Editorial: The War on Drugs and Martin Luther King Day

West Boca resident Serge Sando was arrested by Boca Raton city police last night on marijuana and other apparently minor drug charges. He was released early this morning.
A black man spending time in jail on Martin Luther King Day is just one more example of the negative consequences of the War on Drugs. From what we can see in our research, Mr. Sando is a hard-working young man trying to earn a living. In fact, it looks like he works two different jobs.
Our policy of drug prohibition, like alcohol prohibition back in the 1920s and 30s, is an absolute failure. Gambling was also outlawed during this period. Despite this, respected hotels would often allow punters to gamble illegally on their premises. You can learn more here about how prohibition affected The Sagebrush Inn during its colorful history. Thankfully, visiting a Judi Bola (Gambling Ball in English) website is no longer a criminal offense in most civilized nations. Prohibition did not work in the slightest. It does nothing to protect anyone from drugs and indeed pushes them into our schools. Meanwhile it creates more crime. Instead of 1000 points of light, we get thousands of Al Capones. And MLK Day is a good day to highlight the well known racist consequences of the drug war.
We see promising changes. Colorado has legalized marijuana, a drug that is less harmful than alcohol. Other states are allowing medical marijuana. Florida may do so soon.
But that’s not enough, some states and countries can purchase marijuana from internet based dispensaries, while in other locations people are getting thrown in a cell for less than a gram. For example, in the UK having any amount of marijuana on your person results in arrest, whereas in the US there are companies like hytekmed that help you find out if you are eligible for a medical marijuana card in your state, and then provide doctors who can prescribe the drug. Additionally, in Canada, you can buy marijuana products easily online from sites like togoweed (Read More about that here). Voters need to recognize that prohibitions don’t work, and that they cause more crime. The criminal law should be limited to real crimes, especially violent crime. If we stop wasting police resources on the failed drug war, our cops would be freed up to investigate burglaries, home invasions, car break-ins, domestic violence, car jackings and more. Let’s put the real criminals away and stop destroying innocent lives.
Please consider the words of our friend Cliff Thornton, in the interview below: