Whaddya Know, Bush's Old Drug Czar Is Still a Major BS Artist

By Paul Armentano, NORML. Posted May 7, 2009.

In a revelation that I'm sure will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, it turns out that ex-Drug Czar John Walters is still full of s--t.

 Responding on CNN last night to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call to debate the merits of taxing and regulating the adult use of marijuana (E-mail the Governor here), Walters demonstrated that he remains an unrepentant liar -- even though he's no longer paid by the federal government to be one.

To summarize: in under five minutes Walters manages to falsely claim that:

Today's marijuana is far stronger -- and thus more dangerous -- than ever before. Actually, the Feds' own data indicates that the average strength of domestic cannabis hasn't changed in over ten years; that marijuana -- regardless of THC content -- is relatively non -toxic and incapable of causing a fatal overdose; and that most folks -- when given the choice -- prefer to consume milder marijuana over highly potent pot.

More people seek drug treatment for pot than all other drugs combined. Technically true, but only because between 60 percent and 70 percent of individuals enrolled in substance abuse 'treatment' for cannabis are small-time pot offenders who were referred there by the criminal justice system. In fact, according to the latest federal data, nearly four in ten people admitted to substance abuse treatment programs for cannabis did not even use it in the month prior to their admission.

Nobody is actually in jail for marijuana-related offenses. Ah yes, the "unicorn" theory. Never mind those 50,000 or state and federal inmates serving time for pot offenses the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics talks about. In John Walters fantasy world, they simply don't exist.

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Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for the NORML Foundation in Washington, DC.

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