Governor Christie: We Will End the Failed War on Drugs

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23536

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http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2014/01/governor-christie-we-will-end-failed-war-drugs

Trenton, NJ—Governor Chris Christie today took the oath of office for a second term and delivered his inaugural address at the War Memorial in Trenton. During his inaugural address he called for an end to the drug war and compassion for those suffering from drug addiction.

“We will end the failed war on drugs that believes that incarceration is the cure of every ill caused by drug abuse. We will make drug treatment available to as many of our non-violent offenders as we can and we will partner with our citizens to create a society that understands this simple truth: every life has value and no life is disposable,” Christie said during his inaugural speech this morning.

The governor expressed desire to help those struggling with drug addiction in a bipartisan manner. “And, while government has a role in ensuring the opportunity to accomplish these dreams, we have now learned that we have an even bigger role to play as individual citizens. We have to be willing to play outside the red and blue boxes the media and pundits put us in; we have to be willing to reach out to others who look or speak differently than us; we have to be willing to personally reach out a helping hand to a neighbor suffering from drug addiction, depression or the dignity stripping loss of a job,” said Christie.

Governor Christie’s inaugural remarks are being applauded by drug policy reform advocates.

“I was delighted to be present for the Governor’s swearing in and to hear him make such promising remarks surrounding drug policy reform in our state,” says Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Legislation is desperately needed to reverse the counterproductive and discriminatory consequences of the failed war on drugs. The Drug Policy Alliance and advocates throughout New Jersey look forward to working with the Christie administration to address the unacceptable and unjust consequences of the drug war.”

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2014/01/governor-christie-we-will-end-failed-war-drugs
 
weekend addiction said:
I'm just glad that politicians are finally willing to oppose the drug war if they don't believe in it. Which of course means public opinion is\has changed already because politicians are whores.
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This! +1

I see this all as progress but until drugs are legal there will still be violated right and wrongly incarcerated citizens and that is unacceptable.
 
This might sound awfully random, but I was watching this documentary on the History Channel about the Berlin Wall, and how it felt to East Berliners in October '89 when they were finally allowed to visit West Berlin without fear of prosecution...

It was clear that the fundamental issue Germans in the East had with communism was a lack of freedom of choice to do with their lives as they wished.

Anyone who didn't agree with the politics, and anyone who was caught not following the rules usually was locked up - perhaps never to be heard from again.

If you were caught trying to flee to the West, it was considered a (victimless) crime and (assuming you weren't killed by the guards) you were sent to prison.

This really struck a cord with me in relation to our draconian laws and policies on drugs.

For too long, countless law abiding citizens - who would never think of harming another human being - have been locked up for the simple fact that, for whatever reasons there may be or have been, they chose to consume a mind altering substance.

Without giving much (or any) thought at all, these people are then unfairly judged to be losers, rejects, junkies, and so forth by society's naive, gullible and perhaps brainwashed counterparts.

As long as Germany was divided by a so-called 'iron curtain' the attempts to flee from the East to the West never ceased because people always felt the need for freedom eating away at their lives - regardless of the possible consequences.

As long as the War on Drugs has been fought, the use of recreational drugs has only increased over time because (generally speaking) people will always feel that need for freedom (at least temporarily) of whatever is consuming them - regardless of the possible consequences.

I know that I started using drugs because I needed to escape my sober state of mind. Things always felt incredibly tense and awkward whenever I was sober. And only when I was intoxicated have I felt free (mostly because memories which come back to haunt me when sober tend to fade away when I'm high).

I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that I would give anything to not have to repeatedly use a recreational drug to continue to get high. More importantly, I'd give anything to not have to increase my dosage because of tolerance. Unfortunately, I do, and I do. And it really sucks, but what sucks worse is how I feel without it.

Wish I could walk up to a drug prohibitionist and let him know that I'm high as a kite and I'm enjoying it. And what I wish is that he wouldn't immediately resort to labeling me an addict and not wanting anything further to do with me. Instead, I would honestly be shocked if that person were to ask me what was it that caused me to resort to getting high. It's never happened before. And it needs to change - not because I want some pity or attention, but because I believe it would help others understand why certain individuals appear to recklessly risk their lives for a temporary high.

In any case, just like former POTUS Ronald Regan said to Mikhail Gorbachev when he visited West Berlin, which was to "tear down this wall," I sincerely hope that this fascist ideology which brought about this futile war on drugs, the DEA, and all the UN drug treaties is torn asunder to be forever forgotten (the sooner, the better).
 
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Yeah, really good post for sure. The only thing for us is there's little chance of a collapse of our political system a la communism; it's unlikely our "Drug Curtain of Blind Incompetence" will come crashing down, sadly for us. The best we can hope for is a gradual change of societal attitudes to drugs, and the election of genuinely progressive representatives. Some of the pretty radical changes in cannabis laws in some states of the US actually gives me hope this may someday happen, although I suspect it'll be long wait.
 
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