New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he wants to end the war on drugs, while other GOP presidential hopefuls Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Texas Gov. Rick Perry want to stop federal enforcement of marijuana laws and let the states decide what to do about it.
Just reducing the penalties for possession in Texas would be a good start and Perry seems to favor that. Politicians know vote getters when they see them, so that’s a hopeful sign. The drug war, after all, is largely a war on marijuana and most of the people busted, jailed, convicted and imprisoned got there for marijuana use.
I doubt we’d ever see marijuana legalized for adult use in Texas, as it has been in Washington and Colorado, but then I didn’t expect it to happen there. Or anywhere, really.
Would Christie really end the failed drug war, which mainly hits minorities and the poor (and is increasing militarization of the police) if he was elected president? Hard to say. Pols lie so often. But just saying he wants to do it is a big deal. He obviously sees it as a viable issue, or he wouldn’t stick his neck out. The times they do seem to be changing.
UPDATE: Of course it doesn’t help that Holder’s “justice” department is investigating Christie’s administration. Probably has more to do with CC’s presidential possibilities versus the Democrats than his opposition to the drug war. But, with Wormtongue, it’s smart to be paranoid.
MORE: The former leader of the Choom Gang, meanwhile, indicates his “justice” department will continue to go easy on marijuana use in Washington and Colorado because “we don’t have . . . the resources to police whether somebody is smoking a joint on a corner.” Curious remark, actually. They sure do have the resources (i.e. local law enforcement) in states where it remains illegal, as they have proved many times.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 