legalize it?

(far be it from me to criticize it...) still, to hear jim gray yesterday on the radio, a judge from the sacred bastion of right wing values that is orange county, california, advocating for the legalization of marijuana and other drugs, was surprising, to say the least, (and a bit refreshing.)

i think it is probably a bad idea to criminalize consensual crimes, (crimes for which the only victim is the self.) it clogs up our courts and prisons. (we incarcerate at a higher rate than any country on earth.) it does not address the social ill nor does incarceration seek to rehabilitate. in fact, the current environment encourages recidivism. moreover, it is not as if there have not been bold experiments in alternative methods of dealing with drug use and addiction. switzerland has recently legalized heroin for prescribed use, based on some encouraging results from long term studies. in holland where marijuana is legalized and controlled, the rate of use is lower than here in the united states. this article does a pretty good job of summing up human nature as it relates to drug use and includes a great graph on the relative harm of all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.



well, judge jim gray has written a book, why our drug laws have failed and what we can do about it, which serves to indict the war on drugs and the entire mentality represented by that phrase, (which in retrospect seems somehow worse than naive.) in fact, the judge seems to be quite the renaissance man as he has also penned another book about being a judge, a play, and a how-to book for young people to maximize their lives. it seems likely judge jim gray may have his sights set on higher office sometime in the future and based on his primary issues as listed on his website, i am interested in hearing more from such a progressive candidate. (that page lists 13 issues well worth clicking on to give a quick read-through.) one thing the judge points out is that when alcohol was legalized after prohibition, crime dropped by 20%. he expects the same thing would happen today.

what we are doing today clearly is not working. i have not read judge jim gray's book yet but it seems worth the time.