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Christopher Ingraham writes in the Washington Post that many countries are taking a close look at what's happening in Colorado and Washington state to learn lessons that can be applied to their own situations and so far, the news coming out of Colorado and Washington is overwhelmingly positive. Dire consequences predicted by reform opponents have failed to materialize. If anything, societal and economic indicators are moving in a positive direction post-legalization. Colorado marijuana tax revenues for fiscal year 2014-2015 are on track to surpass projections.
Lisa Sanchez, a program manager at México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, a Mexican non-profit devoted to promoting "security, legality and justice", underscored how legalization efforts in the U.S. are having powerful ripple effects across the globe: events in Colorado and Washington have "created political space for Latin American countries to have a real debate [about drug policy]". She noted that motivations for reform in Latin America are somewhat different than U.S. motivations - one main driver is a need to address the epidemic of violence on those countries that is fuelled directly by prohibitionist drug war policies. Mexico's president has given signs he's open to changes in that country's marijuana laws to help combat cartel violence. Sandeep Chawla, former deputy director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, notes that one of the main obstacles to meaningful reform is layers of entrenched drug control bureaucracies at the international and national levels - just in the U.S., think of the DEA, ONDCP and NIDA, among others - for whom a relaxation of drug control laws represents an undermining of their reason for existence: "if you create a bureaucracy to solve a particular problem, when the problem is solved that bureaucracy is out of a job".
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 21 2014, @07:37AM
Not a sole principal, but an important one, is that a law should not make illegal an activity that often leads to some type of crime, since that other crime is already illegal.
Say what?
So because murder is already against the law, its unnecessary to make a law against pointing a gun at your head and threatening to shoot you?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 21 2014, @10:12AM
So because murder is already against the law, its unnecessary to make a law against pointing a gun at your head and threatening to shoot you?
I think the grandparent point is that buying the gun shouldn't be made illegal, which makes sense.
Also, that walking up to someone shouldn't be illegal and shouting at someone shouldn't be illegal either. But in the very specific combination you give, yeah that's illegal.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday October 21 2014, @01:10PM
However, driving a blinged-up BMW to the place where you intend to perform this assault should not be a crime, even if it's a show of poor taste.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday October 21 2014, @08:30PM
Some would say that subjecting a blinged up BMW to gunfire is Good Taste.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.