Marijuana
2009-06-14 · Original WordPress address
The gateway drug:
Moving forward, we need to be less ideological and more empirical in figuring out what works in combating America’s drug problem. One approach would be for a state or two to experiment with legalization of marijuana, allowing it to be sold by licensed pharmacists, while measuring the impact on usage and crime.
and my favorite paragraph:
“I had arrested a 19-year-old, in his own home, for possession of marijuana,” [Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle] recalled. “I literally broke down the door, on the basis of probable cause. I took him to jail on a felony charge.” The arrest and related paperwork took several hours, and Mr. Stamper suddenly had an “aha!” moment: “I could be doing real police work.”