Drug Reform Through the Back Door
Last night I attended a fundraiser for a novel political cause here in Seattle. Sponsored by SensibleSeattle and the ACLU, the guest speaker was locally-based travel writer and TV show host Rick Steves (Europe Through the Back Door and others), and the goal was to pass local initiative I-75, which would direct Seattle police and prosecutors to make enforcement of marijuana laws for adults the lowest priority.
Anyone familiar with both the science and the civics of drug policy in the United States needs no explanation for why reform is necessary. The current efforts against drugs – particularly harmless substances like pot – are cruel, wasteful of scarce resources, and ineffective at best (counterproductive at worst). Unfortunately, because of the Washington state constitution and the attitude of federal authorities, passing an outright repeal of marijuana criminalization statutes in city law would have no effect, so the next best thing is to blunt the enforcement of the existing law, at least by city authorities.
Anyone who has ever seen the wide-eyed and bushy-tailed Rick Steves cavort around the ruins of Troy or the Bangkok floating market in one of his public TV travel specials might think he was an odd choice of spokesman for this particular cause. Sure, there’s a bit of the hippy in him, but it’s usually buried under the completely harmless trappings of a middle-aged, middle-brow PBS personality, complete with sportcoat and comfy sweater.
And I guess that’s the point. Get Rick talking about pot and he becomes, well, positively misty-eyed. In his riveting 45-minute talk at last night’s reception, he presented a devastating critique of our current drug laws, what a ridiculous spectacle they present to Europeans and others who have much more sensible and effective strategies toward the same issues, and how the voters of Seattle can set an example to the rest of the country in pointing the way toward sanity.
It remains to be seen if even the far-left enclave that turns out 15,000 people to see Howard Dean will vote to add a whole new meaning to the nickname “Emerald City.” But it was great to see some movement in that direction, backed by genuine organizational commitment, resources and the efforts of a few courageous individuals willing to risk their own prosperity and reputations to speak out against injustice.
10:00:55 AM 
|
