Federal Government States Legalization of Marijuana Is NOT In President's Vocabulary

Kerlikowske: Legal pot 'not in my vocabulary'

by Molly Shen

Story Published: Aug 7, 2009 at 11:13 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 7, 2009 at 1:32 PM PDT

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Q&A with drug czar Gil Kerlikowske

Former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, now the nation's drug czar,
is back in town to host a roundtable discussion on drug control policy.
He answered questions Friday morning on KOMO News.

Watch video story (4:23) -
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Less than three months into his job as the nation's Drug Czar, and
former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske found himself under fire,
quoted as saying "marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit."

Back in Seattle for a roundtable discussion on drug policy, Kerlikowske
sat down with KOMO News and addressed the comment.

"I certainly said that legalization is not in the president's vocabulary
nor is it in mine," Kerlikowske said. "But the other question was in
reference to smoked marijuana. And as we know, the FDA has not
determined that smoked marijuana has a value, and this is clearly a
medical question and that's where I've been leaving it."

Asked if he regretted what he said, Kerlikowske said, "Sometimes you
make a mistake and you work very hard to correct it. That happens. I
should've clearly said 'smoked' marijuana and then gone on to say that
this is clearly a question that should be answered by the medical
community."

Kerlikowske' s stand on legalizing marijuana for everyone is more
clear-cut.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy, by law, actively works
against legalizing drugs.

"You know from the University of Washington, the number-one call from
young people for treatment here, after alcohol, is marijuana. So I'm not
seeing the benefit to society with legalization at all."

And Kerlikowske sees an even bigger problem with prescription drug
abuse.

"Young people look at all this and say, 'Gee, I'm not buying it from
behind a convenience store, it's not in a piece of tin foil.' They're
pharmaceuticals. Well, these pharmaceuticals can be just as deadly,"
Kerlikowske said.

Kerlikowske calls Michael Jackson's death a wake-up call. The toxicology
report is expected to show the music icon died of a prescription drug
overdose.

And the former cop knows, more people die from drug overdose than from
gunshot wounds.

"I think people can do something about it," he said. "One, we need a law
about how to dispose of drugs safely."

As Seattle's top cop, Kerlikowske was known for his 70-hour work weeks.

That hasn't changed.

"There hasn't been a lot of breaks so far," he said. "But you know, the
job is challenging, it's exciting and the responsibilities of trying to
address this issue in a much more balanced way is what keeps me
energized."

And keeps him busy.

Kerlikowske is travelling the world, shaping the president's national
drug control strategy, to be rolled out after the first of the year.

His roundtable this weekend includes U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, as well as
law enforcement and health care providers.

He'll attend a total of eight roundtables across the country. His job
also takes him to Mexico next month and Afghanistan in the fall.

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