The delusionary mindset of Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is tragic.
On Tuesday, before a crowd at the 30th International Training Conference for D.A.R.E., A.G. Sessions offered his appreciation to the “Just say no” crowd. First uttered in 1982 by then First Lady Nancy Reagan, Sessions pandered to the drug war zealots from the onset.
“Thank you for that introduction, and more importantly, thank you for the important work that you do to help prevent the spread of drug addiction in this country. Your DARE team is ready to meet this next challenge. Just like you did in the 1980s and 90s.”
Formed to address what many believed was a CIA inspired crack epidemic of the early 1980s, Session praised the anti-drug crusaders.
“I believe that DARE was instrumental to our success by educating children on the dangers of drug use. I firmly believe that you have saved lives. And I want to say thank you for that. Whenever I ask adults around age 30 about prevention, they always mention the DARE program. Your efforts work. Lives and futures are saved.”
There’s just one problem with the AG’s assertion, he was dead wrong on the facts.
Far from effective, D.A.R.E. was an abject failure, at least, according to the feds. In 2003, the GAO (a.k.a. the U.S. Government Accountability Office) disclosed the program made absolutely no difference.
“The six long-term evaluations of the DARE elementary school curriculum that we reviewed found no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE in the fifth or sixth grade (the intervention group) and students who did not (the control group).”
And, when asked whether or not there was evidence supporting the AG’s assertion that D.A.R.E. was effectual at curbing drug use, a Session’s spokesperson declined to comment.
Impervious to the uncomfortable reality of the situation, Session continued his dystopian diatribe. “They say marijuana use can prevent addiction. They say the answer is only treatment. They say don’t talk about enforcement. To me, that just doesn’t make any sense. In fact, I would argue that one reason that we are in such a crisis right now is that we have subscribed to this mistaken idea that drug abuse is no big deal.”
It’s not that people view the opioid epidemic and drug abuse as “no big deal” – it is. It’s just that many see legalizing marijuana as part of the solution…not part of the problem.
credit:marijuana.com
