Gagging the experts when discussing the war on drugs

Jim Webb introduced a bill to "create a blue-ribbon commission to look at every aspect of our criminal justice system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom." How shall we proceed? A recent amendment to Webb's bill by Republican Senator Charles Grassley would bar the commission from "considering" "legalization" of presently controlled substances. See also, this post by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Rolling Stone reports in more detail:

Enter unreconstructed drug warrior Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has released the text of an amendment that would ensure the commission not reach any conclusions that threaten 40 years of failure. The commission would be prohibited, thanks to Grassley, from examining any “policies that favor decriminalization of violations of the Controlled Substances Act or the legalization of any controlled substances.”

Here's the text of Grassley's proposed gag rule:

SEC. ll. RESTRICTIONS ON AUTHORITY. The Commission shall have no authority to make findings related to current Federal, State, and local criminal justice policies and practices or reform recommendations that involve, support, or otherwise discuss the decriminalization of any offense under the Controlled Substances Act or the legalization of any controlled substance listed under the Controlled Substances Act. Therefore . . . let's figure out how to revamp our criminal justice system but let's not discuss the elephant in the room: the fact that the "war on drugs" that has ruined more lives than drugs ever could have ruined. It's important to keep in mind that some conservatives see the light on the "drug war."

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Conservative judge once again advocates decriminalization

Retired Judge James Gray has impeccable conservative credentials. I've posted about him previously. In a recent article in the Daily Pilot, he most reasonably suggests that most Americans would share most of the following goals:

1. Reduce the exposure of drugs to and usage of drugs by children;

2. Stop or materially reduce the violence that accompanies the manufacture and distribution of drugs, especially to police officers and innocent by-standers;

3. Stop or materially reduce the corruption of public officials, individual people and companies, and especially children that accompanies the manufacture and distribution of drugs;

4. Stop or materially reduce crime both by people trying to get money to purchase drugs and by those under the influence of drugs;

5. Stop or materially reduce the flow of drugs into our country;

6. Reduce health risks to people who use drugs;

7. Maintain and reaffirm our civil liberties;

8. Reduce the number of people we must put into our jails and prisons;

9. Stop or materially reduce the flow of guns out of our country and into countries south of our border;

10. Increase respect for our laws and institutions.

What is a good way to simultaneously further all of these goals? All we need to do is to treat the manufacture and sale of drugs "just like we treat alcohol." Consider #2 in more detail--attempting to curtail violence on the streets. Judge Gray offers a hypothetical:

Today if Budweiser has distribution problems with Coors, they don’t take guns to the streets to resolve them. Instead they file a complaint in court, and have it peacefully adjudicated by judges like me.

Consider also, common sense economics: if drugs were not punished with criminal sanctions, the price of drugs would fall and "drug addicted people would only need to steal half as much to get their drugs." The case for decriminialization is utterly compelling to anyone who takes the time to consider the sceop of the current problem. For instance, it's time to stop throwing 700,000 people into jail every year just because they use marijuana. Many of these people are (other than the marijuana offenses) peace-loving tax-paying citizens with families. It's time to stop the insanity.

Continue ReadingConservative judge once again advocates decriminalization

Burning American tax dollars to incarcerate Canadian seed sellers

We're about to spend hundreds of thousands of American dollars incarcerating a Canadian who was busted for selling marijuana seeds. He never set foot in the United States, but he's being extradited. Who did he hurt?

"There isn't a single victim in my case, no one who can stand up and say, 'I was hurt by Marc Emery.' No one."
Here's the conclusion of an article by Ian Mulgrew of the Vancouver Sun:
Emery is facing more jail time than corporate criminals who defraud widows and orphans and longer incarceration than violent offenders who leave their victims dead or in wheelchairs. Whatever else you may think of him — and I know he rankles many — what is happening to him today mocks our independence and our ideal of justice.
Emery's crime is so incredibly serious that he would have spent an entire month in a Canadian prison for his crime. But, apparently, we have nothing better to do with American tax dollars than incarcerating people who sell marijuana seeds to people who want to buy them.

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