Hillary Clinton Unveils Initiative to Combat Iowa’s Deadly Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Addiction

[brooklynite]

Since Hillary Clinton embarked on this campaign, she has heard one heartbreaking story after the next of families and communities torn apart by substance use disorders. In Iowa, 200,000 Iowans suffer from addiction but aren’t getting the treatment they need. So today, Hillary Clinton rolled out her Initiative to Combat America's Deadly Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Addiction in an op-ed.

Check out the full factsheet for Clinton's comprehensive plan HERE. See below for statements from Iowa elected officials and community leaders praising Hillary Clinton’s Initiative to Combat America’s Deadly Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Addiction:

Linda Langston, Linn County Supervisor

“Drug and alcohol addiction is a creeping and growing menace in our cities and our small towns. Hillary Clinton is not only listening to Iowans who brought this issues to her attention, she is putting forward a plan to tackle this issue head on. Hillary Clinton’s plan is ambitious and puts the focus on treating substance abuse and supporting those in recovery. This is not a problem that appeared overnight and it’s not one we can solve overnight but we do need to solve it. I’m proud to be supporting Hillary Clinton because she understands the urgency of the problem and will do something about it.”

Angela Connolly, Polk County Supervisor
“When Hillary Clinton says she’ll tackle an issue, she follows through. When it comes to drug and alcohol addiction we need a fighter and I believe Hillary is that person. Her plan is comprehensive and will help state and local leaders put into place effective, evidence-based, and locally-tailored prevention programs to ensure that people suffering from addiction get the ongoing treatment and recovery they need. There are not any shortcuts to reducing the number of Iowans struggling with addiction. It will take hard work, determination and a leader willing to tackle this issue. Hillary Clinton is that leader."

Jennifer Herrington, Mental Health Social Worker

“Addiction is a disease and it’s important we treat it as such. Hillary Clinton’s comprehensive Initiative to End America’s Deadly Epidemic of Drug and Alcohol Addiction doesn’t just address prevention and recovery. It takes a holistic approach to fighting this epidemic, ensuring that our first responders have the tools they need to respond to overdoses so they can save lives and our prescribers have the information and training they need to responsibly manage their patients pain. Finally, Hillary Clinton is committed to ending the era of mass incarceration and prioritizing treatment over prison for nonviolent drug and alcohol offenders. We need to do more and we need to do better. Hillary Clinton is the candidate with a plan to make sure we do both.”

http://blog.4president.org/2016/2015/09/hillary-clinton-unveils-initiative-to-combat-iowas-deadly-epidemic-of-drug-and-alcohol-addiction.html

[Ed Suspicious]

1. How about we not call cannabis users "offenders" at all. And I think use doesn't necessarily

equal abuse. She's still stuck with the drug war rhetoric. But I do agree with her larger point. We need to address addiction not as crime but as a health problem, a societal problem.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. yeah, I really doubt that's what she's after. Instead sounds like dressing up the untenable drug war

in better-sounding rhetoric, and keeping it going for the INTERE$TED PARTIE$$$$

[Control-Z]

93. Sounds like?

Show us one example of that, please. That she is just making shit up so her interested parties can continue the war on drugs with mass incarcerations.

[Warren DeMontague]

99. Yes, sounds like, meaning it is a statement of opinion. That said, it's pretty clear that her plan

Last edited Thu Sep 3, 2015, 10:47 PM - Edit history (1)

involves funneling shit-tons of money into already established pathways- pathways that, news flash, don't exactly work. Leaving the system as it stands; the drug war, the police encroachments on constitutional liberty, the prisons, etc. intact. She is NOT calling for a wholesale re-evaluation of the drug war itself, rather her notion of being "bold" is to stick mandatory treatment in the middle of the converyor belt whereby small-time drug users are warehoused in our prisons. And even that isn't particularly bold; the most hard-core drug warriors all recognize the fact that it's simply not realistic to lock up ALL the drug users. So in reality all these sorts of half-baked 'solutions' do is maintain the highly lucrative status quo for a little longer, putting off the actual, real changes which would require a long overdue, genuine philosophical re-evaluation of the logic of the drug war itself.

If you put a bunch of money into systems that exist while refusing to examine or even discuss the failed logic behind them, you are continuing with the status quo.

You don't have drug courts and forcing people into treatment (which, unlike offering it to them on demand when they themselves are ready, has little chance of actually working. Plus, not all addicts get arrested, and not every one of the millions of pot smokers arrested and sent to prison needs addiction 'treatment') without arresting and locking them up, first, do you?

And on that notion of treatment- you'll note that some 2.5 billion of her proposal goes to the "Substance Abuse Treatment and Block Grant Program" of which a large portion are, quote, "grants to faith-based organizations". And the treatment industry is dominated by 12 step professionals, often hostile to other, more secular programs of recovery, like Rational Recovery or SMART, etc. Anyone with a working knowledge of the history of AA knows the links between early AA and the Fundamentalist/Revivalist "Oxford Group" otherwise known as "Moral Re-Armament" (and their ties to, among other things, Naziism in Europe) .... it would be interesting, I suppose, to do a little research on whether Hillary's friends in "The Family" have any historical ties to "The Oxford Group", but that's probably a project for another day...

either way, the faith based organizations in question stand to get a giant windfall, under Hillary's rather expensive proposal.

And the twin elephants in the room, nowhere to be mentioned by HRC's campaign? Medical Marijuana AND Marijuana Legalization. She claims people have been coming up to her all over on the campaign trail begging her to "talk about addiction". Okay, well, I haven't seen any of that, of course almost all of her public events are highly scripted-- what I HAVE seen is a mother of a toddler whose seizures can only be controlled by cannabis, begging her to take the issue seriously, and watching Hillary try to quickly shut the conversation down with some canned noise about "we need more research" (which sounds like, to me, code for "we need to let our friends in big pharma figure out a way that they can patent this thing and make it highly lucrative for them&quot

What IS clear that people want to talk about, is marijuana legalization. The polls say so. After years of the beltway people who "know better" saying it's not a serious issue (and "serious" politicians treating it like a big joke) voters in 4 states, now, have said "sorry, we don't agree, we're legalizing recreational pot". More states are likely to follow. It is UNDENIABLE that pot is a huge part of the drug war, of this incarceration pipeline Hillary claims to want to deal with. The savings and tax revenue from legal weed could pay for a lot of treatment on demand for addicts of far more dangerous drugs (like alcohol) ... yet she would apparently like to pretend this is not happening, she refuses to give a clear answer on it.

[JackInGreen]

119. Warren

Don't go letting facts get in your way. The puritan's and temperance minded folk don't approve.

[get the red out]

129. I agree

And I went through treatment in 1992 and haven't had a drink or drug since. But you are absolutely right! Too many treatment center counsellors have only recovery as their credentials. They work cheap and promote a one size fits all approach.

And how can alcohol be legal and pot not be? I don't get that.

[Warren DeMontague]

132. I think it's important for recovery people to know that there are alternatives to 12 step programs.

that's not to say those programs don't work for a lot of people, but for others, particularly Atheists who may have a problem with "a spiritual solution" or the lords prayer or doing semantic contortions to turn "God" into a doorknob, they should know that there are alternatives like Rational Recovery, SMART, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, etc.

I think things have gotten better, on that front, than they used to be, certainly since when I was a kid and had family members swallowed up into the AA cosmology. There's a greater acceptance that one size does not fit all, and accepting that doesn't need to be a threat to anyone's particular program.

I never understood how pot could be illegal and not alcohol, either, except for historical and cultural reasons. I did shitloads of both when I was younger, but only one gave me several different scars I carry on my body to this day. And it wasn't pot.

[get the red out]

135. Mental health

I have to add that there is a tendency, hopefully less now, to lump real mental health issues into a result of using, and often a tendency for certain people in recovery to say that you aren't clean in medications. I KNEW that wasn't the official 12-step stand, but didn't want to be tarnished in front of anyone in the recovery community, so I lived a less than satisfactory life without help for my life long depression for 17 years, when my Dad's illness, then death made me rethink that.

Also many treatment programs are against heroin addicts ever using maintenance medications, setting many up for failure and death. People deserve treatment that will do whatever is necessary to preserve their lives over Puritan ideals. People who are into God can die like that, as well as those who are not.
Then there are the hard-core, violent criminals who get lumped in with people caught with drugs for personal use and DUI cases since addiction is assumed to be the cause of both, sometimes it isn't and sometimes people with much lesser problems get hurt by the violent ones.

[Live and Learn]

138. +1 Time to end the drug war once and for all.

Education and treatment is the obvious way to go.

[hifiguy]

97. This.

She's still taking money from the private-prison gulag, I assume.

[seabeyond]

16. unfortantely i have heard too many people addicted to pot. personally, i see it as an habit. i do

not believe, nor convinced one can actually get addicted to pot. but today, i do know some youngish... teens,, low 20's, that feel they can indeed get addicted to pot and go to NA.

[Warren DeMontague]

61. people can become habituated to a lot of things- gambling, pot smoking, sex in rest stops, posting

on message boards on the internet;

and certainly far be it for me to suggest that any of those people, particularly if those things cause problems in their lives, aren't 'addicted'.

I've had this discussion more than a few times, because I know people who do feel they need support groups, etc. for pot. And that's fine, I'm not going to quibble. Me, personally, I never had a problem stopping smoking pot, even back when I was young and doing it all the time. I'm now at a phase in my life where it doesn't interest me all that much, and on the rare occasions that I actually do it, I get wrecked, because I have zero tolerance.

But I make a distinction between that kind of addiction and physical, physiological addiction. To wit, if an alcoholic drinks a fifth of scotch every day for a year, and then tries to stop cold turkey, it's quite likely they will require hospitalization. The DTs are nothing to sneeze at.

A pothead smokes an eighth a day for a year, and stops- I've never heard any evidence; scientific or anecdotal- that they're going to suffer anything remotely akin to the above. Cranky, headaches, maybe. But not life-threatening shakes, hallucinations, cardiac problems, etc.

So is pot "addictive"? It can be like gambling or other bad habits can be. Physically addictive? Either not at all or extremely mildly, more like caffeine than something like booze or heroin.


Either way, I still think it should be legal, regulated, and taxed, just like alcohol, which is far more dangerous IMHO.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Great. Make it harder for people in pain to get pain management, keep the drug war money spigot open

with $$$$$$fighting drug$$$$$ largesse to her private prison industry pals. Noise about "Drug courts" and "treatment" of course being a fancy way to justify "more of the same".

Pretend like questions around medical marijuana and marijuana legalization are going to go away if you ignore them. (seems to be the go-to playbook, huh?)

What about the tens of millions of otherwise law-abiding recreational marijuana users for whom, the only "treatment" they want is to be treated like adults who can make their own damn decisions about smoking a plant in the privacy of their own home?

Oh, that's some ground-breaking, Inspiring shit, really, Hillary.

[Puzzledtraveller]

4. I no longer try to get pain relief from my doctor.

Heroin use skyrocketing in my state and others. I wonder why. So I learned how to grow poppies, for floral arrangements and seeds for culinary use of course.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I wouldnt admit such things publicly, if i were you.

Sounds like Candidate Clinton is going to be investing all kinds of resources in "helping" folks like you.

[Puzzledtraveller]

6. Not everything people write on the internet is true.

Sometimes it's all made up.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. i went to over 100 dead shows before Jerry Garcia died, but I did not inhale any marijuanas

Okay, fine, i did.

[Puzzledtraveller]

10. Lol.

[jalan48]

38. Cosmic Charlie are you?

[Warren DeMontague]

44. I'm Uncle Sam

That's who I am.

[hifiguy]

98. You shook the hand, that shook the hand

of PT Barnum
And Charlie Chan?

Bitchin'!

[whatchamacallit]

7. More for-profit prisons?

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Shhhhhh

This is supposed to be a brave position statement on an issue teh public is clamoring to see addressed.

[CoffeeCat]

102. Yes, so brave...so, so brave...

...and such a nice touch that she is specifically concerned about *Iowans* who are drug and alcohol addicted. Iowa votes first in the primaries, and you know what that means. Hillary cares for you, Iowans, and your addictions.

Beware New Hampshire, you vote next. Rumor has it that Hillary is very concerned about the horrendous epidemic of toenail fungus in the Granite state.

Hillary cares. That's all you need to know.

[Warren DeMontague]

103. Don't they make liquor from corn?

Maybe she should ixnay on the alcohol part.

[CoffeeCat]

104. Ethanol is made from corn...

Usually people fuel up their cars with ethanol, but I suppose one could make a nice ethanol cocktail that would blow back your hair.

I shouldn't make jokes. Hillary is concerned!

[George II]

76. You mean the prisons that Sanders voted for?

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Gee, where is all the excitement over this bold new policy proposal?

Please, Hillary, save us from the drugs!

[SunSeeker]

12. I see you didn't even read the OP before spamming the thread.

As stated in the OP,

Hillary Clinton is committed to ending the era of mass incarceration and prioritizing treatment over prison for nonviolent drug and alcohol offenders. We need to do more and we need to do better. Hillary Clinton is the candidate with a plan to make sure we do both.” 

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Oh, I read it.

It's a sop to the private prison industry and the DEA. Read between the damn lines, it's a justification for "more of the same". Drug Courts? What, for pot smokers? Great use of public funds.

What happens when people don't want this "prioritized" treatment? (With, doubtless additional funnelling of money to largely 12-step "treatment professionals", 1st Amendment considerations around forcing people in court to believe in a "higher power" be damnned)

Yeah, they go to prison. Non-violent offenders. And we're back where we started.

People turn to street drugs when they can't get their pain adequately managed, that's a known phenomenon- and here's Hillary saying doctors should be "encouraged" (by a cop, no doubt) to prescribe yoga or meditation instead of pain relief.

Yes, treatment is preferable to incarceration, but the entire logic of the drug war- the fundamental conceit that the government needs to put its business in private citizens' medicine cabinets- needs to be rethought, and if you honestly believe that's what she's proposing here (while, again, taking lobbying dollars from the private prison industry) I have a bridge to sell you. What we should be doing is approaching hard drug addiction from a harm reduction stdpt, and offering treatment on demand. Not sticking treatment somewhere in the middle of the already well-established pipeline where we fill prison cells with people for personal drug use.

4 states have legalized recreational marijuana, more are likely to. Is she going to address that, clearly and concisely? Does she support the CARERS act, unlike her buddy Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? Can we even get an answer?

I wont hold my breath.

[SunSeeker]

30. Drug Courts are a GREAT use of public funds. They keep people out of prison and save lives.

We're not talking recreational pot smokers but people whose lives have unraveled due to meth or prescription pill use, etc. They invariably get arrested but what they really need is treatment. That is where Drug Courts come in, which were designed with the help of drug addiction treatment specialists. They are incredibly effective and actually save tax money in terms of keeping people out of prison.

Drug Courts significantly reduce drug use and crime and are more cost-effective than any other proven criminal justice strategy. FACT: Nationwide, 75% of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program.

http://www.nadcp.org/learn/facts-and-figures

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Right. Except the majority of the DEA budget goes to fighting pot smoking.

The idea that "nobody is in prison for pot smoking" is a drug war trope.

It is true tjat in many jurisdictions the DEA has stopped dragging medical marijuana patients off to prison, but that is not because of some newfound compassion on the part of drug war apologists. Rather, it is because increasingly juries tell the prosecution to fuck off.

Meth is a problem particularly in areas where the traditional "drug war" has been successful- and one aspect of the meth epidemic I rarely see addressed is, often these arent people soing it for a buzz, but rather trying to function while holding down 3 minimum wage jobs. And it works, for a while, until their teeth fall out and they have a psychotic break.

Meth is very much a function of the fucked up economic situation in wide swaths of middle america.

I agree that alternatives to incarceration are needed, but a wholesale rethinking of the drug war is overdue. Offer treatment on demand, pursue harm reduction strategies for some addicts. And yes, drug courts work for some circumstances. But the entire drug war- along with the trampling of the constitution it has wrought- needs to be reexamined.

[dsc]

52. I am sure you have a citation for this

I know you didn't make this up out of your ass.

[Warren DeMontague]

54. Marijuana is far and away the most "abused" illegal drug in the US, so, yes.

Can I "prove" it? No, the DEA's budgetary outlays are pretty opaque. I'd say it's fairly safe to say that is where the lion's share of drug war dollars- and, by extension, DEA budget- goes. Believe me, don't believe me, fine. We should all be able to agree that pot prohibition is an expensive joke.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/20/marijuana-prohibition-costs_n_3123397.html

https://aclu-wa.org/what-your-county-spending-marijuana-law-enforcement

as you can see, fully half the drug war arrests are for pot. Equal to all other drugs combined:

http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

I will concede that it probably has gone down in recent years, because even the DEA sees the writing on the wall with pot prohibition ending.

[dsc]

55. you made a very specific charge

and shock of shocks you have literally not an ounce of proof to back it up. Yes, more people use marijuana than the other drugs but the arrests aren't in anything like that proportion (nor should they be). I agree that any money spent on such enforcement (except to prevent marijuana influence behind the wheel) is wasted. But I don't think anything like half of the money spend by the DEA is for the enforcement of marijuana prohibition.

[Warren DeMontague]

56. this is the kind of thing the DEA does with your tax dollars, bub.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/10/us-canada-marijuana-investors-idUSKCN0HZ0ZY20141010

Those chopper flights over Northern California - where do you think the money comes for, from those?

I'm sure the DEA doesn't advertise how much money they spend of fighting pot smoking, because most people agree it's a ludicrous waste.

[Recursion]

131. The majority of the DEA budget goes to eradication; demand-side is a rounding error

Domestically that is mostly cannabis, and as you can see cannabis eradication has plummeted since Obama took office.

IIRC this has to do with eradication being funded by forfeitures (a whole different can of worms) while the rest of DEA's operations are line items from the general fund.

[Warren DeMontague]

133. Thank you for some actual data, even if the graph is WAY TOO BIG ON MY SCREEN

No, seriously.

I remember being out and about in Northern California and watching those CAMP choppers flying around. Those little sorties aren't cheap IIRC.

I think Obama has definitely moved the marker on rolling back some of the stupid anti-pot drug war stuff -- I do question Hillary's commitment to maintain his relatively saner approach-- although some of that has also been driven by the fact that in many places, I doubt they can get a jury that will convict a granny for growing purple kush in her back yard to ease her glaucoma, not anymore.


People have had enough.

[Recursion]

134. Ha sorry. WonkBlog loves huge graphs

I doubt they can get a jury that will convict a granny for growing purple kush in her back yard to ease her glaucoma

Good point.

[SunSeeker]

13. This is good news for folks suffering with addiction, but it's met with derision here.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. take the DEA budget and put it into treatment on demand, that would be an actual bold policy

proposal.

Prohibition doesn't help addicts, it never has. Most of the DEA budget goes to fighting pot smoking. Is Hillary ever going to address any of that?

[SunSeeker]

17. I know you don't really care, but here's her plan...

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday unveiled a $10 billion drug and alcohol treatment plan, in which the federal government would match state dollars by as much as $4 to $1. The plan includes “alternatives to incarceration for low-level and nonviolent drug offenses,” and aid to get people back on their feet. Clinton has spoken previously about encountering mass drug and alcohol dependence on the campaign trail, particularly in New Hampshire. “I did not expect that I would hear about drug abuse and substance abuse and other such challenges everywhere I went,” she said at the time.

http://m.wmur.com/politics/clinton-unveils-10-billion-10year-antidrug-abuse-treatment-initiative/35052262

What's Bernie's plan? Is he getting rid of the DEA?

[Warren DeMontague]

18. The thread is about Hillary, isnt it?

But since you asked about Sanders, he's been far clearer.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/bernie-sanders-marijuana_n_7337454.html


http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/08/20/3693380/bernie-sanders-private-prisons/


Im sure Hillary "has been hearing about drug abuse", although I wonder if it isnt from, again, her lobbyists connected to the private prison industry. Presumably she didnt blow them off and run the other direction, the way she did with the mom whose toddler needs medical marijuana to control her seizures.

I also cant help but wonder if Hillary's definition of "encountering mass drug dependence" isnt her way of saying "people keep asking me questions about legal pot that I dont want to answer"

This is, basically, taking a car with a blown engine, slapping a new coat of paint on it, and saying "look at my proposal to fix the car!"

[jeff47]

22. Also, there's no proposal to pay for it.

At least, not in the articles in this thread.

When it's a Sanders proposal, "not paying for it" is supposed to demonstrate just how terrible he is. Even when he does say how he will pay for it.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. DRUG WAR TAXPAYER TREASURE BATH!!!

[SunSeeker]

28. Neither of your Bernie links describe a drug addict treatment plan.

And certainly none of them have him proposing to dissolve the DEA, which is what you suggest Hillary should be proposing.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Again, this thread is about Hillary.

But the history of overinflated drug war rhetoric indicates that this is a "problem" in search of an extremely lucrative solution. Throwing money and prison cells at the issue over the years hasnt done away with addiction.

I salute Hillary's commitment to ending the wholesale incarceration of non-violent drug offenders, if that's really what she's saying. But instead, what I see, is sticking "treatment' in the mix to justify the long-running ramping up of the drug war, construction of prisons both public and private, and the total disregard for constitutional protections like the 4th amendment.

Forget the 4 states and counting that have legalized pot- I dont expect her to EVER give a clear answer on that, at least not until her beltway advisers finally figure out that the American people support legalization, the way they finally figured out which way the wind was blowing on marriage equality...

...how is Hillary's largesse on 'drug courts' gonna help the woman in Texas who was sexually assaulted by cops who "smelled weed"? How is it going to help baby bou-bou, who had a flash grenade thrown in his crib during a raid? How is it going to help the college student locked in a room for 5 days because he was at a fraternity party where pot was being smoked?

Answer? It's not. Because you dont get people to "drug court" or force them into treatment without arresting them, first. Which means the over-militarized apparatus of the drug war, and the unconstitutional encroachments on personal liberty, remain intact.

So this is very much window dressing on an old shit sandwich.

[George II]

72. The preface to your links was "since you asked about Sanders, he's been far clearer"....

...wasn't it?

[Warren DeMontague]

78. And if you want to keep talking about Sanders, I can't stop you, can I.

easier than defending the rationale for the drug war, which is clearly what Hillary is trying to prop up, here.

Sanders wants to end the drug war. I suspect that would free up a lot of money for treatment on demand, but honestly, trying to figure out ways to arrest MORE people on drug "violations" so they can be shepherded into treatment against their will- is probably not his top priority.

Clearly, with Hillary, it is. Like I said, window dressing on the same ol' same ol'.

[Cha]

23. Mahalo SunSeeker! As I said.. this is what's important.. not what the usual BS supporters have

to say about it in Bernie's name.

[Marty McGraw]

45. can someone help me out?

is that 'Stop Keystone XL' button, some kind of Ban Trap?

[Cha]

46. Yeah, I'll kick this thread to ask what are you talking about?

[Marty McGraw]

47. .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/28/hillary-clintons-ridiculous-hedge-on-keystone/

[Cha]

48. My sig line is regarding President Obama.

[Marty McGraw]

50. Whew.!

Thank you.
It definitely is a notably worthy cause.
Just had me a little concerned.

[George II]

74. Another comprehensive proposal from Hillary Clinton....

....he draws big crowds, she provides solutions to problems.

Guess that's why she's ahead roughly 2-1 to 3-1 in most state polls.

[seaglass]

39. Yes it is. She also met with people in NH about the opioid addiction problem. Maybe it is not

hitting other areas of the country in the same way it is in the northeast - it is a major problem in MA, 2 weeks ago my husband (a firefighter) got a heroin overdose call - they saved the guy's life with narcan. This was not his first call. I also know peers of my son's and daughter's who were/are addicted. It is awful, it is a problem in the suburbs just as much as in the cities.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/hillary-clinton-tackles-opioid-abuse-issue-at-nh-forum/34669274

[Warren DeMontague]

126. Hmm. Maybe you guys should look to some of those "other areas of the country" for ideas, then.

In States With Medical Marijuana, Painkiller Deaths Drop by 25%


And 3 years after passing a medical marijuana bill, MA has, what, one dispensary? ... Finally open?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/09/02/state-first-medical-marijuana-dispensary-serves-patients-first-two-months/8HLprn68dA4nfGOeuoidTN/story.html

Perhaps with access, now, you too will see some traction on that issue.

[seaglass]

128. There is supposed to be a ballot question in 2016 to legalize recreational mj use. So far Eliz

Warren and Mike Capuano support it so there is that. I hope it is legalized, I don't have a problem with weed at all. The opiate/heroin addiction is something entirely different because of how highly addictive it is and the need for increased amounts to get the same high.

This is what I care about - more beds for rehab and more medical professionals allowed to dispense suboxone. Treating addicts rather than jailing addicts. I am for abuse resistant opiates. I have no idea how to limit opiates and heroin on the street.

The second med mj dispensary is opening today. There will be another opening in the city next to me any time now, all state licensing/permitting were completed in Mar and all local building permits are done. The company that runs this facility has permits for 2 other locations in earlier stages.

I don't doubt that the state slow walked this but it is happening.

[Warren DeMontague]

130. the point there is, marijuana legalization can actually mitigate some of the opioid addiction #s.

certainly for some instances of pain management, it is less addictive and problematic in many cases.

Drug warriors often don't get that, because they are programmed to see things in a black/white "drugs/no drugs" sort of paradigm.

My attitude towards pot is, legalize it, regulate it, and tax it, as we are in the process of doing here on the West Coast. On the topic of hard drugs I agree although in terms of prescription meds I would err on the side of aggressively managing pain rather than having some people suffer because their doctors are terrified to prescribe due to the DEA.

That's not to say prescription abuse and addiction doesn't happen, but I do think pain management needs to be a legitimately respected priority.

As for opiates on the street, my philosophy tends towards both, as you say, treatment rather than jail and also examining harm reduction strategies. Maybe that means providing unrecovering addicts the means to safely maintain their addiction under limited supervision, a technique they've had some success with in some Scandinavian countries, and philosophically not all the different from methadone maintenance, which is itself a form of substituting one addiction for another.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I know what we've been doing- criminalization and the larger drug war- doesn't work.

[jeff47]

19. I like how they couldn't quite manage to get the link to work.

Check out the full factsheet for Clinton's comprehensive plan HERE

Uh...nope. Not "HERE".

[Warren DeMontague]

20. Stop deriding! This is real innovation, here!

The drug war just needs more money. Then it'll work.

[George II]

75. Must be a great plan if all you can do is complain about the link. Surely you could....

....find the correct link yourself instead of attacking, couldn't you?

[jeff47]

77. Still waiting for you to complain that this plan isn't paid for.

Or do Clinton proposals not require that?

[Cha]

21. "Hillary Clinton is not only listening to Iowans who brought this issues to her attention, she is

putting forward a plan to tackle this issue head on. Hillary Clinton’s plan is ambitious and puts the focus on treating substance abuse and supporting those in recovery. This is not a problem that appeared overnight and it’s not one we can solve overnight but we do need to solve it. I’m proud to be supporting Hillary Clinton because she understands the urgency of the problem and will do something about it.”

This is what's important.. not what the usual BS supporters have to say about it in Bernie's name.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. So when she gets to Colorado, will she stop pretending that marijuana legalization can be ignored?

I'm sure she's smart enough to realize that Colorado is a swing state.

[Cha]

26. KICK! Go Hillary.. straight ahead, FOCUSED.. not disrupted by BS supporters.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. "What, with a cloth?"

Yes, ignoring inconvenient questions is a great strategy.

[Cha]

29. Mahalo for this from Iowa, brooklynite!

[hack89]

32. Drug overdoses kill more people than guns

not only that, the number of drug overdose deaths is going up steadily, having doubled over the past 20 years.

Drug overdose deaths more than doubled from 1999 to 2012, according to a new CDC National Center for Health Statistics’s report.

The new data shows drug overdose deaths from drugs like painkillers and heroin have risen from 6.1 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 13.1 in 2012. Drug overdose deaths involving heroin in particular have nearly tripled over the time period.

According to the report, in 2012 alone, there were 41,502 drug overdose deaths, of which 16,007 involved opioid analgesics and 5,925 involved heroin.

http://time.com/3612596/drug-overdose-deaths-have-more-than-doubled-in-the-u-s/

Where I live in Rhode Island there were 28 murders in 2014. There were 232 drug overdose deaths.

This is a huge issue in New England - there were 1,000 overdose deaths in Massachusetts in 2014.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. And the idea of getting nalexone into the hands of 1st responders, is a good one.

But if you think this is unrelated to the fact that several states have legalized pot and many prominent voices are calling for a wholesale rethinking of the drug war, I suspect you're mistaken.

This is as close as Hillary can get to reassuring Interested parties, "I support the drug war status quo"

[hack89]

36. Around here they hand it out to family members of drug users.

it has gotten that bad.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. They should.

I vigorously support making treatment - including alternatives to 12 step forced "spirituality"/religiosity, which works for some and not for others- available on demand, for when people are ready themselves. Because IMHO no one else can force someone to hit that point.

Consider this. The majority of the DEA's budget goes to fighting pot smoking. Imagine if we took that and funneled it into treatment for hard drug addiction?

[eridani]

86. So what about medical marijuana as part of a solution?

http://www.vice.com/read/could-marijuana-help-addicts-recover-from-alcoholism-and-hard-drug-use-234

A study published last fall in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that states with legal medical marijuana had a 25 percent reduction in opiate overdose deaths. As a strong proponent of alternative recovery methods, I was eager to investigate. The internet is rife with blog posts and message boards about those who benefit from marijuana as an alternative to alcohol, or credit medical cannabis in their recovery from hard drugs and alcoholism. But despite legalization becoming an increasingly mainstream idea, stigmas have stuck around, and saying you're getting clean by toking up can catch people off guard as much as announcing you've gotten sober through Satanism.

To learn more about weed's use in recovery I spoke with Amanda Reiman, PhD MSW, author of the 2009 study "Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol and Other Drugs" in Harm Reduction Journal and manager of Marijuana Law and Policy at the Drug Policy Alliance. After completing fellowships with the National Institute for Health, Reiman now continues her research on the effectiveness of pot as a replacement for hard drugs and alcohol.

[Warren DeMontague]

87. Pfffft.

Yeah, dont hold your breath for anyone on team HRC to take that sort of thing seriously.

Crazy talk, I tell you! Drugs* are bad, mmmmmmkay?



* we mean, of course, Hippie drugs, NOT any of the fine multi-billion dollar patented offerings of our friends in the corproate pharmaceutical world. Just so we're clear.

[hack89]

90. I personally support legalization for a variety of reasons

Reducing opiate drug abuse is certainly a good reason.

[eridani]

109. Yes, and Sanders/O'Malley are much better on this issue than Clinton

The whole proposal is just a transparent attempt to make enriching Clinton's for-profit prison pals look nicer by covering it up with fake compassion. Real compassion requires turning this country into Portugal.

[Warren DeMontague]

123. "a transparent attempt to make enriching Clinton's for-profit prison pals look nicer by covering it

up with fake compassion." --- BINGO.

It's rebranding. Slapping a new coat of paint on the broken crap-ass jalopy known as the failed drug war.

Taking what everyone with a brain and a calculator already knows- "well, we can't incarcerate ALL the drug users" and trying to spin it as some sort of bold, forward-thinking policy. It's not.

It's a desperate attempt to save the status quo, and yeah, I suspect the private prison industry lobbyist money is not completely unrelated. THEY know the drug war gravy train is in serious trouble; what with all the pesky talk of pot legalization, ending mandatory minimums, etc.

[Avalux]

35. Who will pay for addiction treatment and recovery?

The link didn't work to read Hillary's plan, so I'm not going to say much except that this is an extremely complicated and multi-pronged issue. It's got to start with getting docs and insurance co's on board with prescription pain meds. More people die from overdoses of those every year than street drugs. The rise in heroin use is directly related.

I'll be interested in seeing how addicts (including alcoholics) who may not have a job/insurance will be able to get effective treatment, and I hope cannabis use will be approached differently since it's not physically addictive.

I'll look forward to reading her entire plan.

[Marty McGraw]

40. What will be their

relief valve from the suffering from all these years of empty pandering that has gone on in that state. What could they turn to then?

Realizing their lives are only worth Cardboard Props Like the rest of us.

[Cha]

49. "Realizing their lives are only worth Cardboard Props Like th rest of us.".. that's ridiculous.

[Marty McGraw]

51. k

[Gman]

41. This is why the primaries are simply a formality

Hillary will make a wonderful president.

[Geronimoe]

42. Unfortunately she'll never get it funded by those she calls terrorists in Congress

The Republicans will never work with her.

[Gman]

43. It doesn't matter anyway.

They won't work with any Democrat. The next chance to try to change that won't be until 2020. Even then it'll be a stretch to win back the necessary statehouses and state legislatures. So it's all academic anyway.

[randys1]

53. Methadone and Suboxone access for opiate addicts/heroin, is a must. The more access the better

[riversedge]

80. Yes, access is key and from I can see--this plan will provide for that.

[teach me everything]

81. Ibogaine.

look it up

[randys1]

94. Familiar, have you taken it? I dont think you can access it here legally.

[teach me everything]

95. Nope, but watched a Law and Order: SVU about it.

That's how I learned of it. I even looked it up - it's real.

[PowerToThePeople]

57. Good jobs would fix the issue.

#FeelTheBern

[SonderWoman]

58. Yeah okay. Go to Wall Street, everyone is on coke.

[PowerToThePeople]

59. So you are saying wall street is not a good job.

I would agree.

[SonderWoman]

62. What an absolute tone deaf comment you made.

I won't even bother explaining.

[PowerToThePeople]

139. Because you can't explain in a way that proves your point.

There is a reason that many wall street and executive types are on uppers.

because they are bad jobs that push a dog eat dog, million mile per hour mentality. You either win or you are out.

These are not good jobs.

[Warren DeMontague]

60. Clearly the answer is more money for the drug war, because it's worked so well so far.

And by all means lets completely ignore the fact that 4 states and counting have legalized recreational marijuana and a majority favors legalization nationwide.

No, let's keep flogging outdated 90s drug menace language to appeal to the imaginary soccer mom voters of 15 years ago.

[SonderWoman]

63. So you're against help for addiction?

[beam me up scottie]

64. Yes. Yes he is.

[SonderWoman]

65. Go away.

Warren posted a bizarre response that had nothing to do with my post, so he got a dose of his own medicine.

[beam me up scottie]

66. Your accusation is absurd, Warren is the only one making sense in this thread.

And it's another lame attempt in a long line of lame attempts to discredit anyone who criticizes Hillary.

[SonderWoman]

67. LOL.

[Warren DeMontague]

71. Fortunately for me, my credit already sucks.

You cant take away something that isnt there to begin with!

[beam me up scottie]

73. It can't be as badly damaged as SonderWoman's.

She was the one who brought the 'Bernie is a pedophile supporter' claim to DU after all.

And still wonders why her op was hidden.

[Warren DeMontague]

88. Egads.

[Warren DeMontague]

70. No, im against enabling a failed policy to ensure the bottom line of private prisons.

[Vattel]

96. wow, classic strawman

[Juicy_Bellows]

69. +1 for trying to explain in this thread. It's appreciated. Nt.

[SunSeeker]

82. You can't get nor keep a good job if you're an addict.

An addict needs treatment.

[PowerToThePeople]

85. Prevention

Good jobs are prevention. Yes, you still have to treat those currently addicted.

[SunSeeker]

100. Not it's not. Don’t listen to that idiot Rand Paul

As a Daily Kos post mocking Rand Paul's similar assertion pointed out, USA Today recently reported:

Heroin use also grew by 60% among those with annual household incomes of at least $50,000 — close to the median household income in the United States. Heroin use grew by 62.5% among those with private insurance, an indication that the users are employed and more financially secure.

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1418009

Here’s the USA Today link if you hate Daily Kos:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/07/heroin-use-spikes/29788031/

[PowerToThePeople]

105. F your rude assertion

I have never heard anything Rand Paul has said. But obviously, since you have a quote of his at your disposal, you have.

[SunSeeker]

115. LOL

I read Daily Kos, which is how I came across that post about Rand Paul. Then I remembered what you said. I guess you and Rand just think alike on that issue. Small world.

[Doctor_J]

68. there's no link to the "comprehensive plan"

Surprising

Hillary is a friend of PHARMA so I don't see her ending the drug war, which is what actually needs to happen.

[riversedge]

79. Where is Bernie's plan to end the drug war?

[Doctor_J]

84. I thought this op was about Mrs Clinton and her plan,

which is detailed at a link that doesn't actually exist

[SunSeeker]

83. See post 17 above for summary and link.

But it appears you're here to trash Clinton, not discuss drug addiction solutions.

[eridani]

89. Why hardly anyone dies from a drug overdose in Portugal

Given that's she's advocating for women all over the world, why no mention of Portugal?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/05/why-hardly-anyone-dies-from-a-drug-overdose-in-portugal/

Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it -- Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal, of course. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program -- not jail time and a criminal record.

Whenever we debate similar measures in the U.S. -- marijuana decriminalization, for instance -- many drug-policy makers predict dire consequences. “If you make any attractive commodity available at lower cost, you will have more users," former Office of National Drug Control Policy deputy director Thomas McLellan once said of Portugal's policies. Joseph Califano, founder of the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, once warned that decriminalization would "increase illegal drug availability and use among our children."

But in Portugal, the numbers paint a different story. The prevalence of past-year and past-month drug use among young adults has fallen since 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which advocates on behalf of ending the war on drugs. Overall adult use is down slightly too. And new HIV cases among drug users are way down.

Now, numbers just released from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction paint an even more vivid picture of life under decriminalization: drug overdose deaths in Portugal are the second-lowest in the European Union.

[Warren DeMontague]

91. Texas: Cops Forcibly Search Woman's Vagina After Smelling Weed in Her Car

http://jezebel.com/cops-forcibly-search-womans-vagina-after-smelling-weed-1723207106

I'm curious how Hillary's 10 Billion dollar "crackdown on addiction"/rebranding of the drug war is going to address that sort of thing, arent you?

[Katashi_itto]

92. So more For-Profit Prisons eh?

[SunSeeker]

101. No. Hillary's solution is treatment, not jail.

Of course, you have a meme to maintain...

[Warren DeMontague]

106. Solution to the 'problem' of pot smoking?

So those 40 million or so recreational cannabis users will have the 'option' of a govt-funded faith based treatment program before they are sent to prison. Yay.

[Katashi_itto]

107. A Program which they have to pay for. In addition to going to a for profit prison. She has to

has to make sure it pays off.

[Warren DeMontague]

108. All aboard the gravy train!

[SunSeeker]

111. I don't think recreational pot smoking is a debilitating drug addition, do you?

I don't think that is what Hillary is talking about, nor all the people on the campaign trail who came up to her were talking about.

Recreational pot use does not tend to cause you to burglarize your neighbor's home to pay for your habit, resulting in you getting arrested and needing the help of a Drug Court.

[Warren DeMontague]

114. "all the people who came up to her"... right.

At least, that's what she's claimed. Only person I've seen "come up to her" talking about "drugs" was the mother of the toddler who needs cannabis to mitigate her seizures, who Hillary seemed in an awful hurry to get away from.

One thing we do know is, statistically, voters DO support marijuana legalization, yet she doesn't want to talk about that. Why do you think that is? Voters in 4 states haven't pushed through initiatives demanding 'something be done about the drug problem', but they HAVE pushed through pot legalization measures, despite being ordered not to by party higher-ups and conventional wisdom poobahs.

...

Burglary is a crime and likely to remain a crime- rightly so. Perhaps funding mandated treatment in conjunction with people being prosecuted for crimes like burglary, makes sense.

But it is disingenuous to pretend that that is what the "drug war" is about, otherwise it would be called the burglary war. No, the drug war is about treating people as criminals not for breaking into other peoples' houses, but merely for doing unauthorized things with their own bodies and nervous systems. For being in possession of illegal substances, like pot.

THIS is what the drug war is about, right here:

Texas: Cops Forcibly Search Woman's Vagina After Smelling Weed in Her Car

and this:

http://www.cbs46.com/story/25929695/baby-bou-bou-makes-first-public-appearance

and this:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dea-chong-20150505-story.html



so excuse me if I can't figure out how Hillary's 10 Billion Dollars to faith-based organizations, etc. here does diddly to address the above.

[SunSeeker]

117. Well, Hillary can't solve all your problems, Warren DeMontague.

No one can. You obviously support another candidate, so maybe you can start an OP about how great his drug policy is, and stop shitting on this thread.

[Warren DeMontague]

122. yes, how unreasonable to expect her to come up with an answer that does better than

throwing 10 billion more dollars at the disastrous status quo.

[SunSeeker]

124. That $10 billion would not be "thrown" away. It would save lives.

Particularly with Drug Courts, which would keep drug addicts out of jail. That is definitely not maintaining the status quo; it would be a huge improvement.

But like others in this thread who really don't want to discuss Hillary's actual proposal, you just want to bash Hillary. You really can't talk about much else since Bernie has offered no solutions for how to deal with the problem of drug addiction.

Well, you've wasted enough of my time in this thread. But please feel free keep to posting and kicking the thread.

[Warren DeMontague]

125. you didn't answer a single point I made in post #114.

Rather, you tried to demand that I get out of the thread.



Well, guess what- this isn't the Hillary Clinton Group, so if someone posts some gushy pablum-laden gook about a proposal that has all sorts of holes in it, it's gonna get challenged.

The Drug War destroys lives, and this proposal is entirely a very expensive set of excuses to AVOID actually doing anything about it. It doesn't cost 10 billion dollars to run drug courts; many states already have them. They are CHEAPER, on average, than running drug offenders through the regular judicial system.

Know what's even cheaper than that? Legalization, particularly of the substance that drives MOST drug arrests, namely marijuana. Hillary is studiously avoiding that issue, in case you haven't noticed.

Hillary's "bold proposal" includes, again, stuff that already exists in many jurisdictions- drug courts- and stuff that everyone already knows, namely that we can't throw all the country's drug users in prison. While taking a philosophical position that "we shouldn't fill our prisons with non-violent drug offenders" is admirable (if fairly obvious) what ISN'T admirable is if the proposal is done in leiu of actually addressing the real problems with the drug war, like I laid out.

I'm happy to get into the grants to, quote, "faith based organizations" AND the historical links between the court-mandated (and 1st Amendment violating) 12 step "treatment industry" and fundamentalist religious "great awakening" social movements, if I need to, as well.

Is Hillary's plan going to help the woman in Texas who was sexually assaulted because cops smelled weed? No, it isn't.

Bernie hasn't offered any plans of "how can I throw a bunch of money to faith based organizations that will simultaneously try to protect the jobs of drug warriors that would otherwise be threatened by REAL reform", no.

Hillary seems to have that covered.

First off, I'm not a "Bernie Supporter", I'm still undecided. But the craptastic campaign HRC has run so far sure as shit hasn't won me over.

But you asked, so what has Sanders said? Here: (emphasis added)

http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-drug-policy/

Bernie Sanders believes the United States’ current prohibition of drug use, colloquially known as the “war on drugs,” is a failed policy. He co-sponsored a bill to allow the medical use of marijuana, which is currently classified as a Schedule I drug. He also co-sponsored another bill to reduce recidivism, allowing incarcerated offenders access to pharmacological drug treatment. Bernie has opposed expanding the war on drugs by voting “no” both on military border patrols to battle drugs and terrorism, and on plans to subject federal employees to random drug tests. Bernie recognizes that the war on drugs has not quelled the drug-use epidemics facing the nation; he believes punishment doesn’t help but treatment does.

So yes, even assuming that, as you seem to be arguing, ending the drug war is far less important than "dealing with the problem of drug addiction" he is proposing increased access to treatment (not the same thing, of course, as putting treatment somewhere in the "trash the 4th amendment-->warrantless search-->arrest-->incarceration" pipeline we have now) and it's ALSO worth noting that by supporting single payer, medicare-for-all, treatment for addiction as a health issue would fall under the umbrella of vastly improved care for all citizens.

Hillary can't even give a straight answer on medical marijuana when half the GOP field has. What the fuck is wrong with that, when about the only candidate sounding worse on these issues is Chris Christie?

[eridani]

110. Not possible to pay for it without getting rid of for profit jails--when has she said she--

--is in favor of that?

[SunSeeker]

112. Why is it not possible to pay for it without getting rid of for profit jails?

What do you base that on?

[eridani]

116. On what a fucking expensive waste of money they are. Please tell us you aren't defending this----

--modern day slavery option.

[SunSeeker]

118. Of course I'm not defending for profit jails. Can you answer my question?

For profit jails are a problem, and I am not sure how we can get rid of them in the short term. A lot of things sap the federal budget, like the trillion spent on the useless F-35.

Are you saying untill we fix all the budget saps, we can't deal with problems like debilitating drug addiction?

[eridani]

120. Yes. Use the billions we now give to private prisons for rehab n/t

[SunSeeker]

121. You said, "Not possible to pay for it without getting rid of for profit jails."

I asked why you claim that. Your "answer" does not answer that question.

Sure, lots of things being cut would pay for treatment. Just one F-35 not being built would pay for it and then some.

But we do not have to end private prisons before we can offer treatment to adficts. They need treatment now, not when Washinton gets its entire house in order.

It appears you were just just throwing out nonsensical snark. I'll avoid wasting my time further with you, eridani.

[jfern]

113. Clearly too much corn based ethanol

She needs to oppose it.

But seriously, corn based ethanol isn't a very good energy source.

[get the red out]

127. Medical and scientific

But will she promote treatment methods that have been studied and shown to be effective? Or promote treatment centers with all their staff having little training which offer little besides God?

And yea, like others have said, will this only succeed in limiting the proper use of certain medications?

[Warren DeMontague]

136. Part of her plan involves "restricting the prescription of opioid pain medication"

So yes, our 10 billion dollars will undoubtedly go towards making it MORE difficult for people in pain to get effective and humane pain management.

http://time.com/4020791/hillary-clinton-drug-abuse/

[get the red out]

137. Heartless

That is a very poorly thought out position. Cruel.

[Autumn]

140. Got a link to that comprehensive plan?

TIA