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John McCain's Record on Drugs

By Jeralyn

Now that Cindy McCain's prescription drug abuse is back in the news, let's take a look at Sen. John McCain's drug warrior record:

John McCain is a hawk in the war on drugs. One standard for his wife, another for everyone else.

His voting record on drugs, after his wife's problems: [More....]

• 1999, he voted to restrict methadone treatment programs
• 2000, the Boston Globe writes:

  Of the four major candidates, McCain has expressed the most hawkish positions on drug policy. He wants to increas penalties for selling drugs, supports the death penalty for drug kingpins, favors tightening security to stop the flow of drugs into the country, and wants to restrict availability of methadone for heroin addicts. He said the Clinton administration was AWOL on the war on drugs and he would push for more money and military assistance to drug-supplying nations such as Colombia.

• 2007: McCain opposes medical marijuana

As I wrote back in March,

But Cindy McCain wasn't just addicted to pain pills. She was investigated federally for stealing pain pills from a medical charity she headed and for having prescriptions filled in the names of the charity's employees. She admitted it. One of the doctors who wrote the prescriptions for her lost his license.

Mrs. McCain, through her lawyers, was able to get federal prosecutors to let her enter a diversion program and avoid jail.

Diversion is common in state courts for first-time offenders. It isn't in federal courts.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 12, 2008 (boomark / email).