Drug Policy Quotes

• Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself

  Jimmy Carter

  Weed, Marijuana, Drug Use

  Jimmy Carter (2010). “White House Diary”, p.74, Macmillan

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• Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

  Ronald Reagan

  Witty, War, Marijuana

  "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World" by Alan Greenspan, Penguin Press, Chapter 4, (p. 87), 2007.

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• Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce [28g] of marijuana.

  Jimmy Carter

  Weed, Marijuana, Law

  U.S. President in a message to the U.S. Congress, 1977.

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• Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana. We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society.

  Dan Quayle

  Weed, War, Marijuana

  "Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics". Book by Rudolph Joseph Gerber, 2004.

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• U.S. domestic drug policy does not carry out its stated goals, and policymakers are well aware of that. If it isn't about reducing substance abuse, what is it about? It is reasonably clear, both from current actions and the historical record, that substances tend to be criminalized when they are associated with the so-called dangerous classes, that the criminalization of certain substances is a technique of social control.

  Noam Chomsky

  Class, Goal, Historical

  "On the War on Drugs". Week Online interview, chomsky.info. February 8, 2002.

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• My measure of success is to walk into a restaurant and hear a table debating drug policy. Once the public start the conversation, the politicians will join - that is when we can create real change.

  Sam Branson

  Real, Drug, Tables

  "Breaking the Taboo" by Sam Branson, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

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• We should decriminalize all drugs. The assumptions on which our drug policies are based are flawed.

  Carl Hart

  Drug, Assumption, Should

  Source: therumpus.net

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• Republicans: the party that brought us 'Just Say No.' First as a drug policy, then as their entire platform.

  Stephen Colbert

  Party, Drug, Firsts

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• If you can get conservatives to sit down for 20 minutes and listen to you on drug policy reform you might have a good chance to - if not convert them - at least respect your opinion.

  Rick Steves

  Drug, Reform, Might

  Source: blog.sfgate.com

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• Nobody tells the history of marijuana and its prohibition like Russ Belville does. He has a special talent for presenting scholarship in a remarkably engaging way. That’s why I turned to Russ when I needed someone to present on the subject to the annual staff retreat of the Drug Policy Alliance. And it’s why I repeatedly recommend him for speaking and media opportunities. He’s good!

  Ethan Nadelmann

  Marijuana, Opportunity, Media

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• I never thought I'd miss Nancy Reagan. There can't be a rating [on the Clinton drug policy] when there hasn't been a performance.

  Charles Rangel

  Missing, Drug, Clinton

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• If we want to think about racism and how it might play out in drug policy, we have to think about the trial of George Zimmerman. We think about the prosecution, when they said "race is not a factor." It's so dishonest.

  Carl Hart

  Thinking, Race, Play

  Source: therumpus.net

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• Since you control a federal budget that has just been increased from $17.8 billion last year to $19.2 billion this year, is asking people like you if we should continue with our nation's current drug policy like a person asking a barber if one needs a haircut?

  James P. Gray

  Years, People, Drug

  "Is Our Drug Policy Failing? Don't Ask". articles.latimes.com. March 29, 2000.

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• I always thought a very strong anti-drug policy was a good thing for my union members.

  Stephen F. Lynch

  Strong, Drug, Unions

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