Willie Nelson Is Always On La Migra's Mind.

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Aren't Two Wars Enough?

It seems as though every time I post about the unwinnable War on Drugs I start by writing that I've posted previously about the unwinnable War on Drugs.

This post is related to the unwinnable War on Drugs.

From Time:

Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale — a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity — milk and cream — which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.

There's more here and here.

Withdrawal Symptoms.

I've blogged about the ludicrous money pit that is the War on Drugs previously.

Yesterday, I saw where retired Seattle police chief Norm Stamper agreed:

From HuffPo: 

If it accomplished nothing else, the recent rumpus over a gold-plated athlete's bong hit brings into sharp relief the need for a national, rational gut-check about America's drug policy.

But when?

We are, after all, a little busy at the moment. Struggling to hold onto our jobs, our homes, our automobiles. Our 401ks. Our children's lunch and college money. At the moment, forty-six million Americans without health insurance pray to make it through another day without stepping in front of a bus or being laid low by catastrophic illness. Energy needs and the environment vie unendingly for our attention. Terrorism, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may have been reduced, temporarily, to background noise, the result of primal economic fears, but national security concerns still loom large.

So, what's so urgent about drug policy reform?  

Find out more here and here.