Bob Barr Flip-Flops on Pot
By: Chris Frates
March 28, 2007 04:52 PM EST
Bob Barr, who as a Georgia congressman authored a successful amendment that blocked D.C. from implementing a medical marijuana initiative, has switched sides and become a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.
But that doesnt mean he has become a bong-ripping hippie. He isnt pro-drug, he said, just against government intrusion.
I, over the years, have taken a very strong stand on drug issues, but in light of the tremendous growth of government power since 9/11, it has forced me and other conservatives to go back and take a renewed look at how big and powerful we want the government to be in peoples lives, Barr said.
Aaron Houston, the projects government relations director, said Barr brings a great deal of credibility, particularly among people on the Republican side of the aisle.
He certainly would not have been the first person I would have expected to sign off to us, but Im very pleased that he has, Houston said. Im very pleased that he has come around, and I hope he serves as an example to his former colleagues.
Ironically, Barr said he will help lead the fight to give District residents a say on whether to allow medical marijuana the very thing the Barr Amendment denied them in 1998. He will lobby for the rights of states to set their own medical marijuana policy without federal interference.
The four-term former Republican congressman will also work to unplug a youth anti-drug campaign which a recent study showed actually increased the likelihood that all teens would smoke pot.
A lot of conservatives have expressed great concern over the taxpayer money that is being wasted on this poorly run advertising campaign, said Barr, who left Congress in 2003.
Houston said the project is a non-profit that seeks protections for medical marijuana patients and caregivers and advocates no jail time for marijuana use. Barr said there might be legitimate medical uses of marijuana and we ought not have this knee-jerk reaction against it, and people ought to be allowed to explore.
He said explore not experiment.
© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC
