Attorney General Jeff Sessions is taking advice on marijuana policy from a doctor with some unique ideas on health care and drug addiction treatments. Dr. Robert DuPont has previously lobbied for strict laws enabling police to basically drug test anyone they pull over. From the Daily Beast:
A national model bill he helped write in 2010 called on law enforcement to test anyone stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence for all controlled substances, and arresting them if any trace at all shows up in their system—regardless of the amount. While the bill includes an exemption for drivers who consumed a drug pursuant to a prescription, it would not apply to medicinal-marijuana users because doctors are not currently allowed to prescribe pot, only offer a recommendation for its use.
The bill’s language makes clear that these people will still face sanction even if they live in a state in which medical marijuana is legal.
Of course, marijuana can stay in your system for 30 days or more depending on usage and metabolism. Can you imagine getting a DUI for smoking a joint two weeks ago because trace amounts showed up? Worse than that, Dr. DuPont believes doctors should be drug-testing their patients as a part of a regular healthcare routine, like testing for diabetes.
Early last year, The Daily Beast conducted a lengthy interview with DuPont as he was shopping around a radical proposal —called the “New Paradigm for Long-Term Recovery”—to address America’s festering overdose crisis. It would include a massive expansion of drug testing in addiction medicine.
“Drug testing is the technology of addiction medicine, but it’s underutilized,” he said. “We want [drug screens] to be routine in all medicine. The health-care sector in general should approach addiction in the same way as diabetes, and that includes monitoring. Doctors already check for things like cholesterol and blood sugar. Why not test for illicit drugs?”
His proposal also includes forcing patients into treatment and monitoring them for years on end. Oh, and then there is the financial component. Because of course there is. The Daily Beast details his own personal financial stakes in the drug-testing industry:
After leaving federal service, DuPont joined the former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Pete Bensinger, to cash in on urine testing. The firm they founded, Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, provided drug testing services to some of America’s largest corporations.
So much for small government Republicans. Read more about Dr. DuPont’s radical proposals at The Daily Beast.