Drug Warrior No More

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:



Drug Warrior No More
Seattle’s ex-police chief now fights to end the war on drugs.

by Norm Stamper
posted Jun 03, 2011


It’s not hard to explain why I morphed from drug warrior to drug policy reformer. For more than three decades, I watched the drug war destroy values that, as a cop, I swore to uphold. I observed unnecessary suffering, justice gone wrong, and widespread corruption within policing. I witnessed the physical deterioration of whole neighborhoods—streets, homes, and schools made less safe.

And I saw myself and fellow police officers cast as the “bad guys” in the enforcement of drug laws.

In the late 1960s, I worked alongside one of the most dangerous cops I would ever meet. He didn’t beat people, didn’t even call them names. In fact, he was one of the most soft-spoken, decent cops you’d ever want to encounter. Unless he thought you were holding.

In which case he would find—or invent—cause to rip your car apart, invade your pants pockets or purse, or storm your dorm in quest of a leaf, stem, or seed that would justify a drug bust. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/beyond-prisons/drug-warrier-no-more

[midnight]

1. One more awakened soul discovers the nonsense being sold as safety is anything but.....

[provis99]

2. America has too many puritans.

They basically oppose drugs because they believe people are having "fun" with them, and they are opposed to fun.

The puritan's idea of fun is either mortifying themselves in church, or causing pain for other people.