Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Il buon senso fa un altro passo avanti

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/04/judge-its-high-time-to-legalize-pot/
 : A 
judge and Vietnam veteran from Orange County, California is on a publicity 
crusade to get marijuana legalized. From NBC San Diego: "Jim Gray is a 
Vietnam combat veteran who spent 25 years on Orange County's 'bench'. He's 
riled a lot of anti-drug crusaders with his critiques of America's war on 
narcotics. In his view, it's 'high time' -- so to speak -- for another 
approach to marijuana. 'We would make marijuana less available for our 
children than it is today,' Gray said.
'Why is that? Because alcohol is controlled by the government, and illegal 
drugs are controlled by drug dealers, and they don't ask for ID. So what's 
not to like?' Reading that article reminded me of a story I wrote up a 
couple years ago when I still worked the weekly newspaper circuit in one of 
the darkest red parts of Texas: the notoriously gerrymandered Denton County. 
After the Denton County Bar Association awarded Judge Jake Collier their 
"Best Judge" award in 2007, I called to solicit his views on the state of 
justice in the county. He instead regaled me with tales of the failed drug 
war and his thinking on needed reforms.From The News Connection 'My 
experience is the War on Drugs that has been waged by America for all these 
years is an absolute, total disaster . A failure,' he said. 'We're putting 
people in jail for possession, and we seldom if ever really run across a 
dealer. I don't think, since I've been in office, we have not had more than 
four or five dealers come through my court.' Judge Collier said he looks at 
countries such as England and the Netherlands as having a more intelligent 
approach to substance abuse, especially pertaining to the dangerous and 
addictive drug heroin. '[Regulation and control] seems to work in countries 
that regulate the dangerous drugs,' said Judge Collier. 'They do not have 
the criminal problem with heroin that the Untied States has. I believe Texas 
is one of just four or five states that do not have a free needle exchange 
program. In almost every other state, if someone is going to shoot up, they 
can get a clean needle. Now, we know they're going to shoot up, and nothing 
we've ever done has made a bit of difference with that, but at least we're 
going to help prevent a disease such as AIDS. But Texas doesn't do that. We're 
hell bent; by God, that's a crime and we ain't gonna help you do it. 'As for 
America's number one cash crop, Judge Collier does even go as far as batting 
an eye at marijuana. 'Marijuana is well on its way, even in the state of 
Texas, to not being much of a crime," he said. "I don't hear marijuana 
cases. The only marijuana cases I hear is when somebody has four ounces or 
more. In other words, they've already reduced possession of a couple of 
joints to the level of a throw-away misdemeanor. I would not be surprised to 
see it be treated more like a parking violation, where you'd have to pay a 
fine for being caught with it in public.' Collier still sits on the bench."

 Vietnam combat veteran who spent
tu questa cosa la sapevi?
Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws?
(Hint: It's not the Netherlands.)
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

 
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
No, non lo sapevo: grazie. Spesso, siamo pi� "vicini" agli (e informati 
sugli) USA che non ai nostri concittadini di continente. Cmq bene, un'altra 
prova che la decriminalizzazione funziona: del resto, la logica non mente 
mai.
Namib 


Non lo sapevo, grazie
PP