Making a case for states’ rights on marijuana
By Froma Harrop
Howard Wooldridge, a Washington lobbyist, is a former detective and forever Texan on an important mission: trying to persuade the 535 members of Congress to end the federal war on marijuana.
Liberals tend to be an easier sell than conservatives. With liberals, Wooldridge dwells on the grossly racist way the war on drugs has been prosecuted.
“The war on drugs,” he tells them, “has been the most immoral policy since slavery and Jim Crow.”
Conservatives hear a different argument, but one that Wooldridge holds every bit as dear: “Give it back to the states.”
This is a case for states' rights, a doctrine to which conservatives habitually declare their loyalty. It is based on the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that powers not delegated to the federal government are given to the states or to the people. In fact, states had jurisdiction over marijuana until 1937.
Co-founder of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Wooldridge leaves no doubt where he stands on the war on drugs. End it all. That means no more U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. No more federal SWAT teams invading suburban backyards. No more DEA agents shooting from helicopters.
Today the war on drugs costs taxpayers $12 billion a year just for the enforcement part. Meanwhile, the loss of income for the millions of ordinary Americans made nearly unemployable after being caught with a joint can't be counted.
“You could close half the prisons in the country if you ended prohibition,” Wooldridge says.
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http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150507/OPINION04/150509276
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