Pubdate: Fri, 22 May 2015
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Neil Steinberg

FINALLY, WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS IN DRUG WAR

Maybe we're at long last starting to win the war, but not in the way 
we had planned.

It was always crazy that you could buy a gallon of vodka at any 
grocery store, while a joint would land you in a jail. But "crazy" is 
one of the more apt adjectives describing America's- War on Drugs, a 
multi-decade, multibillion-dollar effort that in the end . . . 
assuming this is, please God, the beginning of the end . . . produced 
what? Plentiful, ever cheaper street narcotics and a prison system 
jammed with drug offenders.

More than half of the inmates in the federal prison system are there 
for drug offenses. As are nearly a quarter of those in state prisons.

True, most are there for hard drugs, which is an actual social 
problem. About 12 percent of prisoners in the state and federal 
systems are there for selling marijuana. That's still more than 
100,000 people, all for involvement with a drug that has killed . . . 
well, nobody ever.

On Thursday, the Illinois Senate took another baby step toward sanity 
by decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana. Sure, pot isn't 
healthy, and not a very productive use of your time. But if 
mind-numbing time wastes were crimes, then a whole lot of folks would 
be in Stateville on an Xbox rap.

It's uncertain whether Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign the bill, though 
as a guy already lashing out at the unions and at Chicago, he might 
decide to go with the flow, for once, and approve of a popular 
measure. Americans are tired of this war.

Anyone concerned about a nation in gridlock- and any patriotic 
American should fear that more than the Russians and ISIS put 
together-has to cheer this development, as nearly half the states, 
including Illinois, have legalized marijuana in some form. Even 
people who never smoke pot - i.e., me-have to welcome the reduced 
waste of police and judicial resources, the money saved, the eventual 
tax bonanza gained, should we follow Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and 
Washington State and allow recreational uses.

There are two ways to view this. It could be seen as a victory for 
drug culture, for those who want a bit of impairment to help their 
lives slide by. Or it could be seen as a victory for good government, 
for allowing American citizens their supposed liberty to do as they 
please, to indulge in a recreation that harms no one. Maybe we're at 
along last starting to win the war, but not in the way we had 
planned. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom