San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders, who is usually a really annoying right-wing snotrag, does okay on a few issues. To wit:
The failed war on pot users
IN 2004, law enforcement officials arrested 771,605 people for marijuana violations, according to federal statistics. Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project was so alarmed he sent out a press release noting that there were more arrests for marijuana charges than all violent crimes combined. The number of arrests for possession alone was 684,319.
Said Mirken of the 771,605 statistic: “This is, in fact, an all-time record. This number of arrests is the equivalent of arresting every man, woman and child in San Francisco.” Some 40 percent of Americans say they have used marijuana or hashish in their lifetime, and 34 percent of high-school seniors say they have used marijuana in the last year — even though the last decade has seen a huge spike in marijuana arrests, according to federal research. When the number of marijuana arrests exceeds the population of some states, the country should be asking: Does it make sense to keep millions of otherwise-law-abiding citizens on the dark side of the law?
Oh my God… for all these years, I’ve been trying to put my finger on an apt description of Chron columnist Debra Saunders. But “really annoying right-wing snotrag” just nails it on the head. Well said, David.