The Republican National Committee yesterday busted out some criticism of John Kerry's record on drugs, sentencing, and other drug-policy issues. This is a good thing. It may be the first appearance I can recall in the 2004 campaign of drug policy making it into the political discourse between the two major parties. Among the RNC's sourced criticisms of Kerry are these:

Kerry Was One Of Seven Senators To Vote Against Random Drug And Alcohol Testing Of Safety-Related Personnel In The Transportation Industry.

Kerry Says He Opposed Mandatory Sentences For Drug Dealers, But "Voted For Them Later On."

Kerry Said Some People In Jail "Barely Culpable."

Kerry Voted Against Mandatory 20 Year Prison Term And Allowance Of Death Penalty For Drug Related Homicides.

Kerry Voted Against Mandatory Minimums For Those Who Sell Drugs To Minors. [2X]

Kerry On Drug Dealers: "Depends On The Definition Of Dealer."

Though the content and tone strikes me as authentic, there are a couple of caveats worth noting. First, though I get the sense that this text may come from a campaign ad, no one at the RNC or the Bush/Cheney campaign with whom I spoke this morning (alas, not Jenna) could tell me anything about where the text originates. Even stranger, I came across the text at Noticias.info, a Spanish-language website based in Barcelona, Spain, but didn't see anything about it in any American news sources.

Drug-policy criticism emanating from the RNC isn't exactly eternal damnation. It might be just the opposite. Still, it's nothing short of irrational exuberance for drug-policy reformers to long for a Kerry administration.

How bad -- or good -- has Kerry been on drugs?

Many people have been excited -- in my opinion much too much so -- by a San Francisco Chronicle piece this week that claims a Kerry administration would be better to medical-marijuana users. The headline screams Medical marijuana advocates likely to get a break under Kerry; Democrat says he would stop pot club raids pushed by Bush. And indeed the article cites Kerry's claim that his "disposition is personally favorable" to medical marijuana. But anyone with a memory can recall this is an even less strident claim than the current President Bush made before he came into office. And we all know how kept were Bush's promises.

In the end, all one needs to know about how much Kerry cares about medical-marijuana patients is this bit from the article:

Kerry's campaign did not respond to requests from The Chronicle to spell out his position on medical marijuana.

On the plus side, drug policy seems (finally!) to have entered the U.S. election fray -- albeit in Spain. Hopefully, a U.S. outlet picks up the RNC criticism of Kerry, the candidate responds, and a good old-fashioned brawl erupts -- exposing each candidate's horrible inadequacies on the issue.

You can read more about the candidates -- including Green, independent, and Libertarian profiles -- at our Election 2004 website.