Supreme Court goes to extremes

Re: "Court 1-1 on Free Speech Decisions," June 28

The Supreme Court should take a cue from the nonsensical banner that
inspired their recent decision limiting student free speech. It might
do them some good to take a few bong hits for Jesus. Before
sacrificing any 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 a complete failure.

There were 786,545 marijuana arrests in 2005, the vast majority for
simple possession. America is one of the few Western countries that
punishes citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis, yet lifetime use
of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country. Thanks
to the war on some drugs, the land of the free now has the highest
incarceration rate in the world. Yet the drug war has failed to keep
drugs out of prisons, much less schools. This is not a policy worthy
of Constitutional exemptions.

The Supreme Court should prioritize protecting civil liberties over
perpetuating the drug war.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.csdp.org

Washington, DC