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White House Ends ?War on Drugs?

By Chris

Say goodbye to the War on Drugs. Gil Kerlikowske, the Obama Administration’s new Drug Czar, told the Wall Street Journal in his first interview last week that the moniker, and the crime-and-punishment mentality behind it, is being dropped. The kinder, gentler approach will help break down the barrier the surrounds the criminal drug culture, Kerlikowske says. “Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them,” he said. “We’re not at war with people in this country.” In its place will be a public health approach to the drug problem in America. Among the initiatives being planned by the White House are an end to federal raids on medical marijuana clinics, federal funding for needle-exchange programs, and more balanced sentencing for possession of powder and crack cocaine...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Criminal Defense Blog on May 19, 2009 (boomark / email).