Washington Post, 16 Apr 2012 – I applaud George F. Will for raising all the right questions about the efficacy of our nation’s drug prohibitionist policies [“The benefits of legalizing drugs,’ ” op-ed, April 12]. Reasonable people can disagree about whether drugs should be legalized, and when it comes to marijuana, polls reveal that our country is evenly divided. What is not reasonable, however, is to keep in place our 25-year-old punishment scheme for drug crimes. Passed in the mid-1980s, mandatory minimum sentencing laws continue to send first-time and low-level drug offenders to prison for excessive terms. Even those who continue to support drug prohibition (and prison terms for the worst offenders) should be able to see the wisdom of scaling back these financially and socially costly laws.
posted on April 16, 2012 by
