The Marijuana Policy Project a couple weeks ago released this fascinating bit of information. In November 2002, the Office of National Drug Control Policy campaigned aggressively against ballot initiatives for the legalization of medical use of marijuana or the lightening of penalties for recreational use of the drug. These are a government office, and government officials, funded by taxpayer dollars, lobbying for or against the passage of a law as part of their official duties. And they did it in part through untruthful propaganda, ever one of the government's strongest weapons in the War on Drugs. Deputy ONDCP director Scott Burns sent out "An open letter to prosecutors", which presents myths as "truth" and makes false statements regarding the medical uses of marijuana and falsely states as fact a link between marijuana and violent behavior.

In April 2003, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX; that's Dr. Ron Paul, M.D., by the way) wrote a complaint to the General Accounting Office, pointing out that the ONDCP should have been barred from its action in sending out that letter both on the grounds that the federal government is not supposed to be allowed to interfere in pending state and local legislations and on the grounds that the letter contained "misleading information."

The GAO responded to Dr. Paul on March 10 of this year. In the response, the GAO claims, first, that the anti-lobbying laws were not violated. Secondly, the GAO claims that the truth of the other statements made is not relevant to their investigation, because all statements made are in line with the "statutory responsibilities" of ONDCP: namely, to prevent drug use, through federal law and through the state legislatures.

What did I expect from an administration that lies about the efficacy of condoms because preventing teaching the truth about birth control is one of its stated goals?

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