Obama Releases 2012 National Drug Control StrategyPhillip Smith The federal government will spend more than $25 billion on drug law enforcement under the proposed budget, and despite the administrations talk about emphasizing prevention and treatment over war on drugs spending, it retains the same roughly 60:40 ratio of law enforcement and interdiction spending over treatment and prevention training that has obtained in federal drug budgets going back years. The administration is high-lighting a renewed emphasis on drugged driving and is encouraging states to pass zero tolerance drugged driving laws. It is also emphasizing the massive increase in non-prescription use of opioid pain pills. The drug strategy acknowledges the calls for recognition of medical marijuana and marijuana legalization, but only to dismiss them. While the Administration supports ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine, to date, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine has found the marijuana plant itself to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition, the strategy said. The Administration also recognizes that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use. This years drug strategy looks like last years drug strategy, which looked like Bush administration drug strategies, which looked like Clinton administration drug strategies. When it comes to the federal drug war, its more of the same old same old. Look for an expanded version of this news brief Thursday afternoon, with deeper analysis and commentary from drug war observers. Please visit StopTheDrugWar.org to support ending prohibition. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 