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"Time To Resign." General Barry McCaffrey consistently misstated the facts on key drug policy issues without apology when he is corrected. While we pointed out these factual errors we also applauded him when he has taken sensible positions, e.g. methadone (Pinocchio) and mandatory sentences (Let Judges Judge). Reports of his efforts to inject drug war messages into the media by paying for scripts and reviewing scripts in advance (Has the Drug Czar Bought the Media), as well as his efforts to involve the US in the Colombian civil war convinced us that it was time for General McCaffrey to resign -- he undermined too many basic American values in the name of the drug war. This advertisement appeared in the National Review, the The New Republic, the Weekly Standard, The Nation, Reason Magazine and The Progressive in 2000. Also available in Portable Document Format (PDF).
Time to Resign

Your failed leadership has . . .

  • Undermined the First Amendment: By paying networks to produce shows with drug war messages, reviewing scripts in advance to ensure they were consistent with your ideology, you have put the drug war ahead of free speech.

  • Entangled us in Foreign Wars: In a futile effort to control the drug supply, you have involved the US in the four decade old Colombian civil war. Your policies will cost American lives.

  • Misled the American Public: Throughout your tenure in office, you continue to misstate the facts on key drug policy issues including the number of lives lost to drugs, the science on needle exchange and medical marijuana, the success of progressive, foreign models of drug control and the cost of drug abuse.

  • Cost Thousands of American Lives: You blocked the funding of needle exchange programs even though the Department of Health and Human Services has found that needle exchange prevents the spread of HIV and does not increase drug use. You have put the health of all Americans at risk.

  • Undermined Democracy: You have worked to undermine the votes in seven states and the District of Columbia on medical marijuana. You forgot that democracy comes before drug war.

  • Misdirected drug control resources: You're wasting resources on preventing benign hemp seed and hemp material from entering the U.S.
A civil society cannot permit government
officials to subvert the media, undermine
democracy and endanger its citizenry.
You have lost sight of basic American values.
It is time to move on.
Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, President
703-354-9050, 703-354-5695, info@csdp.org
For more information visit http://www.csdp.org.
Download PDF
https://www.csdp.org/publicservice/resign.pdf