gun policy, immigration, and electronic data mining of private records, which he has criticized as highly intrusive and not very useful.

Drug reformers had advocated for someone with a public health -- not a law enforcement -- background to head ONDCP. But a progressive law enforcement official who has a record of tolerating drug reform and harm reduction efforts may make for a decent drug czar from the reform perspective.

"While we're disappointed that President Obama seems poised to nominate a police chief instead of a major public health advocate as drug czar, we're cautiously optimistic that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will support Obama's drug policy reform agenda," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "What gives us hope is the fact that Seattle has been at the cutting edge of harm reduction and other drug policy reform developments in the United States over the last decade," he said.

Link!

Transcript: Biden Announces Drug Czar
NY Times


THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for being here -- a lot of familiar faces. Please sit down, I'm only the Vice President -- (laughter) -- but thank you. A lot of -- I see a lot of familiar faces with whom I've worked a long time in both the treatment community and the enforcement side of the ledger. And I'm delighted you're here, and I hope you're as delighted about what I'm about to announce as I am.

Today I'm pleased to announce that President Obama has nominated as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy -- our nation's drug czar -- Gil Kerlikowske, who is the Chief out in Seattle, and many of you in this room know him well.

Chief, the position you're nominated for, as you know, not only me, but a lot of people in this room fought to create back some years ago when we found out we had 32 agencies dealing with the drug problem and not a lot of coordination. And I should say -- note parenthetically, I've been a little disappointed the last eight years it hasn't gotten the attention that it should have gotten. But that's about to change.

I believe that we needed a drug czar, someone who could lead at a White House level, coordinating all our nation's drug policy, and I still believe that today.

Substance abuse is one of our nation's most pervasive problems, as all of you in this room know. An addiction is a disease -- as Pat Moynihan used to say, disease of the brain, that doesn't discriminate on the basis of age, gender, socioeconomic standing, or status, race, or creed. And as all of you know, it wreaks havoc on all of our communities: urban, rural and suburban.

And the correlation between crime and substance abuse was established undeniably clearly back in the '70s, as you know, Director. And it is something that if we could wave a wand and do anything to deal with violent crime in America, if you had said to eliminate drug abuse, you would eliminate a significant portion of the violent crime in America. So the correlation between violence and drugs is well established.

And all of this carries a very, very heavy price tag, both in terms of personal and emotional terms, and in terms of cost to the American taxpayer. Just the health and economic cost alone from drug and alcohol abuse amounts to over $350 billion a year -- just those costs, $350 billion a year; an even bigger cost in human suffering, the lives lost, the lost dreams that result from the pain and destruction that abuse brings to not only the abuser, but to the family and everyone surrounding, everyone who loves that person.

And there's no one more qualified to take on this job than the Chief. I've worked with him for years. He has 36 years of law enforcement experience. He's served as the highest ranking law enforcement officer in four of our cities in the United States of America. He's been Seattle's chief now for nearly nine years. I know when I called him the first time it was, like, he wasn't sure whether to take the call or not. (Laughter.)

But he is also president of the Major City Chiefs Association -- a group -- and many are represented here today -- a group made up of 56 of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. And he's served as a Deputy Director of the COPS program at the United States Department of Justice -- one of the -- in my view -- I'm mildly prejudiced, having written the legislation -- but in my view one of the most effective crime prevention programs we've ever established in the nation's history.

And the chief has been on the front lines in the battle against drugs as well. He's been recognized as one of the most innovative minds in law enforcement and he's been called a "fierce defender of community policing principles." What I find most appealing about the Chief is that he says we can't operate in "silos" -- with barriers thrown up between the criminal justice system, the prevention and treatment community, and the recovery components of this problem. They can't be separated. He knows we need a comprehensive answer.

And that's exactly what the vision we had in mind when we first -- many of you in this room who helped -- when we first created that office. That was the idea from the outset.

We know we needed tough laws, and we have tough laws. But that wasn't enough. We needed a balanced approach in combating drugs -- one that included prevention, treatment and enforcement.

And that's why when I wrote what used to be called the Biden Crime Bill back in the '90s -- and quite frankly, many of you in this room literally sat and wrote that bill with me; it had my name on it, but you all wrote it -- when we wrote that back in 1994, I felt so strongly about the need to create specialized Drug Courts -- so we could have an alternative to incarceration and the traditional probation that included treatment and a way forward.

That's why I fought so hard for the Drug Free Communities Support Program, so we could bring together parents, teachers, business leaders, police, medical profession to prevent drug abuse and addiction in local communities.

And that's why I, along with many of you, worked so hard for the COPS program -- because quite frankly more cops on the street is one of the best ways to keep drugs off the street.

The challenges facing the Chief are going to be daunting. Nowhere is that more true than in the southwest border today. All you have to do is pick up your paper anywhere in the nation, national and local -- since the beginning of last year there have been nearly 7,000 drug-related murders in Mexico. If we had said that years ago we would have looked at each other like we were crazy -- but 7,000 drug-related murders in Mexico. Violent drug trafficking organizations are threatening both the United States and Mexican communities.

And as drug czar the Chief will play a central role in developing and implementing a southwest border strategy -- one that improves information sharing, harnesses the power of new technologies, strengthens federal, state and local law enforcement efforts against violent criminals, and increases the interdiction of both drugs coming into the United States and weapons and cash flowing out of the United States into Mexico. It's a strategy that we need to bring in order to bring the situation under control, to protect our people, and to bring about the demise of the Mexican drug cartels.

And by the way, we've done this before. We did it in Cartagena -- I mean, excuse me, not Cartagena, we did it in Colombia, in Medellin. We've done it before with the help. We've been involved in this. So I don't want people throwing up their hands and saying, there's nothing we can do about this. We can -- with a coordinated and consistent effort.

The other challenges are just as tough. We know about the nexus between drug abuse and crime -- and that poses the greatest need for help for those who are likely to enter the criminal justice system in the first place. That's why the drug courts I spoke about are so important -- as are prisoner reentry programs –- because these can serve as the light at the end of a tunnel, a very long, long, dark tunnel, for those who are stuck in the cycle of drug addiction and incarceration.

I know Chief Kelly understands that we -- every year, every day, when prisoners' times is up and we let them out, a significant portion walk out through that gate addicted to drugs -- as they walk out into the community, they're addicted to drugs.

We know we need to help keep kids away from drugs, as well, and that's obviously not easy. They're bombarded -- kids are bombarded with messages in the media that present inaccurate information and glamorize the use of drugs. It only -- that only makes the National Youth Drug-Anti Media [sic] campaign -- something that you, Chief, will now lead as part of your organization, and which I was -- believed needed to be created back in 1998 –- even more important.

We know the local solutions through local communities –- precisely the efforts we're looking for with the Drug Free Communities Act –- are the only way to build a kind of support system that can help keep kids off of drugs. This is one kid at a time. This is local. You cannot mandate from Washington or anywhere else a policy that's going to do that.

Chief, the challenges ahead of you are great. But the President and I have total confidence in your ability to handle them. Both the President and I believe that you will lead our nation's efforts against illegal drugs with unshakable resolve and exceptional skill, and the President is honored -- is honored to send your nomination to the United States Senate.

Once again, to all my friends out here, I thank you for being here. He's going to need all the help he can get. He's going to need the coordinative capacity that exists in this room. I thank you for being here today and for your timeless -- your timeless commitment -- and I'm including the prevention community that's sitting out here, and the treatment community that's sitting out here. And on behalf of the President and I, to all of you, we thank you.

So please join me in joining the Chief who's going to be our new drug czar, a man you all know well and a man I'm confident is going to be tapping all of you for help. Chief, the floor is yours. Congratulations. (Applause.)

CHIEF KERLIKOWSKE: Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I want to thank the Vice President for his commitment for combating drugs. You know, it's a great honor for me to stand on the stage with a man who fought to create the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He's recognized for a long time the need for this coordinated comprehensive national drug strategy. I am looking forward to working with you and this administration.

I want to thank the President for this opportunity to serve the country. And I applaud his recognition that the perspectives of those that are closest to the ground, those on the front lines of the fight against drugs -- those are state and local law enforcement officers and service and treatment providers. It's critically important that their viewpoints be taken in.

I'm pleased that many of my colleagues, many of my friends, are here: Commissioner Ray Kelly from the New York City Police Department, a staunch leader in this effort; Chief Bill Bratton from the Los Angeles Police Department; Chief Cathy Lanier from right here in Washington, D.C.; Tom Manger, the Chief of the Montgomery County Police Department. And then others -- David Kass, who's the president of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an association that I have been pleased to work on for many years; and Al Lenhardt, who is the head of the National Crime Prevention Council; and Amy Singer, who's the director of Program Planning for Phoenix House. These are the men and women across the country who have dedicated their lives to reducing drug trafficking and use, and of course so many others here today.

I'm heartened to see all of the young people also. I'm delighted to see all of the young people. (Applause.) These are the young leaders, these are the people that are working hard to raise the awareness among their peers about the dangers of drugs.

The success of our efforts to reduce the flow of drugs is largely dependent on our ability to reduce demand for them. And that starts with our youth. Our nation's drug problem is one of human suffering, and as a police officer but also in my own family, I have experienced the effects that drugs can have on our youth, our families and our communities.

I know we need to do a much better job in reducing and eliminating these problems. And tackling our nation's complex drug problem takes a coordinated and multifaceted effort. There's a lot of hard work ahead, but I am absolutely committed to this task, Mr. Vice President.

For too long, we have operated, as the Vice President said, in silence when it comes to making our country drug free and reducing the demand for drugs. It's an incredibly complex problem, and it requires prosecutors and law enforcement, courts, treatment providers, and prevention programs to exchange information and to work together. And our priority should be a seamless, comprehensive approach.

The President and the Vice President have set a new course, and I'm looking forward to working with the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and all of the agencies that are involved in drug policy on implementing this new course.

Already this administration has expanded commitments to critical programs, ones that we've seen such as drug courts, better treatment, prisoner and reentry programs, border security, and counternarcotics initiatives, both domestically and internationally. This is a real commitment to strengthening the tools we have to reduce trafficking, illegal drug manufacturing, and drug-related crime and violence.

There is much work to be done. I'm looking forward to getting to work. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

Link!

law creates crime.

If I were at that press conference I would have thrown my shoes at Biden.

"There are not enough jails, not enough police, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people."
- Hubert H. Humphrey


"You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws."
- Ron Paul

panic_the_digital said:

If I were at that press conference I would have thrown my shoes at Biden.

Click to expand...

I wonder if you would have gotten more than 3 years for doing that?

^It would totally be worth it.

Ugh, Regardless of what he handles as part of his job, I don't like the sound of gun control and assult weapons ban. Drugs are good and all but I can grow weed, I can't effectivly manufacture a firearm. Contrary to many I'd rather have a gun in my hand than a joint.

Man, gotta love this change. Pandering to prevention and treatment while slipping in a little line regarding increasing counter-narcotic funding domestically and abroad.