Tom's Message to Congress About the Drug Czar

"Dear Director John P. Walters,

As a taxpaying American citizen, I'm outraged to learn that under your leadership, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) used my hard-earned dollars to travel across the country campaigning for embattled Republican Congressional candidates in 2006. Your office is charged with addressing the serious issue of substance abuse in a sensible way, but you've instead abused your power for partisan political purposes, wholly neglecting the responsibilities that have been entrusted to you.

That's why the Senate Appropriations Committee moved last year to cut ONDCP's salaries in half, citing your office's "lethargy," "unresponsiveness" to Congressional appropriators, and "unnecessary waste of time and energy." The new evidence of your potentially illegal campaigning is just the latest in a long line of embarrassing and outrageous activities ONDCP has engaged in under your watch:

* You've spent taxpayer money to campaign and lobby against citizen ballot initiatives and state legislation that would reform aspects of the ineffective War on Drugs.

* You've attempted to prevent Congress and the public from gaining access to a scientific evaluation of your "anti-drug" advertising campaign because you didn't like the results showing that the ads actually cause more, not less, teen drug use. Despite these alarming results, you've kept the dangerous ads on the air.

* You've spent millions of dollars a year spraying poisonous chemicals on the jungles and fields of Colombia in a failed effort to eradicate coca crops and prevent cocaine from entering or country. Yet while continuing to publicly advocate this eradication program, you admitted in a private letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) that cocaine prices on America's streets are dropping and its purity is increasing.

* You've actively pushed for the continued federal criminalization of seriously ill Americans suffering from cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis who use medical marijuana with their doctors' recommendations, even where it is legal under state law. In an affront to federalism and states' rights, ONDCP and the Food and Drug Administration released a politicized statement last year criticizing states with medical marijuana laws.

The problems associated with drug abuse and drug prohibition are too important to take a back seat to your ideological agenda and partisan politics. I therefore call on you to immediately resign your position as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy."

--Tom Angell

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