There is a strong parallel between what is happening on our southern border with the large numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing or attempting to cross into our country and what happened at the beginning of World War II. Then Jewish parents in Germany sent their children to England to protect them from the Nazis. Today Central American parents are sending their children to our country to protect them from the violence of drug gangs. It took a huge world effort to destroy the Nazis. However, only the United States can reduce the violence caused by these drug gangs by ending our failed war on drugs and controlling the distribution of all drugs. Note what is happening with marijuana in Colorado and Washington. [continues 694 words]
At the end of my Sept. 7 column, I asked you to respond to me about any area of importance to you, and I would show to your satisfaction how it was made worse by marijuana prohibition. So many of you took me up on my offer that I want to share my answers. So here goes: Under our curent system, marijuana is the largest cash crop in California - No. 2 is grapes. But when a product like marijuana is made illegal, it is pushed underground. So these are some of the obvious and not so obvious results: [continues 637 words]
With the recent statement by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. that the federal government will not prosecute people for marijuana offenses as long as they are acting within the laws of their states, it is simply a question of time before the entire "war on drugs" is over. In fact, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is now in sight. This is not really a victory for those who want to use marijuana as much as it is a victory for liberty. The government should hold people responsible for their actions, but not for what they, as adults, put into their bodies. [continues 887 words]
Virtually all of us in the drug-policy and prison-sentencing reform movements applaud U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s comments Aug. 12 at the American Bar Assn. meeting in San Francisco. This was the first time within memory that a high-ranking federal official has stated the obvious: that we have far too many people in prison in the United States and should rethink our sentencing laws. As this column has mentioned several times, the United States has 5% of the world's population but 25% of its prisoners. Former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia was quoted on the front page of Parade Magazine as saying, in reference to these statistics: "Either we are the most evil people in the world, or we are doing something wrong." [continues 1013 words]
March 3, 2012 | 6:58 p.m. Editor's note: Judge James P. Gray (Ret.) was a speaker Feb. 16 at the closing banquet of an international forum titled "Drugs Unbalanced - After a Century of Their Prohibition." The forum was sponsored by Mexico United Against Delinquency, and was held at the Anthropological Museum in Mexico City. The following is a summary of his comments. As we part company, I wanted to use my time to present a final summary of this forum. But for reasons I will discuss, that cannot be done completely at this time. [continues 783 words]
New Federal Effort Against Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Will Fail As Have All Other Efforts at Prohibition. The four U.S. attorneys in California announced last week yet another federal marijuana program, with this one aimed at closing down medical marijuana dispensaries. Not only will this program be as hopeless as its predecessors, it is yet another continuing example of the arrogance, hypocrisy and bullying of the federal government in this area. There is no question that some medical marijuana dispensaries are acting outside of California law, as established by Proposition 215 and its progeny. But the answer is for those involved to be prosecuted by the state of California, not the feds. [continues 688 words]
I have been speaking out for more than 19 years against our nation's policy of drug prohibition, but recently I encountered a view from Mexico that I had not heard before. It was titled "Drug Trafficker's Paradise," and was written by Francisco Martin Moreno in a column published on the Internet. Here is a summary of the questions he asked and what he wrote. Do you know the name of a single American drug kingpin of our times? I am, of course, not referring to the infamous "gangsters" of the Prohibition era in the United States, such as Capone, Dillinger and Frank Nitti (among so many underworld characters) who found in the United States the fertile ground necessary to develop and reach international "prestige." [continues 831 words]
On Sept. 1 you will have a chance to help us make history. On this date there will be an event to support the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative that will be on the November 2012 ballot. Please join us. The event will be hosted by Richard Moriarty at his Newport Beach Vineyards and Winery, 2128 Mesa Drive, Newport Beach, which overlooks the Back Bay from behind the Newport Beach Golf Course. This truly interesting winery isn't open to the public, and doesn't give public tastings, but Richard is opening his doors for us because he believes in this cause. [continues 863 words]
In my public discussions about our nation's failed and hopeless policy of marijuana prohibition, I often say that Proposition 19 actually won the election last November, but we will simply be delaying implementation for two years. I say that for two reasons. First, Proposition 19 was so successful in legitimizing the discussion about the failure of marijuana prohibition both statewide and nationwide, and even worldwide, that people for the first time have actually started to think seriously about the issue. And that is really all we need, because what we are doing today simply doesn't make sense. [continues 765 words]
After the recent election was over, one of my friends confided to me that in the final analysis that he was unable to vote in favor of Proposition 19, which would have treated marijuana like alcohol for adults. The reason was that marijuana is harmful, especially to children, and if the initiative passed it would be yet one more compromise and retreat away from our value system. I really understand his concerns. Almost everywhere we look today, we seem to be losing ground in what is healthy about our way of life. The examples are familiar to us all, such as the managers of the city of Bell and other cities ostensibly manipulating the finances so as to pay themselves unconscionable salaries and benefits, professional baseball players taking steroids, young people valuing their membership in juvenile gangs more than obtaining an education, and many more. So now we "legalize" marijuana, thus allowing additional moral backsliding and decay? For many people, this was simply too much, and they registered their protest at the polls. [continues 228 words]
It is time for us to be realistic and manage the trade and usage of marijuana instead of simply moralizing about it. The honest facts are that today marijuana is the largest cash crop in California (No. 2 is grapes); with illegal dealers there are no controls whatsoever on quality, quantity, age restrictions, price or place of sale; and most of the big money goes to groups like the Mexican drug cartels, juvenile gangs and other thugs, and they don't pay taxes on any of it. [continues 908 words]
News flash! On June 22, the Chicago Sun-Times published an editorial recommending a radical change in our nation's drug policy. The editorial began by saying: "When will we accept that America's war on drugs is over - we lost - and it's time to get real about our drug laws?" Then the editorial continued: "Medical marijuana should be legalized. Pot more generally should be decriminalized. And the carnage in our streets and in Mexico begs that we rethink our nation's approach to the sale and use of more serious drugs as well." [continues 941 words]
As a retired Orange County judge, I've been on the front lines of the drug war for three decades, and I know from experience that the current approach is simply not working. Our marijuana policy must change in order to achieve the following goals: . Reduce marijuana consumption by children. . Stop or reduce the violence that accompanies the growing and distribution of marijuana. . Stop or reduce the corruption that accompanies the growing and distribution of marijuana. . Stop or reduce crime both by people trying to get money to purchase marijuana and by those under its influence. [continues 365 words]
Last weekend I spoke at a drug policy conference at the University of Texas at El Paso. It was put together in response to a resolution adopted last January by the El Paso City Council that urged the support of "an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition on narcotics." This resolution was in turn adopted as a result of the enormous and continuing violence among warring drug cartels across the Rio Grande River from El Paso in Juarez, Mexico. [continues 1311 words]
For the past 17 years, I have, as a sitting judge, been trying to call everyone's attention to the failures of our nation's policy of drug prohibition. In fact, the truth is that we are "taking it on the chin" in every way imaginable, such that we literally couldn't pursue a worse policy if we tried. But even I was not aware of the additional harm that is being caused by this failed and hopeless policy, as represented by the huge forest fire that has been burning east of Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County. [continues 858 words]
I was gratified to see that the editorial board of the Daily Pilot endorsed Proposition 5, which is the Non-Violent Offender's Rehabilitation Act, with the headline "Prison is for drug dealers, not customers." They are right, and I commend them for their insight and sophistication. As I have said in previous columns, it makes as much sense to me to put the gifted actor Robert Downey Jr. in jail for his cocaine addiction, and he certainly seems to have one, as it would to have put Betty Ford in jail for her addiction to alcohol. [continues 937 words]
"Hemp" is the name that is commonly used for the industrial (non-drug) usage of the cannabis plant, otherwise known as marijuana. The use of cannabis for hemp products goes back thousands of years, to the degree that the ancient Greek word for "canvas" was the same word as "cannabis." In addition, hemp was also found in pottery shards that were used more than 10,000 years ago in China and Japan, and was also used in those regions for clothes, shoes, ropes and an early form of paper. [continues 1221 words]
The main purpose of the criminal justice system is to reduce crime and all of the harm and misery that accompany it. Although there simply must be negative consequences for criminal acts, as a practical matter this goal cannot be maximized by punishment alone. We also must employ the concept of "Restorative Justice." That means we must also concentrate upon rehabilitation and treatment of the offenders, as well as community healing. There is no doubt that we need prisons in our society. Unfortunately, for whatever reason some offenders see the rest of us as their natural prey, and these people present an unacceptable threat to public safety and well being. Accordingly, there can be good cause to lock up people like this for the protection of the community. In that regard, I have taken a tour of San Quentin State Prison in the San Francisco area, and I have never seen so many men that had "ball bearings for eyes." The bottom line is that I was quite happy that they were where they were. [continues 1082 words]
Recently I heard about a poll taken of high school students that asked them two questions. The first was: "What are the benefits of being a citizen of the United States of America?" The students generally responded by furnishing a long list of benefits, such as enjoying our Constitutional freedoms, entitlement to a good education and such things as clean air and water, the promise of a good job and a gratifying life. The second question was: "What are the responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States of America?" [continues 982 words]
In last week's column, we discussed why our policy of drug prohibition is not working and why it will never work. That probably was a discouraging column to read for many people. But today's column will bring you hope, because it discusses drug programs that work worldwide. The first thing to do when focusing upon programs that work is to make the same important distinctions, such as the difference between drug crime on the one hand, and drug money crime on the other. Similarly we must make distinctions between someone's use of drugs, as opposed to his or her misuse, abuse or addiction to drugs. We must also focus upon the difference between the government attempting to hold adults accountable for their actions, instead of what they put in their bodies. [continues 754 words]
