Tag: war on drugs
“The dual mission of the Manhattan D.A.’s office is a safer New York and a more equal justice system,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. “The ongoing arrest and criminal prosecution of predominantly black and brown New Yorkers for smoking marijuana serves neither of these goals.”
You would start by examining where a lot of gun violence takes place. I know: this is a breathtaking assumption. It makes the mind reel. In the history of our species, no one has ever suggested a solution for a problem based on where the problem is located. But there’s a first time for everything.
The war on drugs has done too much damage to too many people already.
As of February 24, the first phase of Alaska’s voter-approved Measure 2 marijuana legalization goes into effect. Beginning now, people 21 and over can legally possess up to an ounce of weed and grow up to six plants in their home.
An Oregon farmer has received the first permit to legally grow industrial hemp that has been issued by state regulators for over 75 years.
NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced that possession of 25 grams or less of cannabis would no longer be an arrestable offense. As marijuana arrests become more lenient, and the acceptance of cannabis possession frees up resources for other pursuits for law-enforcement personnel, hopefully the state of New York will follow with its own laws accepting cannabis.
The American people are now overwhelmingly opposed to more war in Ukraine, Syria, Iran and elsewhere. Support for a war against Syria is 500 percent less than for the Iraq war. Support even for the Afghanistan war has collapsed. In fact, most Americans are now strongly opposed to intervention in any Arab country. In addition, a new Pew poll also shows that the American people are sick of the war on drugs, noting that a broad majority of Americans are ready to significantly reduce the role of the criminal justice system in dealing with people who use drugs.
