With regard to the Nevada ballot initiative for this coming fall that if passed would legalize marijuana for adults (with defined limits), comes this annoying update:
Washington -- Responding to a request by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the
General Accounting Office (ONDCP), the investigative arm of Congress,
yesterday gave the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
unfettered permission to mislead the public in the name of opposing "drug
legalization."
In the run-up to the November 2002 elections, ONDCP campaigned aggressively
against state ballot measures to reform marijuana laws and other anti-drug
policies.
Part of this effort was a letter to local prosecutors from ONDCP Deputy
Director Scott Burns, which made a number of statements considered
misleading by experts, including the claims that "marijuana and violence are
linked" and "no credible research suggests" that marijuana has medical uses.
In an April 2, 2003, letter, which is available on-line at:
http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/complaints/gao_complaint.html Paul asked
the GAO to investigate whether the Burns letter violated the ban on use of
taxpayer funds for "publicity and propaganda" as well as the longstanding
GAO position that "the government should not disseminate misleading
information."
In its March 10 response to Paul, the GAO declared, in essence, that the
truth or falsity of ONDCP's statements is irrelevant. "ONDCP is specifically
charged with the responsibility for `taking such actions as necessary to
oppose any attempt to legalize the use' of certain controlled substances
such as marijuana," wrote GAO General Counsel Anthony Gamboa. "Given this
role, we do not see a need to examine the accuracy of the Deputy Director's
individual statements in detail."
Washington -- Responding to a request by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), the
General Accounting Office (ONDCP), the investigative arm of Congress,
yesterday gave the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
unfettered permission to mislead the public in the name of opposing "drug
legalization."
In the run-up to the November 2002 elections, ONDCP campaigned aggressively
against state ballot measures to reform marijuana laws and other anti-drug
policies.
Part of this effort was a letter to local prosecutors from ONDCP Deputy
Director Scott Burns, which made a number of statements considered
misleading by experts, including the claims that "marijuana and violence are
linked" and "no credible research suggests" that marijuana has medical uses.
In an April 2, 2003, letter, which is available on-line at:
http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/complaints/gao_complaint.html Paul asked
the GAO to investigate whether the Burns letter violated the ban on use of
taxpayer funds for "publicity and propaganda" as well as the longstanding
GAO position that "the government should not disseminate misleading
information."
In its March 10 response to Paul, the GAO declared, in essence, that the
truth or falsity of ONDCP's statements is irrelevant. "ONDCP is specifically
charged with the responsibility for `taking such actions as necessary to
oppose any attempt to legalize the use' of certain controlled substances
such as marijuana," wrote GAO General Counsel Anthony Gamboa. "Given this
role, we do not see a need to examine the accuracy of the Deputy Director's
individual statements in detail."
