Drug Policy Alliance Network

==Background==
==Insights==
===Email from September 2008===
Last week I wrote to you from the Democratic National Convention. This
week I'd like to share some insights regarding the Republican
National Convention.
It's hard to know what to make of Senator McCain's selection
of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. She's
admitted to smoking marijuana -- but then again that's also true of
every Democratic nominee for president since 1992, as well as [[Newt
Gingrich]], Clarence Thomas and lots of other prominent
Republicans. As for the current president, he never admitted it
but others did so on his behalf. We've practically reached the
stage where smoking a joint at some point in one's life seems a
prerequisite for anyone under the age of 65 aspiring to national
office.
Alaska has legalized marijuana for medical use. So have 11 other
states. Yet, the federal government continues to persecute patients
and caregivers in those states. I don't think Governor
Palin has made clear what she thinks of this, notwithstanding the
fact that she represents a state and a political party that believe
strongly in the rights of states to regulate their own affairs.
It would be nice if some journalist posed this question to her.
I've yet to find much information about Governor Palin's views and
record on drug policy. She has said that marijuana should be
illegal -- although presumably she's glad she never was arrested for
her own use. But she's also made clear that marijuana
should not be a top law enforcement priority. That's good -- and
probably politically wise given that close to 50 percent of
Alaskans think marijuana should be legal.
As for Senator John McCain, it's hard to be optimistic that he'll do
much good on drug policy. He has publicly mocked medical
marijuana patients. Back in 1999, he introduced a bill that
would have banned methadone maintenance as an approved treatment for heroin addiction, notwithstanding the scientific consensus that it is
by far the most effective treatment available. The only good news
was his recent speech at the Urban League where he spoke in favor of
diverting more nonviolent drug law offenders to treatment instead of
prison.
What I find most interesting this week -- from a drug policy
perspective -- has nothing to do with what's on the main stage.
Just down the road in Minneapolis, Republican Congressman Ron Paul is holding a shadow convention with 10,000 of his supporters.
No one ever stirred up the libertarian wing of the Republican Party
the way he did during the primaries. It was good to have him
holding forth on ending drug prohibition the way that William Buckley,
Milton Friedman, former Secretary of State George Shultz and former
New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson have in years and decades
past.
And then there's the campaign of Libertarian Presidential Candidate
Bob Barr, a former Republican Congressman. He used to be one of
the Republican Party's biggest cheerleaders for the war on
drugs but he's now embraced drug policy reform in a
big way. He and I were invited to debate one another at [[Fordham
Law School]] last year but Bob Barr couldn't find enough ways to
agree with me.
There's no question the Republican Party is evolving as its
libertarian wing gains strength. And it's our job at the Drug Policy Alliance to meld the libertarian sentiments on the right with
the social justice passions on the left into an ever more powerful
movement for ending the nation's longest and most costly war -- the
war on drugs.
Sincerely,
Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance Network
Category:Organizations