Oh, and by the way, the Drug Czar lies

… but now he’s getting Arne Duncan, the Secretary of the Department of Education, to do it as well.

Deputy Director David K. Mineta announced at the ONDCP “blog” that Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske and Secretary Duncan were reaching out to college and university leaders to prevent “illegal drug use” and “high risk drinking.”

Notice that the request is not about “high risk drug and alcohol use.” That would certainly be an appropriate goal. No, it’s really about high risk alcohol use and any marijuana use.

Why? Certainly yes, the government would want universities to not allow illegal drug use. But to specifically target, beyond it’s illegality, extra efforts to stop use in one area and abuse in another?

The answer is in Mineta’s post. The 2011 National Drug Control Strategy includes a goal of “reducing illegal drug use by ten percent within five years.” Not drug abuse. Not problem drug use. Simply drug use. And the only way to get that kind of numbers it to try to go after the non-problematic casual recreational use by young people, particularly if you can get college administrators to help you with enforcement.

So this effort is not a high-minded effort to help college students with real problems, but rather to a large extent a self-serving method of playing with numbers.

So let’s take a look at the letter sent out today by Gil Kerlikowske and Arne Duncan.

A lot of re-stating the key terms…

Illegal drug use and high-risk (binge, heavy, and underage) drinking affect every aspect of society vital to winning the future, including educating our youth and developing a competitive workforce for the new economy. […]

Together with our interagency partners, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Department of Education are working collaboratively to prevent illegal drug use and high-risk drinking in our Nation’s college and university communities.

Then there was some discussion of academic consequences of drinking, followed by this note regarding marijuana:

Additionally, a study found that college students who used marijuana were more likely to put themselves in physical danger when under the influence, experience concentration problems, and miss class.(3)

That interested me, because I hadn’t heard this one before – that college students who got high on marijuana would put themselves in physical danger. What did that mean? It made sense for alcohol use, but marijuana?

So I went through my university library and found the referenced study: (3) Sullivan, M., & Risler, E. (2002). Understanding college alcohol abuse and academic performance: Selecting appropriate intervention strategies. Journal of College Counseling, 5 (2), 114-124.

Not a single mention of marijuana in the entire study. Nothing about stoned students in physical danger or missing classes. The whole thing was about alcohol.

Now, if a student of mine turns in a paper with a falsified citation, it’s not going to help their grade very much.

So how will university presidents grade the Drug Czar and the Secretary of Education for doing it?

…..

Update: Interestingly, there’s a petition at the White House dealing with Drug Czar lies…

Eliminate or Reform Departments whose Officers are Required by Law to Lie to the American People.

In a time of astronomical deficits, departments that are required by law to LIE to the American public should be reformed or eliminated.

The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), aka “The Drug Czar,” is one such position. […]

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33 Responses to Oh, and by the way, the Drug Czar lies

  1. Francis says:

    Aww, c’mon Pete. You’re not actually supposed to check their citations. They’re just supposed to pad out the page length a bit and make the propaganda look more “science-y.” You’re not playing fair.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      I actually did something similar of posting a contradiction in a footnote on a freshly released piece of GI hysterical rhetoric pointing out that the footnote directly contradicted the assertion in the propaganda which it supposedly supported. About a month later I wanted to use it as an example of GI lies and was quite shocked to find that it had been corrected. Now I can’t even recall which published lie it was.

  2. allan says:

    The first thing that comes to my mind was the mandatory pee-test maneuver at Linn College… it smelled like Gil (and friends).

    So this will be a fairly widely released story yes? I hope some of you busy bees will get in some reporters’ bonnets if they don’t catch that. You know the media are part of the masses as well and in too many cases they need education on the topic more than many others might.

  3. allan says:

    Gil’s giving the family a bad name. Folks are taking a disliking to the name itself it seems these days. Check out this headline:

    Kerlikowske Farms buses vandalized – Herald Palladium

    Police investigating after the brake lines on some 26 buses used by Kerlikowske Farms in Eau Clair were cut by some vandals this week. …

    and elsewhere…… Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance hoonior says this in his meeting with Gil “Droop Dogg” Kerlikowske:

    “After dismantling gangs and drug-trafficking operations, we must remain engaged and work with the community to make sure that young people stay on the right path,” the district attorney said.

    Forever the optimist, young Cyrus.

    And there are 30 stories out there on this:

    War on drugs’ blocks medical access to morphine

    Mexico, of course:

    11 more bodies in Veracruz as prosecutors meet

    That was posted 5 hours ago on Forbes, but just 2 days ago:

    Drug war spreads further: 35 bodies in Veracruz

    In Britain:

    Cannabis drug Sativex given cancer trials in Manchester

    And just to show that the times they are achangin’, this from Stars and Stripes:

    Former platoon sergeant says marijuana was ‘the only thing’ that controlled his PTSD

    • Mr Thud! says:

      Here’s another for your list:

      “The memo says, “A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marihuana.” The act of displaying it, the order continues, must be “actively undertaken of the subject’s own volition.”

      http://tinyurl.com/3fr5uwb

  4. claygooding says:

    Don’t you love how politicians and bureaucrats just keep digging the hole deeper?
    It is not like they don’t already have enough lies to explain or cover up with more lies.

    • darkcycle says:

      I like the new Avatar, Clay!

      • mr.wiggle says:

        I think it just proves he’s a stupid junkie.who knows that only morons smoke dope. That crazy (but hot)bitch Casey Anthony killed her daughter while high on marijuana.my problem lies with mr. clay is that he thinks he has a right to smoke dope.Dope just makes u a loser,And clay is living proof.I’m tire of marijuana poppers coming up trying to steal Gil thunder.as if your opinons matter to americans. we dont give a damn about no stupid wetbacks fighting over drug trade,as long as them border hoppers keep their shanagins on their side we are fine. marijuana has cause so much suffering.I should know.I saw a black man trying to go to college.they kept letting him go cause he didnt do anything “wrong” so I was suffering. so i got him arrested for marijuana.he didn’t deserve to go to college. Real americans disaprove of jive talk,and ghetto gagging whores.

        • tensity1 says:

          Hey, Mr. Wiggles! Good to see ya back! We got doses of facts and logic for ya–hope it makes you feel better!

        • darkcycle says:

          Oh well. Wiggles, if guess if you’re the only troll we can attract around here, you’ll hafta do. Here’s a little advice. If you REALLY want to get under our skins, tossing out random inflammatory comments isn’t really gonna do much… besides peg you as an intellectually deficient, attention starved adolescent, that is.
          The freudian in me tells me the Wiggler’s Mommy was a cold bitch who withheld attention and never approved of her little wiggler. I’m sorry about that, Wiggler, your childhood must have been a very cold place.
          Toodles!

    • tensity1 says:

      Yep, beautiful avatar, but damn if allan isn’t bringing his A game.

  5. Scott says:

    My cynicism +1

  6. ezrydn says:

    Does this mean that my TWO Ph.Ds and my JD (law degree) will now be downgraded due to my drug use while in college? All that tokin’ allowed me to finis it all a year earlier than I expected. However, Gilspeech says it never happened. Gilspeech says I failed due to my activities of which he disapproves, through pay oversight.

    So, Gil. Am I the oddity? Am I the only one that’s used cannabis to succeed? What about Barry? I’ve never done coke but he has and you take your orders from him, right? What part of this picture are you NOT understanding? “A Joint For Gil” would do wonders to his personality…AND…his looks.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .
      Well coke does enable you to see things that you couldn’t see before you did enough coke to enable your perception. Why, I recall a conversation that I had with a tree stump and a car’s exhaust pipe back in the day…

  7. Pingback: Oh, and by the way, the Drug Czar lies – Drug WarRant |

  8. warren says:

    Give Mr.Bung a -0.

  9. darkcycle says:

    Yep, alcohol ABUSE-drug USE. In other words, “we want a Campus program but can’t have one that would hurt our friend’s businesses. So we’ll pretend that “drink-’till-ya-barf” frat parties and campus date-rape aren’t a bad thing unless they interfere with studies. That way the people who support us won’t be hurt. And we can use this program to inflate our budget and make it look like we’re doing something all at once.”

  10. claygooding says:

    Pete,,I am pushing the “stop the lieing” petition now on other sites,,see if we can get more than 50 votes….

    • Wade S says:

      Thank you, sir. I appreciate the support.

      I’m simply looking to pressure the Obama administration from another angle, one which may catch the eye of people who are against corrupt and inefficient government, but who may not support marijuana legalization. I figure the existing petitions on marijuana legalization are going strong and heroic, but they could always use a sidekick.

      Thank you again.

  11. Pingback: White House Marijuana Legalization Petition - Page 6 - Grasscity.com Forums

  12. Wade S says:

    Just wanted to say thanks to Pete for taking notice of my petition and mentioning it on his blog. Hopefully this will help in getting it over the 150 signature threshold to be viewed and searched.

    I thought it was hilarious that only one day after I created the petition, Mr. Kerlikowske got busy in proving me right, along with finding a partner in crime. Thanks to serendipity–and to Pete for catching them red-handed.

    • darkcycle says:

      If the Dems do this, and I consider it extremely unlikely, don’t fall for it. All they will issue are vague promises and they WILL NOT deliver the goods. And if they do, don’t expect to LIKE anything about the way it turns out.
      I am so done with the Democratic party that they could make all drugs legal and give me another pony, and it wouldn’t get my vote. Also, this damn pony is always whining about how the Democrats are treated in congress and claiming that Obama actually has no power. When they gave me this stupid pony (which Duncan informs me is really only a small horse)they didn’t tell me it was a partisan pony. And he hogs the T.V. remote.
      I suppose if it had been the repugnicans, and they’d given me an elephant I would have to listen to it constantly harping about taxes and watching Sarah Palin appearances. There’s got to be a third party alternative that has an animal mascot I can tolerate.

  13. claygooding says:

    Stories are breaking out about these petitions,,but not a peep in the DC papers?

    Can’t believe Adrienne would pass a story like this up.

    nothing in the LA Times or at SFGate either,,,hmmm,,,sounds kind of like maybe a news blackout because some reporter at one of these four papers would have been pushing this story

    Nothing at NY Times or WSJ either,,nothing about petitions at all,,,very strange.

  14. claygooding says:

    Found a story in Adrienne’s Huffington Post,,,no idea why it didn’t show on first search.

    New White House ‘We The People’ Petition Portal Launched, With Predictable Results

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/white-house-we-the-people_n_976906.html

  15. Servetus says:

    “Illegal drug use and high-risk (binge, heavy, and underage) drinking affect [are essential] in every aspect of society vital to winning the future….” For drinking, refer to the modern Federal Beer Republic of Germany. For illegal drugs, refer to the Cannabis Republic of California: two regions of the world proving themselves vital to winning the future, if that’s what Gil Kerlikowske and Arne Duncan mean by ‘winning’.

    Any society that demands its students and its working citizens labor 40-to-50+ hours each week with little vacation time, then adds insult to injury by restricting or eliminating their most popular means of stress reduction, engages in sadomoralism. For business people, doing so is counter-productive if their goal is to retain loyal and efficient employees.

    Some purists among the sadomoralism crowd are understandably frustrated when their government fails to produce a drug free society. Still other sadomoralists are overjoyed to see drug wars go on forever. Nonetheless, when the ONDCP—whose only real function seems to be fostering lies—fails so miserably at the art of propaganda, it’s time for prohibitionists to hang it up and go home.

    • allan says:

      aye… well said.

      Not only doesn’t the emperor wear any clothes, but the ones he isn’t wearing are worn pretty thin.

      Did they copy somebody else’s paper? They really can’t be as stupid as they make themselves look.

  16. claygooding says:

    I never argue with my betters,,,but your just wrong allan!

    • allan says:

      no way… these are folks who paint themselves in a corner, saw off the limb upon which they sit and do Chinese Fire Drills in clown suits. Really Clay, I swear… they just can’t be that stupid. C’mon man…

      Oh… and I ain’ts better, I’s just purtier.

  17. DdC says:

    “They that start by burning books will end by burning men.”
    ~ Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), from his play Almansor (1821)
    (German) “Dort, wo man Bcher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.”

    Allan’s right, they aren’t dumb. Their goal isn’t zero tolerance, it’s perpetuate.
    They get funded on warring, not on winning. Corporations keep competition at bay during prohibition would be in the same boat as the farmers distilling their own tractor fuel after the 21st amendment repealed the 19th. But the corporations profiting on the war would lose a customer. Dyncorps couldn’t assist in shooting down Missionaries. Haliburton would have to go back to the cancer biz selling more asbestos. The same Nazi Youth tactics are at play. I see no debate except red herrings and diversions by trolls with no intention of finding truth. Like lawyers, both sides profit and then go have a beer after “work”. Just a job. They need kids to turn in their neighbors and parents. Can’t forfeit their home without evidence, usually. Koch’s Bros private tax paid prisons get $72k/yr, to cage growers, but only if its an illicit substance. If everyone stopped doing drugs Koch’s and other Dung worriers would have to file bankruptcy.

    “A violently active, intrepid, brutal youth that is what I am after…
    I will have no intellectual training.
    Knowledge is ruin for my young men.”
    ~ Adolf Hitler quoted by John Gunther “The Nation”

    The Assassins of Youth: PDFA/DARE

    “I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”
    ~ George Bush

    “Parallel to the training of the body a struggle against the poisoning of the soul must begin. Our whole public life today is like a hothouse for sexual ideas and simulations. Just look at the bill of fare served up in our movies, vaudeville and theaters, and you will hardly be able to deny that this is not the right kind of food, particularly for the youth…Theater, art, literature, cinema, press, posters, and window displays must be cleansed of all manifestations of our rotting world and placed in the service of a moral, political, and cultural idea.”
    ~ Adolf Hitler, “Mein Kampf”, Vol. 1, Chapter 10

    “Arbitrary and capricious” is legal language that was used by DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young in 1988 to conclude that DEA was obligated under the Controlled Substances Act to reschedule marijuana as a prescription medicine. DEA Chief Administrator Robert Bonner proceeded to arbitrarily and capriciously disregard Judge Young’s well researched and reasoned decision, which the Act allowed him to do.)

    Cover-Ups, Prevarications, Subversions & Sabotage

    “Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith . . . we need believing people.”
    ~ Adolf Hitler, April 26, 1933,
    from a speech made during negotiations leading to the Nazi Vatican Concordant of 1933

    “All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it.”

    “Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
    ~ Benito Mussolini,
    “London Sunday Express,” December 8, 1935

    “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”
    ~ Harry Anslinger, U.S. Commissioner of Narcotics,
    testifying to Congress on why marijuana should be made illegal, 1937.
    (Marijuana Tax Act, signed Aug. 2, 1937; effective Oct. 1, 1937.)

    Profound Hatred for Democracy

    “Another weapon I discovered early was the power of the printed word to sway souls to me. The newspaper was soon my gun, my flag – a thing with a soul that could mirror my own.”
    ~ Benito Mussolini

    “…somebody has to take governments’ place, and business seems to me to be a logical entity to do it.”
    ~ David Rockefeller – Newsweek International, Feb 1 1999.

    One Drug Arrest Every 19 Seconds Oh Gilligan!

    • DdC says:

      Prescription for Addiction by Robert W. Lee

      A major component of the war on drugs is the effort to keep illegal narcotics out of the hands of children. Across the nation the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program has for years asked children to pledge to “keep their body free from drugs.” Meanwhile, signs proclaiming a “Drug Free School Zone” can be found near schools all over the nation. Our culture, however, sends a mixed message to our nation’s children on the topic of drugs. While school-age children are taught to fear illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, they are increasingly taught to rely on legal drugs to ameliorate their physical and psychological problems.

      During their early years, many if not most children are formally introduced to the drug culture by their pediatricians, where they first learn from a major authority figure outside the family that the solution to feeling “bad” is to take a drug that will make them feel “good.” continued…

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