NO POT-SMOKING POLICE

The Police Merit Board voted 4-2 the other day to rescind the firing of
Metro Louisville Police Officer Michael Thompson, who had failed a random
drug test and admitted smoking marijuana off duty.

The board's recommended 27-day suspension is too light. Officer Thompson,
after all, didn't just violate his department's zero tolerance policy. He
broke the law.

Yes, many believe that smoking pot is harmless, or say that marijuana's
medicinal value is such that the drug should be legalized. And maybe one
day it will be.

But for now, selling, buying and smoking marijuana is against the law.
Moreover, Louisville is reeling from drug-related violence, and the last
thing we need in battling this scourge is to have the effectiveness of our
police compromised by officers who engage in the same illegal behavior for
which other citizens are arrested.

A double standard is unfair and intolerable. That's why Police Chief Robert
White is right to appeal the Merit Board's recommendation in circuit court
and to keep Officer Thompson off the force unless a judge orders that he be
reinstated.

"There's no room for drugs in policing," Chief White said. That's right.
And for the sake of the police department's credibility and morale, Chief
White is doing what has to be done.