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Save a Cop's Life: End the Drug War (Opinion)

Neill Franklin, who performed narcotics enforcement with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department over a 34-year career, opines that we desperately need to end the "war on drugs" which has done so little to prevent people from using drugs but which has done so much to enrich organized criminals who do not hesitate to use violence to protect their black market profits. Franklin asks: How many more hardworking and brave law enforcers do we have to see killed in the line of duty before our elected officials will change this policy?

Why Cops Love the Drug War (Opinion)

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, opines that public officials and drug lords are the biggest beneficiaries of the drug war. He says what police don’t realize (or maybe some of them do) is that the only way to shut down the drug lords, immediately, is to end the drug war by legalizing drugs. Continuing to wage the drug war only ensures that the drug lords will continue supplying drugs and that the cops will continue making busts, and that both groups will continue making beaucoup bucks off the war, which is really what the drug war is all about.

White House Requests Meeting with Seattle Times to Bully Against Pro-Marijuana Editorials

Immediately after the Seattle Times ran an editorial last week supporting a bill to tax and regulate marijuana, the newspaper got a phone call from Washington, D.C. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy director Gil Kerlikowske wanted to fly to Seattle to speak personally with the paper's full editorial board. The meeting is apparently an attempt by the federal government to pressure the state's largest newspaper to oppose marijuana legalization. Or at least turn down the volume on its new-found bullhorn to legalize it.

Why This Cop Asked the President About Legalizing Drugs

You might not think a 65-year-old retired deputy sheriff would take to the Internet to ask the president of the United States to consider legalizing drugs, but that's just what MacKenzie Allen did recently. The answer he got from President Obama in YouTube's "Your Interview with the President" contest pleasantly surprised him. Obama responded by saying that legalizing drugs is "an entirely legitimate topic for debate."

Marijuana Reform in 2012? It's Your Call...

 

Legalization in 2012: What do YOU think?

Supporters of marijuana policy reform are coming together to produce a statewide ballot initiative that would end cannabis prohibition in Colorado in 2012.  No single organization or individual is heading the effort; rather, there is a wide variety of activists, organizations, businesses, professionals, and other stakeholders working together to create and pass the best law possible. 

Sensible Colorado, along with SAFER and other allies and organizations, are working to engage everyone possible in the process.  We are soliciting input and feedback from the community, which we will bring to the table as an initiative is drafted by some of the most qualified attorneys and advocates from across Colorado and around the nation.

 

If you would like to take part in the process of putting together the best possible legalization initiative for 2012, please send an e-mail to HERE.   Let us know what you do or do not want to see in the initiative, or just let us know if you have any ideas or thoughts on the process.  As you can imagine, we probably won’t be able to respond to every e-mail, but we assure you they will all be read and taken into consideration.  Submissions must be received on or before February 25, 2011.

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Bolivians Hold Coca "Chew-Ins" Opposing UN Ban

As the US, UK, and Sweden file formal objections to Bolivian efforts to amend the UN 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to end the proscription on coca leaf chewing, Bolivians take to the streets.
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Hillary Clinton Says Drugs Are Too Expensive for Legalization

In an interview on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a very precise demonstration in how to dramatically misconstrue the fundamentals of drug prohibition. It's one of those perfectly incoherent explanations that would be almost comedic if it weren't for the tens of thousands who get murdered in the streets thanks to logic like this.

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Obama Opposes Drug Legalization, But Hasn't Explained Why

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Having already commented on what I liked about Obama's comments on Thursday, I think it's equally important to take a look at what was missing. By acknowledging legalization as an "entirely legitimate topic for debate," the President has elevated the conversation still further into the realm of mainstream political acceptance, but with that comes a heightened obligation for our political leaders to clearly articulate and defend their positions. Obama's polite, predictable response leaves unanswered most of the defining questions in the drug policy debate and ultimately fails to address the concerns that make this issue a top priority for a large segment of the American public.

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