California judge blasts drug war at pro-marijuana rally in Reno

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Superior Court judge sharply criticized the drug war and renewed his call for the decriminalization of marijuana at a pro-marijuana rally Saturday.

Judge James Gray of Orange County, Calif., said the drug war has cost billions of dollars and resulted in the United States having the world's highest incarceration rate - with no end in sight to rampant drug abuse.

The former federal prosecutor said he has never smoked marijuana, but supports the strictly controlled distribution of pot to adults.

"We have made an illness into a plague. (This is) a failed and hopeless system," Gray said.

"I believe people should be entitled to do what they want to their bodies, but that they should be held accountable," he added.

Gray, 58, a lifelong Republican until he became a Libertarian earlier this year, has been a judge for 19 years. He's the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It."

More than 60 people attended the "Rally for Cannabis Liberation" at Reno's Idlewild Park.

The rally was sponsored by Cures not Wars, a pro-marijuana group that was to hold similar rallies around the country this weekend.

Group spokeswoman Michelle Buck of Reno said the purpose of the rally was to raise awareness that tens of thousands of Americans are in prisons for non-violent drug crimes.

Of particular concern, she said, are thousands who have been arrested for legally or illegally supplying medical marijuana.

Some people held signs that read "Free Ed Rosenthal." The Oakland, Calif., man's arrest last year was among a string of federal raids of medical marijuana suppliers in California.

A 1970 federal law does not recognize any medical purposes for marijuana. A federal judge refused in January to allow Rosenthal to tell jurors he was operating under state law.

Jurors convicted Rosenthal. When they learned the details they were not told during the trial, several jurors said they regretted their verdict.

"We're here to show our support for people like Ed," Buck said. "Marijuana is not the evil drug the federal government has made it out to be."

In November, Nevada voters rejected a measure to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.

Gray, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to the bench, was the keynote speaker at a Libertarian Party of Nevada dinner Saturday night in Virginia City.

A gateway drug, like pot, breaks down a psychological barrier against doing other drugs.

You claim (with no evidence) that alcohol does not have this effect; why not? If it's because alcohol is legal, then legal marijuana would also not be a gateway drug.

this is a side issue in which you try to derail the discusssion

False; YOU introduced the subject when you claimed that "pot smoking [...] is a gateway drug to harder, more addictive substances".

most of life's problems have no governmental solution

Of course that is true, but government should at least not be part of the problem.

When government stays out of an issue, as by not criminalizing a substance, it is not part of the problem---unless you want to claim that government is "part of the problem" of alcoholism because it doesn't ban alcohol.

society also has a right to set minimal standards of acceptable behavior for its citizens. You obviously disagree. Fine. I will put my Judeo-Christian society up against your value-less society

Straw man; a society where values are not enforced by government is not a "value-less society." For instance, society has traditionally frowned on lying even though there have never been laws against lying (with a few narrow exceptions, e.g., perjury).

I can't help but note your hypocritical statement of calling me a "bleeding-heart liberal" because I have concern for other citizens. Then, when you make your argument of why drugs should be legalized, your top 2 reasons concern the well-being of other citizens.

No hypocrisy there; the harms I call for ending are imposed BY OTHERS, whereas you are liberally blubbering about SELF-imposed harms.

I think the wierdest statement you have made so far is to suggest that we can keep kids from selling drugs to each other by making drugs legal.

I never made such statement. You misread or misunderstood my point. The current laws encourage children to sell drugs, for one simple reason. The desire of money, financial gain, profit. Now I'm not changing the subject, I'm taking it a step futher... Legalizing drugs removes all profits for dealers. Why? Who's going purchase drugs from a dealer when they can get it from government shops.

It's true the simplest explanation tends to be the right one. Why are you going out of your way not to see it.

You also say that the only reason they sell it to each other is because it IS illegal...

I didn't say the only reason they sell it to each other is because it's illegal. Please stop twisting my words! I don't twist yours. I stated that the only reason children sell drugs is to make money. The fact that drugs are illegal isn't what makes children sell them, it's the fact that they can make money. Hence, the fact that drugs are illegal, and allow profits to be made, is what gives people the incentive and the reason to sell them. The only way to stop the "social selling" of illegal drugs is to legalize. Plain and simple.

...and you also say that we would never make it legal for kids.

Correct, we would never sell it to kids. I think you're making the point that children will need someone to purchase it for them. This is true, but there won't be any reason for children to bump up the prices and continue to sell it in schools. Because if it was legal... even underage users wouldn't purchase it at inflated prices. They would have their older bother buy it for them. Or someone with a fake ID. However it's obtained doesn't matter and isn't even the issue. What does matter is that there's no longer any kids trying to sell it to them. This is why 50% of Highschool seniors have tried marijuana at least once. Peer pressure is real. It's just a little different from what the left would have you think.

You claim (with no evidence) that alcohol does not have this effect; why not? If it's because alcohol is legal, then legal marijuana would also not be a gateway drug.

Quoting the Gipper, "There you go again". If you don't want to believe that alcohol's gateway effect is greatly diminished among those that don't start drinking until after the age of 16, FINE. DON'T BELIEVE IT. THAT STILL GETS YOU NOWHERE IN WANTING POT LEGALIZED. Again, try making your "pro-legalize-drugs" argument without the crutch of alcohol and cigarettes. This seems to be a most difficult task for you. Two of the biggest killers in this country are booze and cigs, right? They are legal, right? What is your solution? NOTHING. Just legalize all drugs. Wow. How thoughtful. What foresight. Now, you'll say, "Oh, legalizing drugs has nothing to do with booze and cigs". Again, FINE, then why do you keep bringing up booze and cigs? I'll tell you why. It's a way for you to change the argument to the evils of booze and cigs instead of drugs. Can you possibly keep on topic?

When government stays out of an issue, as by not criminalizing a substance, it is not part of the problem---

WRONG. See how many abortions were done before Roe vs. Wade and compare to current numbers.

society where values are not enforced by government is not a "value-less society." For instance, society has traditionally frowned on lying even though there have never been laws against lying (with a few narrow exceptions, e.g., perjury).

Your arguments are getting more silly as you are the one grasping for straws. A society without values is most certainly a value-less society. How much more basic can you get? You are turning logic and the understanding of simple words on their heads. No, I can't be sent to jail for telling you that the sun won't rise tomorrow, but lying is illegal in many more instances than your "few, narrow exceptions". Perhaps you would rather live in a society with fewer enforced values. Maybe all lying should be legal. When you fill your fuel tank with sugar water instead of gas, oh well, it's just a lie. When you buy perishibles that have already expired and you get sick from eating rotten food, oh well, it's just a lie. When you get your credit card statement and see you're being charged 30% interest, not 4%, oh well, it's a just a lie. When your cable company charges you double what they said they would, oh well, it's a just a lie. When the service station says your car needs $1000 worth of work when it really just needs the spark plugs changed, oh well, it's just another lie. As you said, society frowns upon lies, because they don't reflect our standard of values. I guess all lies should be legal, so no one is pushing their values down your throat. Even perjury should be allowed. Especially when it's about sex, right?

No hypocrisy there; the harms I call for ending are imposed BY OTHERS, whereas you are liberally blubbering about SELF-imposed harms

LOL. Don't you even read what you write? One of your main reasons to legalize drugs was so users would not kill themselves with dirty or over-potent drugs. Evidently you want some tidy little government bureacuracy to make sure all drugs are clean and pure for addicts. What shall we name this agency? How about "The Department of Homeland Dependency"? Maybe the "Drug Czar" could be replaced by a "Drug Kingpin" who would come into office and promise "clean, pure dope for everyone!" Maybe they can come up with some nifty advertising slogans. I mean they have to let the druggies know they're there, right? How about "USDHS GRADE A HASH. WE'VE GOT THE STASH IF YOU'VE GOT THE CASH". Or, "No more pain, with Uncle Sam's cocaine". Maybe they could have little shacks set up all over like drive-thru coffee huts or those shacks that pop up for a few days around the 4th of July to sell fireworks. Instead of free "punks" with your purchase to light your fireworks, you could get free needles and bongs with your drug buy. What a beautiful vision and plan you have for your country. LOL Yes, I'm convinced now. THAT'S the problem with this country. I can't buy pure, clean heroin from the government. Geeeeez.

oh well here goes,.....
Drug,A substance that affects the function of living cells,
many products not regulated by the government fit the definition of "drug". the "drug" i use most is sugar. in my coffee. hey thats another drug! caffiene! i can buy that in a pill form without a perscription! call the cops. god i need a cigarette. oops i quit. a friend of mine has a 4 year old daughter. she ate 3or4 cigarette butts(yuk!) almost died. cigarette butts contain drugs. marijuana(hemp) has more uses than i could type here in a week. aside from smoking it. sugar is used for one main purpose. and has a lethal dose. as does nicotine. i have to use less than best product to weave a basket because hemp is outlawed....... here is my real question.... of all the major "drugs" availiable legal or otherwise ,ie; pot, coke, meth, horse, oxi's, nicotene, caffiene, sugar, spray paint. which have ones have a lethal dose? all but one, pot. can any of you WODies explain this?

If you don't want to believe that alcohol's gateway effect is greatly diminished among those that don't start drinking until after the age of 16

I believe it no more or less than I believe your other unsupported claim, "Several studies have found that, if society can prevent an individual from using any of the gateway drugs until age 21, the chances are 93-7 that that person will not use illicit drugs OR use alcohol in a high-risk manner." So I ask you AGAIN the question you dodged last time: If the 'gateway' effects of alcohol and marijuana both disappear in adulthood, why should the latter be illegal while the former is legal?

Two of the biggest killers in this country are booze and cigs, right? They are legal, right? What is your solution? NOTHING.

That's correct---the harms people do to themselves are not mine to solve, especially not by governmental coercion.

Just legalize all drugs.

As the drugs alcohol and tobacco are already legal, yes.

When government stays out of an issue, as by not criminalizing a substance, it is not part of the problem---

WRONG. See how many abortions

Abortion violates a person's rights, whereas drug use does not.

society where values are not enforced by government is not a "value-less society."

A society without values is most certainly a value-less society.

A society where values are not enforced by government is not a society without values.

lying is illegal in many more instances than your "few, narrow exceptions". [...] When you fill your fuel tank with sugar water instead of gas

Commercial fraud is a form of lying that is and should be illegal---but that still leaves a whole world of lies that have always been against society's values but have never been criminalized, e.g., lying to one's fiancee about dating other people. This proves that a society where values are not enforced by government is not a "value-less society."

One of your main reasons to legalize drugs was so users would not kill themselves with dirty or over-potent drugs. Evidently you want some tidy little government bureacuracy to make sure all drugs are clean and pure for addicts.

Yes, fraud should be illegal in the drug market as in every other market.

What shall we name this agency?

How about the agency that currently performs this function for legal medicines: the FDA? Or we could give the job to the agency that currently performs this function for legal recreational drugs: the BATF.

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