Some Find Hope for a Shift in Drug Policy

NYT ^ | February 15, 2009 | WILLIAM YARDLEY

[SolidWood]

SEATTLE — Washington State law prohibits the possession of marijuana except for certain medical purposes. Hempfest is not one of them. Yet each summer when the event draws thousands to the Seattle waterfront to call for decriminalizing marijuana, participants light up in clear view of police officers. And they rarely get arrested.

“Police officers patrolling are courteous and respectful,” said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

One reason for the officers’ approach, said Ms. Holcomb and others who follow law enforcement in Seattle, is the leadership of R. Gil Kerlikowske, the chief of the Seattle Police Department and, officials in the Obama administration say, the president’s choice to become the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, known as the drug czar.

[goldstategop]

Casual drug use is something that's going to become more accepted in this country. The WOD is failure and we can't jail our way out of a problem that hasn't been licked for decades - and will never be.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[MeanWestTexan]

I don’t care as long as they tax it and kill the beaurocracy that has grown around it.

[DJ MacWoW]

Start listening at 6 minutes.

Mach Sauce Productions

[lt.america]

“In 2004, the chief’s duty weapon, a 9mm Glock pistol, was stolen from his unmarked police car while he and his wife shopped downtown on the day after Christmas. A police spokesman said later that the chief had accidentally left his car unlocked but that he had not violated department policy by leaving his gun in his car.”

Are you kidding me? The only people I know who have lost a sidearm or service rifle without losing their job/careers are this guy and Colin Powell.

[bassmaner]

There will be no easing of federal drug laws, period. Whatever increases government power over the individual will be embraced totally by the 'Rats.

Look for the 0bama Admin (with Drug Warrior Plugs leading the way) to double down on the IWOsD, as they've done with every other socialist government program in Porkulus.

[DJ MacWoW]

The WOD is failure and we can't jail our way out of a problem that hasn't been licked for decades - and will never be.

I will never understand people who say things like this.

Because there are still murders, should we stop arresting murderers?

Because people still B&E, should we stop arresting burglars?

Because there are still assaults, should we stop arresting assaulters?

Because there is still child abuse, should we stop arresting abusers?

What in the world are you thinking?

[jimt]

What in the world are you thinking?

There is a vast difference between the crimes you cite - where another person's rights are clearly violated - and drug crimes, where NO ones' rights are violated.

Think about it.

[Mariner]

The difference sir, is that the WOD does no good for anyone except the local SWAT team and anti-narcotics squad.

NOBODY ELSE benefits in any way.

[Drew68]

Casual drug use is something that's going to become more accepted in this country.

The only real barrier these days is employment-based drug testing.

[DJ MacWoW]

Yeah, drugs are such a benefit to society. /s

[microgood]

I will never understand people who say things like this.

And I will never understand people who do not know the difference between a vice and a crime.

[DJ MacWoW]

At least you admit it’s a vice. The 60’s wasn’t enough of an example I guess.

[narses]

...and drug crimes, where NO ones' rights are violated.

The victims (plural) are the druggies themselves, the people they prey on and the families of both sets of victims. But you knew that, didn't ya?

[narses]

Every time a druggie gets taken off the street, we all benefit.

[DJ MacWoW]

And we must not forget that we'll have support them AND their habit.

We have a crack daddy as Pres and they want to make it legal. The 60's hippies are in charge in DC...............how's that working? ;-)

[narses]

Never trust a druggie, never. It can be deadly.

[microgood]

At least you admit it’s a vice. The 60’s wasn’t enough of an example I guess.

Pot has been in use since 2700 B.C. and will be in use in 5000 A.D. Just like alcohol.

What one generation did in relation to it is currently how the drug is being judged. That is why pot will probably not be legalized until the hippies and the hippie hating generations are long gone.

The problem with the drug war is that the cure is worse than the disease. The 60s are actually starting to look not so bad with rise in paramilitary police, the end of the 4th Amendment, and all the other negative effects of the drug war (thousands of dead in Mexico and South America every year. I am more afraid of our own government these days than anyone else, and I do not even use illegal drugs. All you need is a ticked off neighbor to get your door kicked down, your dogs killed, and your family accosted by men in machine guns and masks.

[DJ MacWoW]

Murder has also been around for thousands of years.

There is no justification for legalizing any drug that alters perception in any way.

[microgood]

Every time a druggie gets taken off the street, we all benefit.

Every time a SWAT team is disbanded, after a SWAT raid that is initiated by a criminal felon who is acting as a informant, whom the police know is a liar but do not care, use him to get a warrant, and invade the home of an innocent family and kill their pets and terrorize their family by sticking machine guns in innocent children faces, we benefit even more.

Drug warriors are a bigger threat to American freedom than any terrorist will ever be.