Pubdate: Fri, 17 Aug 2007
Source: Taos Daily Horse Fly (NM)
Copyright: 2007 Horse Fly
Contact:  http://www.taosdaily.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.main
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4539
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n877/a07.html
Author: Peter Christopher
Note: Monthly newspaper

KUDOS TO JONES

Dear Editor,

Kudos to former Deputy Chief Michael Jones in his telling missive, 
"The Policy on Drugs,"19 July 2007. The question now becomes, why do 
policy makers not listen to commissions like the one he mentions from 
Britain's Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, 
and Commerce [RSA]? There have been a dozen such commissions in the 
past century always saying the same thing. None suggest anything 
about having a Drug War. The answer is simple, too much money passes 
into the "right hands." It's always about money no matter on which 
side you stand. Drug cartels have control of the most precious 
farming and processing land in the world, and law enforcement has 
control of our tax dollars and of course, some law enforcement are on 
the side of the cartels. Drug War is the main reason law enforcement 
does not have the respect of all citizens.

Deputy Chief Jones also makes a very good point about the 
disenfranchisement of drug felons. In most states they cannot vote 
nor serve on a jury. This process has reform stagnated while 
maintaining the status quo. What if more informed juries refused to 
convict? Certainly, it is not until our elected fear loss of power at 
the voting booth that this situation will change. Issues like medical 
marijuana (pot for the sick and dying) have become a states rights 
issue, the kind supposedly held sacred by our Commander in Chief 
(before election). Even in states where voters and legislatures have 
passed protection laws, patients are being handed over for federal 
prosecution. Unconscionable! How can such disparity exist? Such is 
the state of our drug policy. Time to change this crazy policy or 
send our federal policymakers home.

Peter Christopher

Hurdle Mills, NC
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman