THE DRUG WAR IN THE U.S.

The Supreme Court should take a cue from the nonsensical banner that
inspired their decision to limit student free speech. It might do
them some good to take a few bong hits for Jesus.

Before sacrificing more civil liberties at the altar of the drug war,
they should ask themselves, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus
persecute, incarcerate and deny forgiveness to nonviolent drug
offenders? Zero tolerance is decidedly un-Christian.

Morally, the drug war is wrong. On a practical level, the drug war is
an abject failure. There were 786,545 marijuana arrests in 2005, the
vast majority for simple possession.

Thanks to the war on some drugs, the Constitution is increasingly
irrelevant and the land of the free now has the highest incarceration
rate in the world. This is not a policy worthy of Constitutional
exemptions. The drug war has failed to keep drugs out of prisons,
much less schools. The Supreme Court should protect civil liberties,
not perpetuate drug war failure.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.