THINK 4/20 IS A WASTE OF MONEY? TRY THE WAR ON DRUGS

In the wake of another successful 4/20 smoke-out on the University of
Colorado Boulder's campus, some folks are whining about the $50,000 CU
spent on law enforcement to ensure the event, which CU unwillingly
hosts each year, remains safe. Think of everything that money could go
toward if it weren't being wasted on police keeping an eye on a bunch
potheads, they say.

Apart from traffic and crowd control, it is stupid to bring law
enforcement in to watch over the smoke-out. These are pot smokers, not
crackheads. The worst thing they'll do is eat the hell out of a bag of
Cheetos and litter.

Still, having more than 10,000 people gather in a single spot might
create traffic and crowd-control issues. Perhaps there's a role for
law enforcement there.

But when it comes to wasting money, 4/20 isn't even a blip on the
monetary radar compared to the failed war on drugs. Already this year,
the federal government has spent almost $5 billion on the war on
drugs. Last year it spent $15 billion.

If $50,000 could be spent to better benefit CU students, imagine what
we could do with the money we'd save if marijuana were
decriminalized.

This isn't popular with federal and local law enforcement, however,
because the money we wouldn't be spending would come out of their
budgets. The war on drugs is job security to everyone from the beat
cop to the correctional officer to the parole officer.

Land of the free? Not quite.