Tancredo of all people supports legalization. cmon Obama and yer drug czar. get with it!

[paulsby]

from reason.com

obama's "drug czar" - "legalization isn't in the president's vocabulary"

Former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo, a conservative Republican who made cracking down on illegal immigration the main theme of his campaign for his party's 2008 presidential nomination, says it's time to think about calling off the war on drugs:

"I am convinced that what we are doing is not working," he said.

Tancredo told that the country has spent billions of dollars capturing, prosecuting and jailing drug dealers and users, but has little to show for it.

"It is now easier for a kid to get drugs at most schools in America that it is booze," he said.

He said the violent drug battles in Mexico are moving north.

Last year Tancredo and Ron Paul were the only Republican candidates to receive an A+ grade from Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana. During an August 2007 visit to Londonderry, New Hampshire, Tancredo said the federal government should stop interfering with state policies regarding the medical use of marijuana:

It's not about marijuana, it's about states' rights. The federal government has no right to interfere when a state makes that kind of decision...The federal government should stay the hell out of it.

That much ought to be a perfectly respectable federalist position even among conservatives who support drug prohibition. When the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy examined the presidential candidates's broader drug policy views, Paul retained his A+, but Tancredo's grade sank to a C. "Although he does not advocate changing drug laws and says he voted against medical marijuana in the Colorado legislature," the group reported, "he insists that the federal government's role in drug enforcement is strictly limited by the Constitution." Taking that idea seriously, of course, would mean rejecting national drug prohibition, for which (unlike alcohol prohibition in 1920) there is no constitutional authority. Maybe that helps explain how Tancredo arrived at his current position, although his comments suggest that his second thoughts about the war on drugs stem mainly from its ineffectiveness and unpleasant side effects.

Addendum: On the same day that Tancredo, a conservative Republican who says he has never used an illegal intoxicant, questioned prohibition, the drug czar appointed by Barack Obama, a liberal Democrat whose autobiography describes his own extensive illegal drug use, declared "legalization isn't in the president's vocabulary."

[Ian David]

1. Tancredo probably thinks legalizing pot would be bad for brown people.

That's the sole motivation behind EVERY choice Tancredo makes.

Paper or plastic?

Freeway or expressway?

Chocolate or vanilla?

Orange juice or grapefruit juice?

[AndyTiedye]

2. We Know Obama is a Fast Learner

legalization isn't in the President's vocabulary"

I anticipate the President's vocabulary will be expanding a bit soon.

[suchadeal]

3. Many people think that if the drugs war is ever called off,

it will happen as the result of Republican leadership on the issue.

[nevergiveup]

4. Just my prediction

but marijuana will be legalized while Obama is president. You are going to have to give him a little time on this. He would be a fool to have this in his vocabulary at the moment but I believe he will come around. I also believe this will be a hot topic in the 2012 presidential election.

[paulsby]

5. the president, and congress have no authority to legalize

marijuana.

they can either not enforce federal laws, or selectively start pulling back on enforcement, OR legalize it ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL but even if congress and obama got rid of FEDERAL mj laws, it would revert to a state issue. the only way it would be LEGAL is if both the state AND the feds took action. but if the feds stop the enforcement, then it gives the state the opportunity to do so without federal encroachment.

tancredo's point, and i agree with it, is that the feds should have no authority over medical mj, or other use of mj within a state.

transporting across state borders, the national border, etc. is another issue entirely.

the nice thing is if some states legalized it, and saw increased $$$$, decreased tax burden, more tourism, etc. it would help prove that legalization/decrim is the best policy and other states would follow suit.

this is similar to the SSM issue, in that it creates a domino effect (lol, but it does) in that once states start passing it, and other states realize that the sky didn't fall, then it becomes more acceptable to them, and so on and so on.

iow, get the feds out of the issue, and let the democratic republic thang work it's magick

[cbc5g]

6. I wish that more people would realize that prohibition has created the mess in mexico and the border

As well as financed drug gangs that plague our streets. How many more have to die because of prohibition before we admit a mistake?