Marijuana no longer cause for arrest in GB

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001370532,00.html

>http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001370532,00.html

Kyool! It's both funny and sad to see the way all the officials quoted
in this article backpedal at top speed when they're asked, in effect,
if they're getting soft on drugs. To my mind, the prohibition of _any_
substance is the wrong approach to whatever problems voluntary
consumption causes. Heroin, for example, is considered a "hard" drug,
yet it was sold over the counter as a cough medicine in the early 20th
century, without causing the collapse of civilization. I'm not going
to advocate addiction to heroin, of course, but all evidence suggests
that one can be a heroin addict and still lead a normal life, as long as
the effects of prohibition (high cost, inconsistent quality, and anarchy
along the distribution chain) don't intervene.

The dirty secret of prohibition is that bankers get rich off laundering
money, even as politicians gain more power to meddle by whipping up
anti-drug hysteria. It's a sick, self-feeding phenomenon. An
addiction, in fact.

I am sorry to say that I come very close to wishing that people would
shoot the cops who come bursting into their homes looking for drugs.
No, there's enough shooting in the world without adding more. But these
cops need to get honest jobs, pursuing genuine criminals, instead of
adding misery to the lives of people who are guilty only of making a
lifestyle choice. It is not enough to say, "I was only following
orders."

(A friend, active in the marijuana legalization movement, was raided a
few years ago. He told me the cops seemed to go out of their way to
destroy precious photos and other mementos, things that clearly were not
related to drugs, and left his house a complete shambles. All part of
"sending a message", I guess...)

The U.S., the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave", is being dragged
kicking and screaming into drug reform. If it takes the rest of the
world to lead the way, so be it.

JdL

--- In metatuning@y..., "John A. deLaubenfels" <jdl@a...> wrote:

> The U.S., the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave", is being
dragged
> kicking and screaming into drug reform.

If that's true, then let the first step be to eliminate the 100-to-1
disparity in the quantities of powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine that
bring similar prison sentences. This is clearly a racist policy that
has a huge proportion of the potential wage earners in black families
permanently incarcerated.

[I wrote:]
>>The U.S., the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave", is being
>>dragged kicking and screaming into drug reform.

[Paul E:]
>If that's true, then let the first step be to eliminate the 100-to-1
>disparity in the quantities of powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine that
>bring similar prison sentences. This is clearly a racist policy that
>has a huge proportion of the potential wage earners in black families
>permanently incarcerated.

Quite true. Legislators have at least made a show of _pretending_ to
come close to addressing this disparity, but the hard-core warriors
screamed that if the gap were to be narrowed, the penalties for powder
cocaine should be increased to match crack, not visa versa. At that
point, the whole thing stalled, and nothing was done. And that was
when, a year or two ago?

JdL