Madison NORML

Once the duo took office, any talk of easing pot laws was quickly snuffed out. Clinton, by my standards a moderate Republican who was about as far right as this country ever should go, quickly ratcheted up marijuana possession arrests to a higher level than his predecessors. When California and Arizona passed medical cannabis initiatives in 1996, Clinton trotted out all the ex-presidents, even Jimmy Carter who had supported decriminalization as president, to denounce and belittle the will of the people of those states.

The Clinton-Gore Administration threatened doctors who even discussed medical cannabis with patients until the US Supreme Court shot down that crazy idea in Conant v. McCaffrey, later Conant v. Walters click here.

Thus it was a surprise when Gore first appeared to support medical cannabis in the early stages of the 2000 campaign, but it did not last. Jacki and I traveled to New Jersey in October 2000 for a protest at Al Gore’s New Brunswick office over his stance on medical cannabis organized by Jim and Cheryl click here. Among those attending was the late great Eddie Smith, an AIDS and cancer patient who lit up his medicine in Gore’s Austin TX office a little earlier that year.

In the last few years, Gore has glommed onto the issue of global warming like he did with claiming to invent the internet, etc. years back, to raise his public profile and make him appear to be a person worthy of admiration.

But to me, he’s just a hypocrite and a liar, and I’m glad the Waukesha Freeman published my expose of Gore’s hypocrisy on medical cannabis:

Source: Waukesha Freeman
Pubdate: June 14, 2007
Author: Gary Storck

GORE CHANGED STANCE IN ATTEMPT TO SECURE VOTES

I'm not surprised to see a letter criticizing Al Gore for excessive electricity use in light of his stance toward global warming, "Gore should answer for excessive energy use" (May 28). While there is no disputing the reality of global warming, Gore's record on another "inconvenient truth," the likewise indisputable science of medical marijuana, like his overuse of energy, also raises questions about his overall credibility and trustworthiness.

While campaigning for president in 1999, Gore, an admitted pot smoker before entering politics, briefly appeared to support medical marijuana, citing his late sister's participation in a Tennessee state program in 1984 that provided marijuana to cancer patients.

But in May 2000, Gore strongly backed away from his earlier support, saying, "Right now, the science does not show me, or the experts whose judgment I trust, that it is the proper medication for pain and that there are not better alternatives available in every situation."

Back in 2000, Gore refused to acknowledge the inconvenient truth that marijuana was medicine because of politics, just as many politicians today deny global warming. Gore refused to stick up for patients like his sister because he thought it would cost him votes, when the opposite was true.

It begs the question what Gore's position on global warming would be today, were he now inhabiting the White House, rather than on the outside looking in.

Gary Storck, Madison