Jeremy Mayfield: Another Drug War Victim

In its wrangling with Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR confuses having a positive drug test with actual impairment.* Stimulants are used to assist in driving. (Coffee anyone?) If Mayfield does use methamphetamine, it is clear that he does so in a responsible manner.** Unfortunately, in the War on Drugs that is irrelevant.

* The Drug Czar recently made the same error when he raised alarms about the percentage of drivers testing positive for marijuana (LINK). He did not bother to note that marijuana’s psychoactive effects only last hours while trace amounts can stay in the system for up to a month.

** For testimony about Mayfield’s work ethic from his manager, a former police officer, go to this LINK.

Sources:

1. “Air Force Rushes to Defend Amphetamine Use,” 18 Jan. 2003, TheAge.com.au. LINK
2. Terry Blount, “Mayfield Running Out of Good Will,” ESPN.com, 15 July 2009. LINK

Drug Freedom Works in Portugal

On Friday I attended Glenn Greenwald‘s presentation of his report, “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal,” at the Cato Institute. Greenwald studied how Portugal’s policy of decriminalizing the personal possession of all drugs in 2001 has fared. Portugal’s policy has been a “resounding success.”

Decriminalization is dismissed out of hand by those that consider drugs a moral issue, but prohibitionists that stoop to debate argue decriminalization will bring a “parade of horrors.” Some of these are that usage and addiction rates will explode, more children will do drugs, and decriminalized areas will become drug tourist havens that will spread addiction throughout the world.

None of these things have occurred in Portugal. Instead a massive amount of financial resources have been freed up to provide treatment to those that want it. In addition, more of the population has been willing to take advantage of government-supplied treatment now that there is no fear of criminal ramifications.

These results are unsurprising to those that understand how exaggerated the evils are surrounding “hard” drugs. On average, criminalization prevents responsible and conscientious people from using drugs – the exact population that can handle the freedom sensibly.

Note: Greenwald pointed out that the Portuguese commission had considered legalization but believed it could not legalize without violating international treaty obligations. (These treaties are enforced by zealous drug-war states like the United States.) He added that small countries like Portugal actually have to follow international treaties.

Sources:

1. Glenn Greenwald, “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal,” (2009). LINK

Leave Your Cocaine Outside the White House

Drugs Equal Death?

This cartoon uses the same rationale that the Office of National Drug Control Policy used in the following asinine marijuana ad, LINK.

Barack Obama is open about his past cocaine use. (Although it would be interesting to know how candid Obama would be if his admission had not been published in 1995.) Despite the fact that most cocaine users never become dependent, the mainstream media finds it noteworthy that Obama could have used cocaine without having drug problems as this New York Times snippet shows:

In more than three dozen interviews, friends, classmates and mentors from his high school and Occidental recalled Mr. Obama as being grounded, motivated and poised, someone who did not appear to be grappling with any drug problems and seemed to dabble only with marijuana.

Bush on the other hand is not open about his raucous past. Multiple people allege that he used to use cocaine like fellow staffers from a 1972 Republican senatorial campaign who have claimed he, “liked to sneak out back for a joint of marijuana or into the bathroom for a line of cocaine.”

Bush himself has never denied using cocaine, instead choosing to be coy. Republican hacks like to seize on the fact he once denied using “hard drugs,” however, put in context this appears to have meant heroin. Of course, at Fox any notion of Bush using cocaine is blasphemy. LINK

Sources

1. Robert Arthur, You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos (2007). LINK
2. Kitty Kelley, The Family (2004).
3. Serge Kovaleski, “Old Friends Say Drugs Played Bit Part in Obama’s Young Life,” New York Times, 9 Feb. 2008, ret. NYTimes.com, 28 Feb. 2008. LINK