Newt Gingrich on drug laws

[DiscoBiscuit]

Newt Gingrich A Hypocrite For Supporting Death Penalty For Marijuana Smugglers, Gary Johnson Says

First Posted: 12/13/11 04:35 PM ET Updated: 12/13/11 04:40 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- Longshot GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson attacked frontrunner Newt Gingrich for supporting the death penalty for marijuana smugglers even though he has admitted to smoking the drug himself during graduate school.

Gingrich "proposed the death penalty for marijuana -- for possession of marijuana above a certain quantity of marijuana -- and yet he is among 100 million Americans who smoke marijuana," Johnson told MSNBC’s Alex Witt over the weekend.

An outspoken critic of federal drug control policy, Johnson added he "would love to have a discussion with [Gingrich] on the fact that he smoked pot, and under the wrong set of circumstances, he proposed the death penalty for something, potentially, that he had committed?"

That's not quite right. Even under Gingrich's draconian proposal, nobody could be sentenced to death for smoking pot. But Johnson does effectively highlight one of the more outrageous pieces of drug policy to be introduced before Congress, and pushed by the GOP presidential front runner no less. In 1996 the former House Speaker sponsored the Drug Importer Death Penalty Act, under which importing more than two ounces of certain illegal substances -- including marijuana -- can be punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, has been open with the media about his own experiences smoking pot. After a paragliding accident in 2005, Johnson asserted "marijuana really helped [him] deal" with the pain, and in an interview with the New Republic he joked, "I never exhaled. His policy position on medical marijuana flows naturally from that experience.

But Gingrich, who smoked pot while in graduate school in the '60s, wants to have it both ways.

"That was a sign we were alive and in graduate school in that era," he told New York magazine in 1995 of his illegal drug use. And in 1982, he penned a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association calling for the legalization of medical cannabis. Federal law, he wrote, "continues to define marijuana as a drug 'with no accepted medical use,' and federal agencies continue to prohibit physician-patient access to marijuana. This outdated federal prohibition is corrupting the intent of the state laws and depriving thousands of glaucoma and cancer patients of the medical care promised them by their state legislatures."

While it's hard to pinpoint exactly when Gingrich went from calling for marijuana legalization to introducing legislation sentencing pot smugglers to death, his peculiar evolution certainly merits an explanation.

"See, when I smoked pot it was illegal," he reportedly told the Wall Street Journal's Hilary Stout in 1996, "but not immoral. Now, it is illegal AND immoral. The law didn’t change, only the morality... That's why you get to go to jail and I don't."

WATCH Mediaite's video of Johnson's remarks

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...-gingrich-marijuana-hyprocrisy_n_1146739.html

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[brotherindica]

Newt is the epitome of a hypocrite...............like most politicians. I hope Karma comes around to him one of these days.................being the shitty person he is usually comes back around sooner or later.




"It's now illegal and immoral.......only the morality changed". Pancreatic cancer, rectal cancer, prostate cancer, Alzheimer's....................hope Newt gets to experience something virulent disease that could use Cannabis.............except he wouldn't use it because it's "immoral".................fucking douche bag.......

December 13, 2011
Gingrich leads, but Paul most likely to beat Obama in latest Iowa poll.
"With less than a month before the Iowa caucus, GOP presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has surged into the lead, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who could best President Obama, a new Iowa poll says."
Dr. Paul is picking up Cain supporters, and all polling indicates he is the ONLY candidate who would beat O'Bummer.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/05/g...ost-likely-to-beat-obama-in-latest-iowa-poll/

Thanks for posting that Retro! He's the only individual would receive my vote.

 

[GP73LPC]

hopefully gingrich will start to fall in the polls and Ron Paul will be the beneficiary. Paul seems to be a close 3rd to Romney, even 2nd in some polls...

 

[ShroomDr]

Newt got hammered pretty hard last night, but seem to side step most of the flack.

I was semi shocked at how hard FOX news hammered him (and Dr. Paul) on electability for the first 10-15 minutes; then 'the painted face' took him to task on over 'consultation vs. lobbying' harder than ive seen anyone in 12 years, in any debate, let alone a parties primary.

Here is a link to a site with all the 2011 GOP debates

This last Monday Newt and Huntsman had a 'sit down debate' where both talked in 5 minutes segments, mostly on foreign policy. Iran and China (Huntsman was the ambassador to China).

I thought Mondays debate was a great too, certainly offers a lot more insight into both mens foreign policy.

After last nights debate, Newt claimed that if Obama would not accept his challenge to "7 Lincoln Douglas Style" Debates, he would 'let the White house set his agenda' and 'follow Obama around the country and follow Obamas speeches with a 3 hour speech shredding the presidents speech'. <---worst paraphrase ever

Its was a great challenge! Newt is Clubber Lang

 

[BigDawg]

How The Grinch Stole America

 

[litebuzz]

Newt is a fukin squid...he doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell of winning.

 

[yesum]

Painted face? Newt if nominated will ensure Obama's reelection. He is not 'likeable' or good looking. A lot of people choose their leader with looks and personality(even if it is an act, which it usually is) as their main criteria.

I disagree with too many of Newt's ideas to vote for him and will throw my vote away on Paul if he gets nominated, which he won't. I will have to go with Romney and not have as much to dislike about his plans vs Obama. Really I think with the Repubs crappy showing lately that Obama will get 4 more.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I think Mitt still polls as the most likely to win the election against Obama. The last Obama/Gingrich poll I saw showed 51/40 for Obama. But it's pretty early and ultimately, polls mean little.

 

[Plant Early]

 

[MileHighGuy]

RON PAUL 2012

 

[ShroomDr]

Painted face?

Do you think it was Ron Paul, John Huntsman or Michele Bachmann?

She's 3/4 Geisha.

 

[nvthis]

The real scary thing about this dude is his intentions are to scare the living shit out of Americans. It's not about quietly denying foodstamps for people who pissed dirty, he str8 wants to make examples out of fuckers. Hang a few growers off of highway bridges to get the message out clear.. Why incarcerate when we can just rape you and burn your damn house down on the spot? More aggressive, eh? Almost sounds like he's saying that if you are caught smoking a joint, then your rights as an american citizen will be greatly diminished..

This guy is absolutely fucking insane

"medical marijuana becomes a joke. "

"we ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy. "


'These kind of addictive drugs are terrible, they deprive you of full citizenship'

"makes it radically less likely that we're going to have drugs in this country."

"Places like Singapore have been the most successful at doing that. "

"explicit steps to make it expensive to be a drug user. "

"find a way to be pretty aggressive about insisting "

"say that we want to minimize drug use in America and we're very serious about it."

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Gingrich utilizes focus groups and polls to hone his message.

During his bid for house speaker, Newt advised associates to include key pejoratives in their rhetoric. 'Key' being particular words that polled in higher percentages. The other point of view became the 'opposition' and personal associations with the other side were discouraged, even though Reagan and Tip O'Neill were considered friends when they weren't engaged in political differences.

Today, Frank Luntz promotes the idea that compromise with the 'opposition' is 'weakness'. Luntz has Newt to thank for helping divide the electorate. No wonder Congress polls at 9%.

 

[ShroomDr]

One could make an argument that the Congressional witch hunt into a presidential hummer, (led by Newt, Bob Barr, etc) led to our distraction and failure to eliminate Al Qaeda and UBL.

Both men were cheating on their wives at the time.

What does an intern 'getting her oil checked' have to do land acquisitions in AK?

 

[DankSide]

Kind of funny, it's a point I always make and also why we never voted McCain in. If both candidates are terrible, pick the least destructive one.

Gingrich sucks, Romney Sucks, Obama Sucks, Paul could never win.... The GOP is letting segregated religious beliefs divide them as well as their immigration and business policies. It's like FREAKIN' MUSICAL CHAIRS with the GOP right now. - Each time someone out in the ole' Repubs gets spotlighted we find out he/she is a "bla bla bla bad person".

Such a clusterfuck you can't even find the right Repub in the bunch representing all the right business beliefs without all the insane religious bias.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Religion wasn't a big deal with Republicans before the civil rights act and early 70s conservative social interest groups.

Conservative economics took a giant hit after the depression. As more economic policies favored the working class, conservative policy ideas (mostly economic up to that time) began to delve in religious matters because the power religious organizations weren't yet powerful in national politics.

Barry Goldwater warned against embracing powerful religious interests but his warnings were tossed aside because powerful religious interests represents a powerful voting block.

IMO, religion isn't as divisive as big money seeks to make it. I'm agnostic but I don't mind voting for lawmakers who express their faith in religion. IMO, religion is hijacked by powerful folks who want to make money.

I'm not for organized religion in schools, religion in government of any of the issues hijacked by the religious crowd. I would like to see big money out of politics and IMO, religion would be more virtuous. A lawmaker's religion might be a plus in the electability category, so long as exploitation isn't the focus.

 

[LiLWaynE]

I think that we need to consider taking more explicit steps to make it expensive to

I think that we need to consider taking more explicit steps to make it expensive to

I think that we need to consider taking more explicit steps to make it expensive to be a drug user

AHAHAHAHA...... WOW.... that guy is fucked up !

the fact that drugs are expensive are the reason why people commit crimes to get the money it takes to purchase the drugs!


places like holland i believe have systems in place where they provide free heroin to heroin users so that the heroin users do not have to spend money on it and ruin their lives....

if drugs were free, there would be so much less crime....

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Newt was active in the Part D lobbying campaign, earning $35 million from Big Pharma. IMO, Newt doesn't have just his personal inclinations to consider. He owes these boys a weed-free pallet to paint on.

IMO, if we reformed the campaign finance system so that one-man/one-vote was better sereved, Newt would drop the immoral baloney.

Unless it's all that born-again stuff.

 

[rasputin]

Fuck Newt.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

I found some things about Newt, turns out, he is a very weird creature

Newts are characterised by a frog-like body with four equal sized limbs and a distinct tail. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and may be either fully aquatic, living permanently in the water, or semi-aquatic, living terrestrially but returning to the water each year to breed. North American species return to live in water, rarely venturing back onto the land. Many newts produce toxins in their skin secretions as a defense mechanism against predators. Most newts can be safely handled, provided that the toxins they produce are not ingested or allowed to come in contact with mucous membranes, or breaks in the skin.