I know, I know...this one gets filed under "Hypocritical Public Figure Comes
Out Against Injustice...But Only After Retirement/Quitting".
Due in large part to his activity in helping fund the medical marijuana movement in the United States, our federal government went after a Canadian entrepreneur named Marc Emery, made a political example out of him a la Don Siegelman, and sentenced Mr. Emery to five years in the pen for a 'crime' that is punishable by a fine in his home country of Canada. Meanwhile, quite a few businesses continue to do the same thing that Mr. Emery did- which is sell cannabis seeds via mail order catalog.
The federal prosecutor in Emery's case practically turned the case into a witch hunt. The DEA crowed that they shut down a DFH with a liberal political agenda. Until now....
In a Seattle Times op-ed Saturday, former US Attorney for the Western District of Washington John McKay defected to the other side. As the federal prosecutor in Seattle, McKay oversaw the indictment and prosecution of Canadian marijuana seed seller and pot advocate Marc Emery, who now sits in an American federal detention facility awaiting the formal handing down of a five-year prison sentence later this month.
But while he thinks Emery and most pot-smokers are "idiots," McKay has come to see the futility of continuing to enforce marijuana prohibition. "As Emery's prosecutor and a former federal law-enforcement official, however, I'm not afraid to say out loud what most of my former colleagues know is true: Our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong and should be changed through the legislative process to better protect the public safety," he wrote.
Marijuana prohibition "has utterly failed," McKay concluded. "The demand for marijuana in this country has for decades outpaced the ability of law enforcement to eliminate it"...
What else does the former drug warrior have to say, now that he no longer collects a hefty paycheck for enforcing our idiotic pot laws?
"So the policy is wrong, the law has failed, the public is endangered, no one in law enforcement is talking about it and precious few policymakers will honestly face the soft-on-crime sound bite in their next elections. What should be done?" McKay asks.
From the Seattle Op-Ed, a historical bit of truth:
Second, let's talk about marijuana policy responsibly and with an eye toward sound science, not myth. We can start by acknowledging that our 1930s-era marijuana prohibition was overkill from the beginning and should be decoupled from any debate about "legalizing drugs." We should study and disclose the findings of the real health risks of prolonged use, including its influence and effect on juveniles.
That is quite true, even if it's being written by a hypocritical former prosecutor. Better late than never, some have said.
In other news, L.E.A.P (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) spoke out in favor of California's Prop 19 to Re-Legalize Cannabis in Los Angeles yesterday. http://www.latimes.com/...
"At each step of my law enforcement career - from beat officer up to chief of police in two major American cities - I saw the futility of our marijuana prohibition laws," said Joseph McNamara, former police chief in San Jose and Kansas City, MO, now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "But our marijuana laws are much worse than ineffective: they waste valuable police resources and also create a lucrative black market that funds cartels and criminal gangs with billions of tax-free dollars."
Former LAPD sergeant and Los Angeles County deputy district attorney William John Cox, added, "This November, Californians finally have a chance to flip the equation and put drug cartels out of business, while restoring public respect for the criminal laws and their enforcement by passing Proposition 19 to control and regulate marijuana."
Also speaking at the press conferences will be current Oakland city attorney John Russo, former LAPD deputy police chief Stephen Downing, former Oakland drug nuisance prosecutor James Anthony, retired Orange County Superior Court judge Jim Gray, former Torrance Police Department beat officer and drug identification expert Kyle Kazan, former Wheatland, CA police officer Nate Bradley, and others.
In the sign-on letter being released at the press conferences, dozens of law enforcers outline their reasons for supporting Proposition 19, detailing how it will:
* Put our police priorities where they belong, by ending the arrests of non-violent cannabis consumers, and enabling police to focus instead on preventing violent crime
* Cut off funding to violent gangs and drug cartels, who generate the majority of their revenue from illegal marijuana sales
* Protect the lives of police officers now at risk in the "drug war" line of fire
* Reduce marijuana access to children by instituting strict age-limits and public safety controls
* Restore mutual respect and good relations between law enforcement and communities bearing the brunt of the current marijuana laws