Where Exactly Does Obama Stand on the War on Drugs?

Many rumors have been circulating regarding President Obama’s stance on illegal drug use.

Some drug reform advocates hope the president will legalize marijuana; some critics think he will continue the failed policies of the Bush administration in Latin America.

The President’s actual stance on drug policy falls somewhere in between.  On Whitehouse.gov, Obama states:

With escalating violence along our Southwest border and far too many suffering from the disease of addiction here at home, never has it been more important to have a national drug control strategy guided by sound principles of public safety and public health. We must demonstrate to our international partners, the criminal organizations threatening to undermine stability and the rule of law in those nations, and the American people, that we take seriously our responsibility to reduce drug use in the United States.

The Obama administration has dropped usage of the term “War on Drugs” in favor of “harm reduction” signaling a shift from prohibition to prevention.  The President wants to establish a policy that focuses on public health needs and plans to federally fund needle exchanges; however, the ‘09-’10 federal budget continues the longstanding ban on needle exchange programs. The selection of Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as drug czar could signal a shift in drug policy, but the jury is still out on.  Kerlikowske’s state of Washington has needle exchange programs, medical marijuana rights, and made marijuana a low priority for law enforcement.   Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drugs Policy Alliance, explains:

These statements really indicate a significant shift.  It’s not just a repudiation of the Bush administration, it’s a repudiation of the Clinton administration. This signals a new direction in US drug policy. This is about all the leading scientists and all the public health people pushing in the same direction and Obama saying he’s putting science above politics.

But is this really true?  What about the US financial support of Mexico’s war on organized crime and drug-trafficking?  In the Fiscal Year 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Request, Obama requests funding for “counterdrug/anti-crime assistance for Mexico”, although the $0.5 billion is to be shared other economic development projects in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Burma; nuclear dismantling in North Korea; and security assistance for Lebanon.  According to the Committee on Appropriations, this amount has been increased to “$470 million to address growing violence along the United States-Mexico border by supporting the
Government of Mexico’s war against organized crime and drug-trafficking.”  Combined with the Merida Initiative, the supplemental could double US funding for the Mexican war on drugs, although it is unclear how the two fundings will be combined.  Kristin Bricker of Narcosphere writes:

This new money, along with February’s $410 million for the Merida Initiative ($300 million of which is destined for Mexico), is being pledged despite the fact that Mexico has failed to meet the human rights conditions laid out in the Merida Initiative. Less than 15% of overall Merida Initiative funds are subject to human rights conditions.  While the US government is withholding the required 15%, it seems to be more than making up for this loss by appropriating new money to Mexico’s war on drugs.
If the Appropriations Committee’s new supplemental really does appropriate $400 million more to Mexico than Obama requested, and if it is all destined for the Mexican government, then this supplemental would bring fiscal year 2009 funding for Mexico’s war on drugs to $770 million–that is, nearly double last year’s funding and over 50% more than former President George W. Bush had originally requested when he proposed the Merida Initiative.

US Drug War funding policies are accused of increasing the level of violence in Mexico, and 60 to 70 percent of drug trafficking and cartel activities involve marijuana.  Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason thinks that “lifting prohibitions on it in the United States would eradicate a major source of funds for the cartels.”  Balko accuses Obama of changing ““from a thoughtful drug-war critic to a typical Beltway drug warrior.”  He notes Obama has never been in favor of legalization.

The Drug War began in the Nixon administration and is responsible for half of the 200,000 Federal prison inmates.  From the sale of Afghan child brides to the murder of more than 10,000 Mexicans, the Drug War has had far reaching consequences around the globe. It has also put a strain on our economy.  Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron explains:

Prohibition is a drain on the public purse. Federal, state and local governments spend roughly $44 billion per year to enforce drug prohibition. These same governments forego roughly $33 billion per year in tax revenue they could collect from legalized drugs, assuming these were taxed at rates similar to those on alcohol and tobacco. Under prohibition, these revenues accrue to traffickers as increased profits.

In addition, taxpayers spend $68 billion annually on prisons.  Obama has proposed reforming crack and cocaine laws to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences.

Other political leaders think legalization of marijuana should be explored. Arianna Huffington writes:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for “an open debate” and careful study of proposals to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has also urged renewing the debate, saying that he isn’t convinced taxing and regulating drugs is the answer but “why not discuss it?” Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, pointing to evidence that Mexican drug cartels draw 60 to 80 percent of their revenue from pot, suggested legalization might be an effective tool to combat Mexican drug traffickers and American gangs.

The Obama administration does represent some change in drug policies.  Kerlikowske has called the nation’s drug problem one of “human suffering”, and Obama campaigned on allowing non-violent drug offenders “a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.”  The administration has stated that legalization of marijuana is off the table.   When asked if legalization was realistic, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano responded, “No, it is not.”

Image: wantedarrest on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

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