Drug Warriors Try to Censor their Opponents

[andyjackson1828]

Representative Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) has discovered a mortal threat to the republic. The threat is a display ad placed by a pro-drug legalization group, Change the Climate, Inc., on Washington D.C.'s bus and subway system. The ad showed a young couple, with the caption: "Enjoy Better Sex! Legalize and Tax Marijuana."

And to deal with this outrage, Istook has introduced a measure to financially penalize Washington's Metro transit authority for running the ad. Moreover, Istook's bill would prohibit any transit system that receives federal funds from running advertising from a group that advocates decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana.

This is hardly the first time that the blackjack of withholding federal funds has been used to coerce recipients into embracing pet policies of politicians, but it has to be one of the more odious. Istook's bill shows utter contempt for the First Amendment, and indeed for the entire concept of political debate.

But drug warriors have repeatedly showed their intolerance of opposing views -- and their eagerness to use the power of government to suppress critics. For example, in the mid-1990s, the late Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NY) attempted to have the tax-exempt status of the Cato Institute revoked because it had the temerity to sponsor discussions of the legalization option.

The rest at...

http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-09-04.html

[Stilgar]

1. like when they tried to allow the Drug Czar to use Federal money

to go around to the states and campaign against local Med Mj ballots.


Or even now repeatedly saying their is no medical reason to use Mj when their own studies, studies from other countries and even states say that their are legitimate uses.


I also love how they get their feathers ruffled when courts rule against the obviously unconstitutional interpretation of the law. A recent one was that the commerce clause does not apply to a sick (I forgot the state) resident with Mj card that grows or has someone grow their own personal supply. I wondered how they thought a plant grown in the back yard and consumed in the house was in any way involving interstate commerce.