STATES AND
CITIES SOUR ON UNCLE SAM'S WACKY WAR ON DRUGS
by Deroy Murdock
sentence on October 7 for operating a glass-blowing shop that sold
pipes
to marijuana smokers. Prosecutors were not impressed that his
Nice
Dreams Enterprises marketed a morally-neutral product. Chong's
pipes,
after all, could be used with loose-leaf tobacco, just as any stoner
in
an Armani suit can smoke pot in a lawful Dunhill meerschaum.
In
fact, as the Los Angeles Times reported October 10, Assistant U.S.
Attorney
Mary Houghton's court pleadings sought Chong's harsh punishment
because he
got rich "glamorizing the illegal distribution and use of
marijuana" in films
that "trivialize law enforcement efforts to combat
drug trafficking and
use."
Chong must have wondered when such activities became criminal.
Perhaps
the FBI now will arrest Sean Penn for hilariously smoking grass in
"Fast
Times at Ridgemont High." Then they can handcuff Denzel Washington
for
portraying a crooked narcotics officer in "Training Day."
At last,
the homeland is secure from Chong, a 65-year-old comic whose
merchandise
spared potheads from fumbling with rolling papers. Could
there be any greater
triumph for public safety than that? And in this
peaceful world and placid
nation, taxpayers can rest assured that
officials are using their hard-earned
cash as wisely as possible. Recall
that Chong and 54 others were busted in
Operation Pipe Dreams, a
February 24 crackdown on the drug paraphernalia
industry. That project
involved 1,200 local, state and federal authorities,
the Drug
Enforcement Administration estimates. These professional sleuths
could
have pursued al-Qaeda instead, but what would that have
accomplished?
All seriousness aside, as funnyman Steve Allen often said,
federal drug
warriors keep embarrassing themselves by enforcing pointless,
oppressive
policies that merely ignite tax dollars as if with a Zippo
lighter. Like
every White House since Nixon's, the Bush Administration
continues the
collective, bipartisan hallucination that Uncle Sam's heavy
hand can
crush the desire of millions of Americans to alter their states
of
consciousness. Fortunately, some judges, states and cities have
soured
on the costly and cruel War on Drugs as it grinds through its
30th
futile year.
It is neither compassionate nor conservative for the
Bush Administration
to use government force to stop cancer and AIDS
sufferers, among others,
from smoking marijuana to make their final days on
Earth less
excruciating. The U.S. Supreme Court evidently agrees. On October
14,
the Supremes let stand a Ninth Circuit Court decision blocking
federal
efforts to yank the prescription-writing licenses of doctors
who
recommend medical marijuana to patients. This was a huge victory for
the
First Amendment, medical privacy and the freedom of diseased
Americans
to ease their pain while leaving others
untouched.
percent. I-75 instructs
local police and prosecutors to make adult
marijuana possession their lowest
priority. Seattle's citizens decided
to focus their limited resources on
legitimate public needs, such as
catching murderers, foiling rapists and
preventing terrorists from, say,
toppling the landmark Space Needle.
A
recent Drug Policy Alliance (drugpolicy.org) study found that between
1996
and 2000, voters endorsed 17 of 19 statewide ballot measures to
approve
medical marijuana, protect civil liberties, treat rather than
imprison
non-violent addicts and limit civil-asset forfeiture. From 1996
to 2002, 46
states passed some 150 such enlightened,
fiscally-responsible drug-law
reforms.
"The War on Drugs may well be the most wasteful use of
government
resources today," said Don Murphy, a DPA spokesman and former
Republican
not alone in
embracing more pragmatic approaches."
Even Drug Czar John Walters may see
this issue slipping from his iron
fist. While campaigning against I-75 on
September 10,
reported, Walters could have preached zero tolerance. Instead, he
said,
"The real issue is should we legalize marijuana." He added, "Let's
have
a debate about that."
In a September 17 letter to Walters, Robert
Kampia, Executive Director
of the Marijuana Policy Project
(MarijuanaPolicy.org), wrote: "It's time
to have that debate, so I am pleased
to accept your invitation."
An honest, national debate on the War on
Drugs in general - - and its
uniquely idiotic marijuanaphobia in particular -
- would be a welcome
development in the sad history of this national
fiasco.