Joe Biden in Mexico: Legalization Out of the Question

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 10:42:06 PM EST
Tags: Joe Biden (all tags)

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Vice President Joe Biden in Mexico today on U.S. drug policy:

There is no possibility that the Obama-Biden administration will change its policy on legalization."

Biden said the Obama Administration will ask for more funding for Central America's drug war in addition to the $361 million we've given so far:

Biden said the U.S. has provided about $361 million in anti-crime aid under the Central America Regional Security Initiative, but leaders in the region called that insufficient. Biden said the administration is asking more from congress.

[More...}

The money goes to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. This has nothing to do with aid to Mexico to fight its drug war or to intercept drugs headed to the U.S. For example, one of its primary goals is to:

Disrupt the movement of criminals and contraband to, within, and between the nations of Central America;
(my emphasis.)

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Joe Biden in Mexico: Legalization Out of the Question | 24 comments (24 topical)

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Idiocy (5.00 / 3) (#1)
by Dadler on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 10:50:59 PM EST

Pure, inexcusable, imagination bereft, freedom-loathing idiocy. No one can tell me Obama is anything but a company man when you look at bullsh8t like this. A useless, run of the mill, hack company man. Ain't worth the saliva to spit on.

Can't (5.00 / 4) (#2)
by lentinel on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 03:59:18 AM EST

wait to be exhorted to vote for this duo.

There is a species of bird (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by Edger on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 04:56:43 AM EST

that might provide a good idea for dealing with corrupt politicians and their shills?

Babies of a bird species called the Eurasian roller vomit a foul-smelling orange liquid as a defence mechanism against predators, biologists have discovered.

Translation: My Masters don't want it (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by SeeEmDee on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 09:29:20 AM EST

The banksters were able to pull the rug out from the rest of us because they were sitting pretty on all that dirty cash from laundering drug money. They don't want formerly legal drugs legal again. Joe Biden has never had a problem hearing His (Real) Master's Voice...

It's pathetic (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by CST on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:12:29 AM EST

I like to think Biden, Obama, and Holder are all relatively intelligent individuals. Which means they can see that this is a complete failure of a policy. They know better, they have to, but this is politics.

What a pathetic reason to waste lives.

Even though moving toward legalization (5.00 / 3) (#8)
by Anne on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:24:57 AM EST

makes all kinds of sense, there is no way, in an election year, that Obama/Biden was ever going to risk having the "wants your kids to be able to get drugs at school" label - which is the kind of over-the-top fear-mongering conservatives love best - slapped on them.

The complete about-face on the laissez-faire approach that was originally how the administration decided it would handle marijuana issue in states that had legalized it for medical purposes, was a loud and clear signal that not only was nothing going to get better on this front, but they were going to double-down. Which they seriously did.

There's an excellent article on Obama's Drug War over at Rolling Stone - I linked to it one day last week - that really should be read by anyone who's placing any hope at all in Obama doing the right thing on this issue.

If Obama wins in November, I still wouldn't look for any positive movement on this issue, not as long as he has militant, hard-line, hard-core anti-drug, anti-marijuana, pro-punishment people in charge at the DEA.

Disappointing? Very. Surprising? Not in the least.

: Agreed, But... (5.00 / 2) (#9)
by ScottW714 on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:35:54 AM EST

...he didn't have to move to the right of Bush on MM. There was political gain, he just simply does not think M in any form should be legal.
And I think the legalization came up from one of the Central American countries discussing the possibility of making all of it legal, not just possession. And I read this as Biden saying no to that.

Could this be grounds... (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by kdog on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:54:00 AM EST

to file the necessary papers to declare mental incapacity for both Obama and Biden?

One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Send them to the rubber room!

you assume (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by CST on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 11:28:23 AM EST

they actually expect a different result.

I think they just don't care.


: Too true... (none / 0) (#13)
by kdog on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 11:48:18 AM EST

but thats not how they sell the tyranny and pain...they sell it as some kind of solution to some kind of problem.
But I guess straight up lying is not grounds to argue for incapacity to uphold the office...back to the drawing board!;)

Not the Same, But Still the Same (none / 0) (#11)
by ScottW714 on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 11:26:40 AM EST

I am positive they would argue, "It's not the same, we gave them a lot more resources this time..."

"And if that don't work, we give them more."

And that is the same.


wish I could see this the way most of you do (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by TeresaInPa on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 01:48:35 PM EST

I just don't. I don't legalization changes much of anything. Sure it saves the US money. But I think it just opens up a whole other can of worms. Criminals will still want their easy money and will do anything including torture and murder to get it. They are not all of a sudden going to become law abiding companies. In addition I do not ever see a time when the government will say "go ahead and use as much Cocaine or Heroin as you want, it's your life". It's not going to happen because the cost to society in terms of ruined families, illness, addiction etc... is too great. So there will always be the need for the black market.
Rehab doesn't work. Hitting bottom, which is for many people, losing everything and going to jail, Is the only thing that helps....it's that or the slow march to death.
That doesn't mean I think the current methods are working. And yes I was a kid in the 70s and I "experimented" with all kinds of things. By the time I was 14 I decided it was all rather lame. I kept the bohemian, I just became the only one who never got high and had no patience for hanging around those who were..... I'd rather read a good book.

Do you assume... (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by kdog on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 02:22:46 PM EST

use and more importantly abuse will rise just because drugs are legalized? I tend to think maybe a little, but not much...I mean I choose not to do heroin or meth on the merits of those substances, it has nothing to do with prohibition.

So I'm thinking there will at most be a slight increase in the societal costs of addiction, but we would shed the societal costs and societal harms of broken families due to incarceration, the costs of fighting this losing war, and those who can use responsibly get their inalienable rights back...all beautiful things. Plus all the tax revenue generated and on the books jobs created by the new legal industry. Plus safer drugs with known ingredients.

Yeah, there will always be a black market for things that should be prohibited...hitmen to commit murders, sex trafficking involving minors or kidnapped/abused adults, certain weapons, but none of that is nearly as profitable as drugs. We can put a hurting on violent gangsters revenue streams and weaken their influence and power to cause harm.

So unless you think drug abuse is gonna skyrocket beyond belief your argument doesn't make much sense...we deal with all the societal costs of addiction as we type, plus the very real very harmful societal costs of prohibition. It's a lose lose.


What about the current costs to families (5.00 / 0) (#17)
by sj on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 02:44:34 PM EST

Putting aside the whole incarceration aspect, there is a legitimate medical use for marijuana. This has been proven over and over again -- in spite of the official government (or rather big pharma) position.

And your going straight to cocaine/heroin as the defacto issue is an example of the success of government propaganda.


How many people (none / 0) (#18)
by jbindc on Thu Mar 08, 2012 at 07:39:42 AM EST

ACTUALLY need marijuana for medicinal purposes in this country? A very small percentage, I would bet. And they should be able to get it. But legalization supporters have now bought into their own propaganda and want to argue that the vast majority of pot users only use MM, which is complete hooey.

We need to have an honest debate in this country, but propaganda from both sides does not advance the ball.


: Using a percentage (none / 0) (#19)
by sj on Thu Mar 08, 2012 at 09:02:58 AM EST

seems like the wrong approach. The people who benefit from MM shouldn't have to rely on a percentage to validate their need. If I'm in pain or nauseated or whatever my condition might be that could/would be alleviated by MM, I can assure you I would not give two sh!ts to know which "percent" reflected my need.
Using "percent" is complete hooey in my mind. Because that does not further honest debate. That's merely a political argument.

Obama 2012! (none / 0) (#4)
by BobTinKY on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 07:47:04 AM EST

O is my guy (none / 0) (#6)
by AngryBlackGuy on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 09:50:38 AM EST

But that is terrible policy. Disappointing.

These kinds of posts (none / 0) (#14)
by Chuck0 on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 12:23:39 PM EST

just push me into a deeper state of despair. The War on Drugs is such a waste of time, money and lives. Especially with regard to maryjane. The US is doomed. I hate that Hunter Thompson is gone, but holy crap, I get it, I really get it. Read his last note.

Meanwhile, back at Casa Loco (none / 0) (#20)
by Mr Natural on Thu Mar 08, 2012 at 10:47:46 PM EST

Right Wing Icon and Caricature Pat Robertson says Legalize!

"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday.

The ball is there for Republicans to run with, if they had the brains.

From our side I don't see much besides toadying for the drug war lobbyists and arms dealers.

Ya know... (none / 0) (#21)
by kdog on Fri Mar 09, 2012 at 08:50:50 AM EST

the apocolypse is at hand when Pat Freakin' Robertson makes Obama & Biden look like a couple neanderthals in comparison.


It can only mean one thing: (none / 0) (#22)
by jondee on Fri Mar 09, 2012 at 11:52:47 AM EST

Pat's gone from investing in brutal dictatorships to getting into the homegrown business (with justifications from scripture to follow.)


: LOL... (none / 0) (#23)
by kdog on Fri Mar 09, 2012 at 12:54:24 PM EST

Pat finally figured out the key ingredient in the annointing oils Jesus used to heal the sick...it wasn't the holy spirit;)

Reverend Robertson says we (none / 0) (#24)
by KeysDan on Fri Mar 09, 2012 at 03:53:33 PM EST

just have to pray harder. God, he claimed on the 700 Club, would have prevented those deadly tornados the last couple of weeks if enough people prayed. So, if prayer can stop tornados, maybe the reverend is saying that with enough prayer this, too, will blow over. I've been trying but maybe I need to switch saints, St. Aloysius seems to have lost all influence.
