Analysis By Richard CowanWhenever anyone criticizes marijuana
prohibition, prohibitionists respond by claiming that 85% of the American people oppose
"legalizing drugs."
But they aren’t taking any chances. Huge amounts of public money are spent on
prohibitionist propaganda disguised "drug education."
Washington state’s prohibitionist Lt. Governor is using federal funds provided
under the Federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program to launch a web site that
is high intensity lying.
This is being done at a time when Washington state has a medical marijuana initiative
on the ballot.
In short, federal funds intended to fight trafficking are being used to influence the
outcome of a state election. (This may be illegal, but nothing would be done about it even
if were prohibited in the Preamble to the Constitution.)
Incredibly, the section of the site which is devoted to lying about medical marijuana
even admits that marijuana was the best medicine available in the 1970s, which means that
the DEA caused untold suffering by refusing to reschedule it. Oh well, what’s a
little mass murder among friends?
Another section about the anti-prohibitionist movement libels NORML by claiming that
its Board is made up of traffickers and growers.
Inevitably, there are two sections with extensive lies about the Netherlands. Remember
this is funded by the Federal government.
See
Drug Czar
Lies Again About the Dutch, Who Respond With The Facts;
Czar’s Aid Says, "forces at work to legalize drugs are trying to bring
these wonderfully allied governments into conflict."
And naturally, hemp is just a plot to legalize marijuana.
There is even extensive quoting from -- and a link to -- one of the most bizarre and
paranoid sites that I have ever seen that claims that the anti-prohibitionist movement is
a part of a "cultural war" using the tactics of an Italian communist to destroy
democratic capitalism. Really.
On a site that purports to be about marijuana there is the usual bait and switch. As
always, marijuana equals "drugs" and/or "alcohol and drugs" for crime
and accidents. Much of the site is devoted to tying marijuana reform, including medical
marijuana, to a secret plot to "legalize drugs."
This misuse of federal funds should offend even sincere prohibitionists. The
prohibitionists complain about the funding of the medical marijuana referenda, but there
really needs to be an investigation of the massive use of public money to influence public
policy.
Unfortunately, the news report on the site from MSNBC was pure party line. Why do the
prohibitionists need to pay for propaganda when the media give it away disguised as news?
Far from questioning the misuse of government money, the media have sold out.
I have taken extensive excerpts from the site, with appropriate comments and links.
Below are links to these excerpts and the MSNBC propaganda piece.
The whole mess can be found at www.mfiles.org
