edgarshade
Bluelighter
Philadelphia Enquirer
Posted on Sun, Oct. 3, 2010
Neill Franklin
With comments
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20101003_Only_under_legalization_can_we_control_drug_use.html
'is the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; he served with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department
Having spent 33 years as a police officer making my share of drug busts and sending countless "messages" to dealers and users alike, I agree with Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams that "going after the kid who's smoking a joint" will not solve our drug problems. Williams recently decided to downgrade minor marijuana-possession penalties from jail time to community service.
Sadly, though, "going after" the larger sellers and producers will not solve our drug problem, either. At least not until we get smart about how we go after them.
When my squad arrested a rapist or bank robber, we changed the world. We took the threat off the streets. When we arrested a drug dealer, at any level, we only created a job opening - quickly filled by people more desperate, ruthless, and well-armed than those they replaced.
Since President Richard Nixon declared his "War on Drugs" four decades ago, we have made about 40 million drug arrests. Yet today drugs are more potent, affordable, and far more widely used by Americans, especially our children, who report on federal surveys that it is easier for them to get illegal drugs than alcohol.'
'Our grandparents had the wisdom to end alcohol prohibition, not because they decided booze was a harmless drug - far from it. They realized that police and judicial corruption, street violence, and unnecessary deaths from an unregulated drug were the inevitable result of a prohibition on consensual "crime." They realized that legalized regulation would sharply reduce the street violence and corruption that had reached historic highs, while cutting the cartels of their day - think Al Capone - off at the knees.
They were right.'
'Cops don't have to be pawns in this endless tail-chasing game. We deserve better.
All citizens deserve better.'
Posted on Sun, Oct. 3, 2010
Neill Franklin
With comments
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20101003_Only_under_legalization_can_we_control_drug_use.html
'is the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; he served with the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department
Having spent 33 years as a police officer making my share of drug busts and sending countless "messages" to dealers and users alike, I agree with Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams that "going after the kid who's smoking a joint" will not solve our drug problems. Williams recently decided to downgrade minor marijuana-possession penalties from jail time to community service.
Sadly, though, "going after" the larger sellers and producers will not solve our drug problem, either. At least not until we get smart about how we go after them.
When my squad arrested a rapist or bank robber, we changed the world. We took the threat off the streets. When we arrested a drug dealer, at any level, we only created a job opening - quickly filled by people more desperate, ruthless, and well-armed than those they replaced.
Since President Richard Nixon declared his "War on Drugs" four decades ago, we have made about 40 million drug arrests. Yet today drugs are more potent, affordable, and far more widely used by Americans, especially our children, who report on federal surveys that it is easier for them to get illegal drugs than alcohol.'
'Our grandparents had the wisdom to end alcohol prohibition, not because they decided booze was a harmless drug - far from it. They realized that police and judicial corruption, street violence, and unnecessary deaths from an unregulated drug were the inevitable result of a prohibition on consensual "crime." They realized that legalized regulation would sharply reduce the street violence and corruption that had reached historic highs, while cutting the cartels of their day - think Al Capone - off at the knees.
They were right.'
'Cops don't have to be pawns in this endless tail-chasing game. We deserve better.
All citizens deserve better.'
