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U.S. | Drug War | Police State and PrisonsCiting Failed War on Drugs, Former Seattle Police Chief Calls For Legalization of Marijuana and All Drugs
Monday, March 30, 2009 :Norm Stamper is a 34-year police officer who retired as Seattle's chief of police in 2000. He now supports the legalization of marijuana and an advisory board member of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and a speaker for the 10,000 member Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. With the Obama administration’s increasing focus on drug-related violence in Mexico, calls to rethink how the US has fought the so-called “war on drugs” are growing louder. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged last week that “what we’ve been doing has not worked.” But advocates of legalizing and regulating marijuana were dealt a blow when President Obama laughed off their question during the President’s first live internet town hall on Thursday.
My next guest knows what its like to be on the frontlines of fighting the war on drugs in this country and doesn’t think marijuana is a laughing matter. Norm Stamper is a 34-year police officer who retired as Seattle’s chief of police in 2000. His successor Gil Kerlikowske has just been nominated to be President Obama’s drug czar. But Norm Stamper supports legalization. He is an advisory board member of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and a speaker for the 10,000 member Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Norm Stamper is the author of “Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing” and he joins us now via video stream. Norm Stamper, Former Seattle Police Chief. He is an advisory board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He is the author of “Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing.” Related LinksLISTEN ONLINE
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Monday Mar 30th, 2009 7:44 PM
I respect Obama he is a talented politician, President Obama seems to posse’s insightful, reasonable judgment on many issues, although in the case of marijuana prohibition laws I find Obama’s choice to answer with mocking humor to be lacking. Smoking marijuana is an easy thing to laugh about, it seems there is something about being stoned that brings a smile to people’s faces, however marijuana prohibition is not a joke. We should not be making jokes as millions of Americans are arrested for being caught on the wrong side of moral politicking, we should not laugh as we spend over 30 billion dollars a year going after Americans for smoking weed, we should not giggle and poke fun as we watch billions of dollars in tax revenue slip through our fingers each year, and should we not be jolly as thousands of people are murdered by cartels profiting from America’s moral hypocrisy. I believe there are profound latent consequences in prohibition that are not even factored in to our assessments of the effects of illegality, such as how we view the rule of law and the role of law enforcement in the community, the divisiveness between users and non users, the stigma of mental shock of incarceration. I say pot prohibition is no joke it has real costs paid for in real lives. Freedom is achieved in a country by placing responsibility in the hands of the citizen and not by the state legally enforcing morality.
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