The ONDCP is working overtime to counter the revelations from The Sentencing Project that find the War on Drugs is really a War on Pot. Most people don’t have a problem with potheads. Most people think locking up potheads is cruel and a monumental waste of money.

The scare tactic of the deadly superpot didn’t work. The fearmongering of the schizo pot-smoking teens doesn’t pass the laugh test. It’s beginning to look very politically unpopular to be seen as the guy who locked up Chong.

So now they come out with this propaganda trying to claim that casual, non-violent potheads are not being locked up in federal prisons, despite the over 700,000 arrests made for marijuana, 90% of those for simple possession. John Walters and his prohibitionist pals want you to believe:

In reality, the vast majority of inmates in state and federal prison for marijuana have been found guilty of much more than simple possession. Some were convicted for drug trafficking, some for marijuana possession along with one or more other offenses. And many of those serving time for marijuana pled down to possession in order to avoid prosecution on much more serious charges.

Is this a good time to mention all the charges one can be tagged with that are related to the unlawful possession of marijuana? Child endangerment, just because you are a pothead with kids. Weapons possession, perfectly legal if you don’t have drugs (pot) in the house. Conspiracy, if you’re not one of the few people who grow their own and never tell anyone. Trafficking, because the act of giving weed to someone else, either by passing a joint or pooling money to buy weed, is by definition trafficking even if no profit was made.

And yet, in spite of these facts, a false characterization continues to be promoted that depicts the criminal justice response to marijuana violations as unduly harsh, exclusively punitive, and disproportionate. This characterization must be countered by the truth, which is this: Americans are not routinely being sent to prison in large numbers just for possessing small amounts of marijuana. Our criminal justice system, on the whole, is fair and equitable, and despite frequent claims to the contrary, there’s very little chance that anyone in this country, particularly a first-time offender, will be sent to prison for merely puffing a “joint.”

“Merely”? Wait a minute, isn’t this the incredibly dangerous, highly-addictive, schizo-inducing superpot you’re talking about? The one that threatens to destroy our society, enslave our children, and bring our economy to its knees?

In case Mr. Walters and anyone else needs a refresher:

• Of the 450,000 increase in drug arrests during the period 1990-2002, 82% of the growth was for marijuana, and 79% was for marijuana possession alone;
• Marijuana arrests now constitute nearly half (45%) of the 1.5 million drug arrests annually;
• Few marijuana arrests are for serious offending: of the 734,000 marijuana arrests in 2000, only 41,000 (6%) resulted in a felony conviction;
• Marijuana arrests increased by 113% between 1990 and 2002, while overall arrests
  decreased by 3%;
• New York City experienced an 882% growth in marijuana arrests, including an
  increase of 2,461% for possession offenses;
• African Americans are disproportionately affected by marijuana arrests, representing 14% of marijuana users in the general population, but 30% of arrests;
• One-third of persons convicted for a marijuana felony in state court are sentenced to prison;
• One in four persons in prison for a marijuana offense – an estimated 6,600 persons – can be classified as a low-level offender;
• An estimated $4 billion is spent annually on the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of marijuana offenders.

And as NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre put it so eloquently:

“Police have arrested over seven million Americans for marijuana violations since 1990, and now average more than 700,000 arrests per year – primarily for marijuana possession. While not all of those individuals arrested are eventually sentenced to long prison terms, the fact remains that the repercussions of a marijuana arrest alone are significant – including:

• probation and mandatory drug testing;
• a criminal record;
• loss of driving privileges;
• loss of federal college aid;
• asset forfeiture;
• revocation of professional driver’s license;
• loss of certain welfare benefits such as food stamps;
• removal from public housing;
• loss of child custody;
• and loss of employment.

In other words, whether or not marijuana offenders ultimately serve time in jail, the fact is that hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens are having their lives needlessly destroyed each year for nothing more than smoking marijuana.”