Koch Industries: "You are never going to win the war on drugs" – Colorado Springs Independent

Marijuana advocates might not expect to find much in common with the political network funded by Charles and David Koch an influential force on the right that bankrolls Republican candidates to turn right-wing ideology into public policy. But every once in a while "the enemy of your enemy is your friend" logic plays out.

Late last month, the Koch network held a three-day retreat at The Broadmoor for big donors to discuss policy and politics. At one point, reports The Denver Post, general counsel for Koch Industries, Mark Holden, declared, "You are never going to win the war on drugs. Drugs won."

The statement was made in reference to the Trump administration's backward stance on federal drug policy. Recall from past reporting in CannaBiz that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is itching for a crackdown on medical marijuana (now legal in more states than not) and to reinstitute mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders ("Sessions pinned on medical marijuana before slipping through Senate hearing," June 14).

The Post reports Holden criticized Sessions for taking a "failed big government top-down approach ... based on fear and emotion. "The Kochs' political machine, Americans for Prosperity, isn't supporting legalizing drugs, he said, "but I don't think we should criminalize those types of things and we should let the states decide."

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Koch Industries: "You are never going to win the war on drugs" - Colorado Springs Independent