Bill Richardson and the War on Sick People

David Weigel | September 4, 2007

I'd worried that Democratic dark horse Bill Richardson was going to soft peddle his medical marijuana support as he started to rise in the polls. I was wrong; he's digging in his heels.

"I'm very concerned that the Bush administration instead of going after drug dealers, is going after people suffering from cancer, a paraplegic, most recently," said Governor Richardson.

Agents raided 44-year-old Leonard French's home near Loving on Tuesday, even though he has state permission to grow and smoke medical marijuana.

The D.E.A. says it did not know French had a medical marijuana license until after the raid.

"The Bush administration seems to be, because they're unable to go after drug dealers, they seem to be picking on people suffering from cancer. That's inexplicable to me. And I'm gonna fight them," said Governor Richardson.

Related, here's a profile of Granite Staters for Medicinal Marijuana, one of those dogged groups that gets the candidates to address side issues and make the small state, handshake-driven primary process seem more justifiable.

I assessed Richardson's libertarian claims here and joined an MM activist who got the brush-off from Rudy! here.

Comments

|9.4.07 @ 10:25AM|#

Go Bill!

|9.4.07 @ 10:29AM|#

"The Bush administration seems to be, because they're unable to go after drug dealers, they seem to be picking on people suffering from cancer. That's inexplicable to me. And I'm gonna fight them,"

Fricking baby steps. That may very well be the most courageous thing any major-party candidate for president has said about the drug war in the past forty years.

But Med Pot is low hanging fruit that serves only to demonstrate the sort of religious zealotry that drives the WOD.

What's more amazing than Richardson coming out for Med MJ is that more Politicians don't. It seems like it would be an easy way to pick up some cheap points.

Once the Feds step aside from Med MJ, the issue goes away. Or rather it goes to the states, but the WOD marches on. If anything the semi-legal med MJ will only serve to provide more rationalization for the need to step up our efforts. The hope that the drug warriors' worst nightmares will come true and Med MJ will lead to widespread acceptance of pot, resulting in a broad sustained demand for legalization, is a slim one.

Chuck|9.4.07 @ 10:35AM|#

"The Bush administration seems to be, because they're unable to go after drug dealers, they seem to be picking on people suffering from cancer. That's inexplicable to me. And I'm gonna fight them," said Governor Richardson.

They (DEA) are going after the soft targets, just like any other terrorists.

x,y|9.4.07 @ 10:37AM|#

Fricking baby steps. That may very well be the most courageous thing any major-party candidate for president has said about the drug war in the past forty years.

But Med Pot is low hanging fruit that serves only to demonstrate the sort of religious zealotry that drives the WOD.

Well said. Wake me up when he comes out for the right to toke up for any reason.

|9.4.07 @ 10:45AM|#

They (DEA) are going after the soft targets, just like any other terrorists.

Nice!

|9.4.07 @ 10:58AM|#

It's about time somebody started a war on hick people.

|9.4.07 @ 1:10PM|#

Richardson overstates things" "Bush Admin unable to go after drug dealers?" Give me a break; they go after them and the poor folks that need pot for their cancer treatment. Baby step, yeah, but let's not praise Richardson for implying Bush is soft on the WOD.

bloomdude|9.4.07 @ 1:20PM|#

Check out CelebStoner's post about Leonard French, the pot-smoking paraplegic busted by the DEA:

http://www.celebstoner.com/content/view/329/1/

Also, Richardson was recently quoted saying: "I am not for decriminalizing drugs."

Chavez is a thug|9.4.07 @ 1:38PM|#

Maybe he can cite the authority of the Lord, like he did in a recent speech in Iowa, to combat the D.E.A and the Bush administration.

|9.4.07 @ 7:11PM|#

The D.E.A. says it did not know French had a medical marijuana license until after the raid.

Does anybody believe this? If so, I've got a bridge...

Stephen Fox|9.4.07 @ 10:01PM|#

I was at the Press Conference where he "dug in his heels," as you put it so aptly. Please read Bill Richardson's recently published article on how we must reconfigure the entire US Foreign Policy, printed in the Harvard
International Review, yet has hardly been noticed by any mainstream media.

You could conclude that Bill Richardson is changing the nature of the debate between the Democrat candidates and improving the international focus of their dialogue, not to mention being the strongest candidate to speak for ending the Iraq war immediately.

I hope you can share this important document with your friends, colleagues, and readers. It is a very important international policy breakthrough and deserves to be read and considered by every single American, the entire diplomatic community from every nation,
as well as your insightful readers! I am not officially connected to his campaign, but as a private citizen, I do recognize the importance of this statement enough to send it to you.
Thank you, Stephen Fox
___________________________________

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's International Policies, from Harvard
International Review

"New Realism: Crafting a US Foreign Policy for a New Century"
Governor Bill Richardson
Redacted from the Harvard International Review

US foreign policymakers face novel challenges in the 21st century. Jihadists and environmental crises have replaced armies and missiles as the greatest threats; globalization has eroded the significance of national borders. Many problems that were once national are now global, and dangers that once came only from states now come also from societies-not from hostile governments, but from hostile individuals or from impersonal social trends, such as the consumption of fossil fuels. The piece does a credible job of laying out the problems before us and arguing that the Bush Administration has not taken
the appropriate measures to deal with them.

The highlights of Richardson's plans:

First and foremost, the United States must repair its alliances. US leaders also must restore commitment to international law and multilateral cooperation.

Promoting expansion of the UN Security Council's permanent membership to include Japan, India, Germany, and one country each from Africa and Latin America.

Ethical reform at the United Nations so that this vital institution can help its many underdeveloped and destitute member states meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Expanding the G8 to include India and China.

The US government must join the International Criminal Court and respect all international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions."

On environmental issues, the United States must be the leader, not the laggard, in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by embracing the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, Lead the world with a man-on-the-moon
effort to improve energy efficiency and to commercialize clean, alternative technologies.

Stop considering diplomatic engagement with others as a reward for good behavior.

Various efforts including ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

The United States needs to start showing, both through its words and through its actions, that this is not, as the Jihadists claim, a clash of civilizations. Rather, it is a clash between civilization and barbarity.

Closing Guantanamo

The United States also needs to pressure Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other friends in the Arab world to reform their education systems, which are incubators of anti-US sentiment.

Spend more to develop first responders and to drastically improve public health facilities, which, five years after 9/11, are not ready for a biological attack.

The United States needs to lead the global fight against poverty, which is the basis of so much violence.

Encourage rich countries to honor UN Millennium goal commitments.

Lead donors on debt relief, shifting aid from loans to grants, and focus on primary health care and affordable vaccines.

Promote trade agreements, which create more jobs in all nations and which seriously address wage disparities, worker rights, and the environment.

Pressure pharmaceutical companies to allow expanded use of generic drugs, and encourage public-private partnerships to reduce costs and enhance access to anti-malarial drugs and bed nets.

Promote a multilateral Marshall Plan for the Middle East and North Africa.

_______________________________

I look forward to your reply,
Stephen Fox
[e-mail]

Robert|9.5.07 @ 12:07AM|#

What's more amazing than Richardson coming out for Med MJ is that more Politicians don't. It seems like it would be an easy way to pick up some cheap points.

So whaddya think, politicians are stupid? It seems as above, but the reality is that it's an easy way to lose some cheap points with voters. Practically nobody will vote against any of you for being against med mj, but some voters will vote against some of you for being for it. It doesn't matter for Richardson, he won't lose any of those votes -- but probably not gain any either.