New Drug Czar: "We're Not at War"

Gil Kerlikowske, in his first interview since being confirmed as Obama's drug czar, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that he aims to end the "War on Drugs" metaphor and shift the focus of our national drug policy from incarceration to treatment.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this country."

It's an enormous relief to hear those words, and the optimists among us (I count myself as one) believe the slow road to real reform has begun. As Drug Policy Alliance Director Ethan Nadelman told the WSJ, changing our drug policy isn't something that happens overnight.

"The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner," he said. "What's important is the damn thing is beginning to turn."

But Ariana Huffington asked yesterday if the Obama Administration will turn these words into action.

So the question becomes: is the Obama administration really committed to a fundamental shift in America's approach to drug policy or is this about serving up a kinder, gentler drug war?

...when it comes to putting its rhetoric into action, the Obama administration has faltered.

Just a week after the Attorney General said there would be no more medical marijuana raids, the DEA raided a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in California.

Obama's '09-'10 budget proposes to continue the longstanding ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs.

The current budget is still overwhelmingly skewed in favor of the drug war approach -- indeed, it allocates more to drug enforcement and less to prevention than even George Bush did.

Testifying (yesterday) in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Holder, in his opening statement, called for a working group to examine federal cocaine sentencing policy: "Based on that review, we will determine what sentencing reforms are appropriate, including making recommendations to Congress on changes to crack and powder cocaine sentencing policy." A working group? Why? As a senator, Obama co-sponsored legislation (introduced by Joe Biden) to end the disparity. What further review is needed?

Huffington makes a good point, but she's also quick to condemn. Medical marijuana raids have not continued after that one errant raid. Crack sentencing reform is closer than ever. This brings me back to Nadelman's ocean liner analogy. While the ship is turning, there will be some missteps and some reforms will come much too slow for those of us outside of the government. But something is happening.

We are dealing with political kryptonite and Obama has a lot on his plate. Let's give it some time.