BUSH's Drug Czar Calls Marijuana Growers-"Dangerous Terrorists With Aim Of Causing Mass Casualities"

[kpete]

Drug czar gives warning
Federal official calls marijuana growers dangerous terrorists
By Dylan Darling (Contact)
Friday, July 13, 2007

Story Highlights
The news: The nation’s drug czar says pot garden growers in the north state are terrorists.

The nation's top anti-drug official said people need to overcome their "reefer blindness" and see that illicit marijuana gardens are a terrorist threat to the public's health and safety, as well as to the environment.

John P. Walters, President Bush's drug czar, said the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn't hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties. Walters made the comments at a Thursday press conference that provided an update on the "Operation Alesia" marijuana-eradication effort.

http://www.redding.com/news/2007/jul/13/drug-czar-gives-warning/

[AlCzervik]

1. no meth labs are dangerous with or without "Terrahrists!" they leave behind

chemicals, basically a toxic waste dump and some blow up.

[Arkana]

89. *takes pull off joint* You're harshin' my buzz here.

[Mythsaje]

2. Oh, I'm sure THIS makes them seem more credible...

There probably aren't more than a thousand people in the whole country who'd buy into THIS meme.

Talk about desperation.

[Rick Myers]

3. Bongs, not Bombs, Mr. Walters...

[Ghost in the Machine]

Bongs Away!!

[misternormal]

4. To hell with POT...

Use the money that is thrown down the bottomless hole that is trying to stop pot, and go for the drugs that'll kill ya, like Meth.

They can't stop the meth, so to keep their jobs, they go after the pot...

[John Q. Citizen]

26. They CAN stop the meth since a handful of major factories world wide produce the

ephedrine or psuedoephedrine that all meth is made from.

They WON'T stop the meth because big pharma makes billions from the manufactor and sale of ephedrine/psuedo ephedrine products and have repeatedly watered down or opposed regulations that would cut into their profits, both from legal and illegal use of these products.

See the PBS Frontline Piece on this
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/faqs/

Why is meth called an "unnecessary epidemic?"
As The Oregonian's award-winning 2004 investigation showed, Congress and federal authorities could have contained the meth epidemic, and still can. Unlike heroin and cocaine, which are distilled from plants grown across huge areas of Asia and South America, meth requires ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, two chemicals used to make asthma medications or cold and cough remedies such as Sudafed.

Only nine factories in the world manufacture the bulk of the world's supply of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Tightening control over the supply of these chemicals has been pursued on and off over the past 18 years, but the regulations have contained loopholes which meth traders quickly exploited. Nevertheless, each time there have been new regulations it has made a real difference, as The Oregonian's investigation showed: the drug grew scarce and rehab centers saw fewer meth patients. What still has to happen is the implementation of sustained controls by government that could stop meth's continuing spread.

[Hippo_Tron]

31. Umm, I kinda like Sudafed...

Once in a while when I really need to clear up a cold or allergies. I don't think it's just the pharmaceutical companies that like it, their consumers like it as well.

[John Q. Citizen]

35. Clearly this is true. But there are other non-methable substitutes that work well.

Millions of Americans find medical benefit from marijuana and millions more like to use it recreationally, yet for some reason that doesn't translate into lifting prohibition.

The main difference is the corporate pressure to keep the profits from ephedrine and psuedo ephedrine rolling in, as well as the loss of corporate profits should medical marijuana become available.

Anyone can grow marijuana anywhere, but only those handful of factories can make ephedrine/pseudo ephedrine.

[Hippo_Tron]

56. Well I support legalizing marijuana and keeping ephedrine legal

[razors edge]

5. That will convice everyone I know...

that these people are unhinged.

[Kansas Wyatt]

6. Well there you go... Justification for stripping suspects of their rights as citizens.

'Because they are terrorists.'

[Warren Stupidity]

7. we are a nation of rabid morons.

We are a danger to ourselves and to everyone else on the planet.

[MLFerrell]

88. Amen.

I couldn't have said it more eloquently.

[dairydog91]

8. How much of a self-parody can you become?

Really, how is a marijuana grower a "terrorist"? All these growers are doing is answering popular demand, by Americans, for marijuana.

[Madspirit]

9. These people are EVIL and STUPID

:rofl: What idiots. I hate them.

Lee *who loves her weed*

[gatorboy]

10. He think he meant "mass munchies"

[SammyWinstonJack]

60. ...

:spray: Mass muchies for terrorism! :rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

11. Hmm...

I'd have a comment, but I'm probably being monitored for terrorist activities.

[peacetalksforall]

12. Crack baby - has anyone ever heard of a pot baby? Aren't there

men and women in leadership today who were pot babies? Did they require an entire nursing and social structure to handle them - was it ever called a tragic situation or a crises?

[lazer47]

20. I have heard of an alcohol baby ,, George B*** is a living example

[Trillo]

13. IMPEACH the whole Executive Branch

Isn't it clear yet that they're corrupt beyond all reason?

[Madspirit]

14. Almost Forgot...k&r...n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. All Bush's cabinet are terrorists undermining the American people.

[rubberducky]

16. This goes WAY beyond idiotic.

They might as well figure to lock up half the country for pot. OH, wait!! Maybe that is the premise.

[Canuckistanian]

17. What "mass casualties" would he be talking about?

Marijuana, unlike almost any other "drug" has never killed anyone.

And how in hell is it a threat to the environment?

[chknltl]

74. The "mass casualties" are safely behind bars...

where they can do no more harm to themselves. ..hmmm.... why does that statement sound like an oxymoron?

[DutchLiberal]

18. *Yawn* Same old, same old...

Besides the 26%, who's believingg this shit anymore? Nobody.

[Cybergata]

27. Just in Case No One Already said . . .

Welcome to DU, Welcome to DU! It is hard to imagine that anyone believes Bush anymore, but then again, I was puzzled by it six years ago, and many people did then.

The real drug terrorists are the drug companies in the U.S. and their control of the government & the American Public. I could eliminate two of their costly drugs if Marijuana was legal. They are the only ones who benefit from this bogus war on drugs such as our auntie María Juana.

[DutchLiberal]

33. Thank you

They should legalize marijuana. Really, there's nothing wrong with it. It's legal to use it for medical treatment in Holland. The father of a friend of mine used it. And every now and then, his wife would smoke some too because she liked it. Whenever I came over, it smelled like pot. :)

[peacetalksforall]

19. Can it be said that the real war on drugs is a war on the competitors

of the government's drug crimes. Or is the government excluded from dealing in drugs as has been written about for years - was an executive privilege claimed on behalf of the government? Or is is a fallacy that our government deals in drugs, a la Iran-Contra?

[cui bono]

21. How does Bush find all the STUPIDEST FUCKING PEOPLE IN THE WORLD?

And why must he put them in OUR government???

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Initech]

58. He must've found them all at Regent University.

You know, the same "university" that employs over 150 members of the US-DOJ? I bet they all come off some weird robotic assembly line there. It's like Children Of The Corn or something.

[cui bono]

76. Yeah, seriously. Most of them have that weird vacant look in their eyes.

I was surprised that Sara Taylor seemed a lot sharper than all the others I've been seeing lately. I guess working under Rove you have to be a bit more together to keep all the stories and cover ups straight. And she didn't have that chipmunk voice either.

[abq e streeter]

92. Not all from regent u.

I attended a drug policy debate ( taped for NPR on what turned out to be the ominous date of Sept. 10th, 2001) between NM governor Gary Johnson (a Libertarian/right winger, but outspoken advocate of legalization) and Bush's head of the DEA, Asa Hutchinson. In giving their backgrounds for the radio audience, they mentioned their educations, and Mr. Hutchinson did not attend Regent U. He attended the much more enlightened and progressive Bob Jones University ( Ok, how do I put the sarcasm icon here?)

[Mnemosyne]

96. Welcome to DU, abq e streeter! :sarcasm: and look above

the subject line when posting a reply and there are message options. Click smilies and then just click any one that takes your fancy.

:hi:

[Initech]

99. Welcome!

So yeah, maybe they all don't come exclusively from Regent U, but all the uber-strict televangelist-run, Bible thumping colleges (whether it's Falwell's Liberty, Robertson's Regent, Bob Jones, L.A.'s BIOLA, etc) all produce the same results. It's scary, isn't it?

[abq e streeter]

101. not news or it'd be all over MSM, right?

Of course, I only know the story about Regent University 'graduates" ( and at least one idiot from Bob Jones--and he really was an idiot in that debate) filling Bush regime positions all over the place, from those fringe liberal bloggers; never heard anything on Fox , ABC or the Albuquerque Urinal, er, I mean, Journal about it, so it can't be true or at least important, -- or our 4th estate would be all over it, right? Ok, let's see if Mr. low-tech here can get the sarcasm icon on here. Nope, still can't get it to work; oh well... And thanks for the welcome too(no sarcasm); have gotten quite a few since I joined. Makes me feel good that strangers have taken the time to post words of welcome...Meanwhile, I hope to god these SOB's can be stopped; wish I was more optimistic about that... (and I'm a Cub fan from way back; optimism is not in our genetic make-up; not in our heart of hearts anyway--and I've learned to not hold my breath waiting for the Democratic establishment to grow some huevos, although I see glimpses; mirages perhaps? once in a while).

[Initech]

104. True.

I haven't heard anything about it from the M$M (if it's not about stupid, rich, blond white girls, it aint worth reporting... :eyes: ). That thing about the DOJ is really scary, though.

[Madspirit]

22. What REALLY pisses me off

OK...the idiots tell kids that marijuana is some horrid thing. The kid smokes pot and finds out it is NOT some horrid thing. Then the stupid-assed adults tell the kid that heroin is a horrid thing...and the kid doesn't believe them.

Republicans and their lies. It's like..."we don't think teens should have sex so we will just pretend they do not and we won't teach them about safe sex because..hey...condoning it...etc."...and the kid turns around and gets AIDS or pregnant because they know nothing about safe sex or birth control, etc.

Republican's agendas are more important to them than their own kid's lives.
Lee

[Mika]

23. Wouldn't causing mass casualties reduce the client base for pot?

These pukes are whacked. :crazy:

[cui bono]

24. BONG HITS FOR JESUS!!!

That's right. You heard me.

[NI4NI]

25. The loony son of a bitch

is crazier than the idiot who produced "Reefer Madness" who only called people "dope fiends and addicts".....Now they're terrorists?

[indepat]

44. What's dopey been smoking to have so fucked up his mind?

[havocmom]

28. Admission that 'terrorists' are any independent businessmen Big Pharma is threatened by.

Yep.

The terrorists are those who will not be forced into being consumers for the corporate owned state.

[Traveling_Home]

29. Congresses Fault

All that has to happen is for Congress to legalize Marijuana - Medical Marijuana first, then all adult use. We control Congress. This doesn't have to continue

[muntrv]

30. "as well as to the environment?" Uh marijuana comes FROM the earth.

[John Q. Citizen]

37. He's refering to the environmental damage caused by prohibition, because

large scale growers often tear up large areas of national forest, divert streams, etc to grow for the large scale profits. Of course, no one would do that if everyone could have their own plants in their back yard. So it's circular reasoning at best and just so much dishonesty at worst.

The profits as well as the envirinmental damage is directly due to prohibition and is not at all the result of cultivating marijuana.

Also unsaid is the great enviromental benefits of a commercial hemp industry.

One of the many reason I support Dennis Kucinich for president is because he's the only candidate who addresses these issues in a positive way.

[jmowreader]

94. Not everyone would grow their own pot if pot were legal

I've referenced this before...people who can't grow for some reason, people who don't want to grow, people who need more pot than they're able to grow on their own (maybe you're throwing a pot party?), and thousands more like them would all buy marijuana. Plus, if you grow weed that gives a "body high" and tonight you'd like a "head high," you need to go buy some pot that would produce a good head high.

OTOH, if it were legal to grow marijuana you wouldn't have to go up in the woods and tear shit up to grow; you could grow pot right out in the open.

[Old and In the Way]

32. Sorry, Mr. Drug Czar.

This might have played in Peoria 30 years ago, but no one's buying your bullshit anymore. Stop making marijuana a political crime. People are sick of the divisive and arbitrary application of victimless drug laws.

God's pissed, too. He made the stuff...are you saying what God made is evil?

[zabet]

34. I guess this makes me a 'homegrown' terrarist.

These people are fucking idiots. Everything terra terra terra......geeezzzzz

This is all they want to see as far as American opinion goes:
:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:
:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:

[annabanana]

36. I swear to God this sounds like The Onion....

All I can think to ask this "Czar" is,. . "What the hell are you smokin?

[Kazak]

38. Jeez, I'm shaking in my shoes...

WTF?!!

[TankLV]

39. That's HOOOOOT!

...Shut up Paris!...

[Alexander]

40. What will the Democratic candidates do about the Drug War?

For example, will President Hillary Clinton be any less in favor of prosecuting non-violent marijuana offenders than President George W. Bush or President Bill Clinton?

[Warren DeMontague]

41. Kucinich has spoken out against the Drug War.

Another reason to vote for the guy.

[populistdriven]

43. NO

[Warren Stupidity]

45. Another example of how we do not really have two parties.

We have variations on one party, and that party is corrupt and compromised. I am not a naderite: third party movements are doomed. But we really have to do something to change course here.

[LordJFT]

63. idk but mike gravel has alot to say on the issue

[Warren DeMontague]

42. "What's that, Lardass?"... "Code Name Hard Hat! HARD HAT!"... "Okay!....

...Bye-Bye, Lardass!"

[walldude]

46. You gotta be fucking kidding me...

This is hilarious, although I have already seen in the past anti-drug commercials that told pot smokers they were supporting Al-Qaeda.

Next up:
Speeders- the terrorists of the freeways
Video games- terrorist training programs
Shoplifters-terrorizing your local mall
Terrorists-the terrorists of the terrorists

[Gregorian]

47. HELLO!? NICOTINE? THERE IS NO DRUG WAR IF NICOTINE IS LEGAL!

End of subject.

There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.

There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.
There is no drug war if nicotine is illegal. Half a million dead each year.

[struggle4progress]

48. Yikes! Terrorist Potheads Wearing Lovebeads will Terrorize Amerika!

They will walk down streets chanting "Mary Wanna! Mary Wanna! Wanna! Wanna! Mary! Mary!"

Uh ... wait a minute ... that was 1968.

Apparently a lot of conservatives suffered irreversible brain-damage in the 1960's

[irislake]

49. What can I say?

In Canada we love pot. It keeps us calm. Otherwise we'd be terrified living next door to the most dangerous government on the planet! I'm lighting up now!

[Initech]

50. The drug war is a LOAD OF SHIT!

We're spending billions on this so-called "war", our prisons are overflowing, and this piece of shit drug czar (why do we even have anyone with the title of czar in our government? Sounds way too imperialistic to me) isn't helping anything.

Marijuana hasn't killed anybody. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACT!!!!!!!!!!

This drug czar can take those words and shove them right up his big fat ass.

[Toasterlad]

51. If Pot-Growers are Terrorists...

...you could eliminate hundreds of thousands of terrorists by making pot legal. No more money going to terrorists (if there is any now), no more time wasted by our Coast Guard and harbor patrols that could be spent looking for REAL terrorists, no more money thrown at suppressing this ridiculously innocuous weed that has been given a completely unwarranted makeover as a dangerous gateway to perversion and ruin.

[chknltl]

71. Toasterlad for President!!!

You just got my vote at any rate. Welcome to DU :pals:

[Toasterlad]

80. LOL. I'd Never Make It. Too Many Skeletons.

But thanks all the same! :toast:

[Harry Monroe]

52. Yeah, I got your terrorist right here!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1331992

[Hubert Flottz]

53. We need a Diaper Czar!

Republick'ems are Terraists!

[mainegreen]

54. John P. Walters is a terrorist and should be in jail. n/t

[ShaneGR]

55. So, people who plant seeds to grow a plant are terrorists now?

As hard as I try, I can't imagine why we've continued to criminalize marijuana for so long. Now we've got idiots saying people who grow it are terrorists.

[Phrogman]

57. Look here what the Bible tells us....

God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Gen. 1:29-31)

Clear enough for a dummy like me, God says if it grows, its good.

[SammyWinstonJack]

59. LOL! Terrorists to the Corporations who look to unsustainable resources for their obscene profits,

that is. Doesn't this government grow marijuana? :shrug: So is our government a terrorist organization? :evilgrin:

[Swamp Rat]

61. John P. Walters is insane... time to make marijuana complete, 100% legal.

It's what Jesus would do. :D

[ecstatic]

62. Whoa... gross misuse of the word terrorist.... gosh what a bunch of

assholes and idiots. We are causing the deaths of how many troops and Iraqis daily and they have the audacity to say sh!t like this? :crazy:

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

75. And linking pot growers with actual terrorists

This smacks of * linking Saddam Hussein with 9-11, or every current insurgent (or freedom fighter, depending on your P.O.V.) as a member of Al-Queda, and thus we are fighting the people who were directly responsible for 9-11.

It sounds like how the right links being gay with pedophilia and bestiality.

Like someone has already posted, this reads more like an article in The Onion.

[XOKCowboy]

64. WTF?

Well it's good to see he's jumped on the Terra Terra Bush bandwagon.

[killbotfactory]

65. Oh for fucks sake...

What does marijuana have, something like 60,000,000 users? And the marijuana related death rate ranges from 1-10 people a year? I don't think scientists could create a safer drug if they wanted to.

These drug warriors are fucking crazy. End of story.

[clixtox]

77. Zero, Zero, Zero

There has never been a documented instance of a recreational or medical user dying due to cannabis overdose. ZERO! NADA! NEVER!

The only case I have ever read about was of a fatal choking during/after an arrest in Oregon years ago when the suspect tried to swallow a small plastic bag containing marijuana and died.

Cannabis/Hemp is being examined extensively by researchers around the rest of the world right now with amazing results being discovered continuously. The more research that is done the better it turns out cannabis is for a panoply of ailments.

Pot could possibly turn out to be an almost universal panacea and elixir. It certainly works for happy, healthy 60 years old me, and I have been imbibing daily since right after graduating from high school in Berkeley, CA '64...

[Rex]

66. Oh please, your boy Rupert "Pot Fields" Murdoch got busted

well 'someone' got busted on his property growing FIELDS of it! So, fuck you and your nazi hypocritical asses!

You just want to punish the poor that smoke, rich people evidently can smoke as much weed or grow it without worry, well if you are a RW dickhead news mogul.

Fuck you right wing assholes, I hope you all choke and die on the weed you pretend to hate.

[orleans]

67. are you fucking kidding me?

"Don't buy drugs. They fund violence and terror,"

yeah well--too bad we all need a fucking drug to get us through the bush administration. wonder how sales on anti-depressants are doing?

[WindRavenX]

68. mass causalities of doritos and funyuns, sure.

But hardly dangerous to, you know, humans or anything...

[sakabatou]

69. O RLY?

[chknltl]

70. OMG Hippies are taking over America!!!!

Save us Eric Cartman...Save us!

[TheBaldyMan]

72. What has Walters been smoking?

I know that super-skunk is powerful but I didn't know it was that powerful.

[chknltl]

73. Psst: I know where Osama Bong Laden's been hiding....

....in my kid's bedroom! Next time Bong Laden spills that vile wmd on my carpet I'll be alerting Homeland Security too! :eyes:

[ima_sinnic]

78. BushCo wants no competition in the drug trade

Iran-Contra, crack showing up in the 80s--when Sr. was at his peak of illicit actitivies--and you can be sure they are running drugs now to fund their death squads and murder and mayhem around the world, places like Haiti--if there is a Bush involved, there are drugs being run somewhere.

real brilliant, "czar," stifle growers here so people are forced to import from outside the country.

our tax dollars at work ...

[WinkyDink]

83. THIS is the Truth in a nutshell. BINGO. And the poppies are growing again in Afghanistan.

Noriega must have reneged on a deal.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

79. Burger joints, bakeries and buffets BEWARE!

:rofl:

[0007]

81. Holy Smoke! This guy is nuttier than William Bennett

Walters made the comments at a Thursday press conference that provided an update on the "Operation Alesia" marijuana-eradication effort.

"Don't buy drugs. They fund violence and terror," he said.

After touring gardens raided this week in Shasta County, Walters said the officers who are destroying the gardens are performing hard, dangerous work in rough terrain. He said growers have been known to have weapons, including assault rifles.

John P. Walters
The 1936 film "Reefer Madness" should have had this idiot in it!

[WinkyDink]

82. THIS is the type of guy who will be found to have hired hookers, gone on "lost week-ends", and

snorted coke "as a youthful experiment".

[tridim]

87. Yes, it's certainly something a cokehead would claim

Or a tweaker, or an alcoholic.

I bet he went home after writing this bullshit and had a few stiff cocktails.

[spanone]

84. Rarely do Czars show what dumbfucks they are....this one obviously isn't shy.

[Wcross]

85. What a Moran! (aka Moron).

Does he not realize how ridiculously ignorant he sounds to people? How he can make the jump from growing marijuana to aiding terrorists is incredible. I am so sick of these idiots trying to tie terror into EVERYTHING they do.

[tridim]

86. Can congress censure or impeach the Drug Czar?

Because that comment is offensive in so many ways, he shouldn't be able to get away with it IMO.

[abq e streeter]

90. another lunatic?

Wait a minute, apparently yet another member of the Bush regime is a foaming at the mouth, babbling lunatic... Wow, well there's a shocker, I tells ya...

[Richard Steele]

91. What a frickin loon. recommended

[Drum]

93. Hmmm...perhaps thinking instead of the Afghani poppy conundrum?

If he wasn't, he sure as hell should be.

[devilgrrl]

95. Where do these people come from? How do they get to where they are?

OMFG, I can't believe this shit.

[clixtox]

97. These Classic Bureaucrats(look it up)...

Are heartfelt gifts from our corporate masters. Thank them in your daily prayers boys and girls...

[EstimatedProphet]

98. Christ, what the fuck is next?

Will people ticketed for speeding become 'dangerous terrorists trying to weaken the nation by attempting hit-and-run'? Are shoplifters going to be 'dangerous terrorists attempting to destroy the US economy'?

Do you honestly think a pot smoker is going to get off his ass to go cause terrorism, rather than opening a bag of Doritoes and laughing at Reefer Madness?

It's time for this stupid shit to stop. These people need to grow up.

[Zhade]

100. Such fucking BULLSHIT.

Fuck you. And anyone buying into this - educate yourselves, so innocent people in need of this medicinal herb don't suffer due to your ignorance.

[NuttyFluffers]

102. now that's an impressive amount of smoke trying to be blown up my ass

:evilgrin:

[Faux pas]

103. What century do these cretins live in? Each one sounds more

insane that the one before. Is the world still flat and I missed the memo? Gimme a break.