Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
In the wake of another successful 4/20 smoke-out on the University of Colorado Boulder's campus, some folks are whining about the $50,000 CU spent on law enforcement to ensure the event, which CU unwillingly hosts each year, remains safe. Think of everything that money could go toward if it weren't being wasted on police keeping an eye on a bunch potheads, they say.
Apart from traffic and crowd control, it is stupid to bring law enforcement in to watch over the smoke-out. These are pot smokers, not crackheads. The worst thing they'll do is eat the hell out of a bag of Cheetos and litter.
Still, having more than 10,000 people gather in a single spot might create traffic and crowd-control issues. Perhaps there's a role for law enforcement there.
But when it comes to wasting money, 4/20 isn't even a blip on the monetary radar compared to the failed war on drugs. Already this year, the federal government has spent almost $5 billion on the war on drugs. Last year it spent $15 billion.
If $50,000 could be spent to better benefit CU students, imagine what we could do with the money we'd save if marijuana were decriminalized.
This isn't popular with federal and local law enforcement, however, because the money we wouldn't be spending would come out of their budgets. The war on drugs is job security to everyone from the beat cop to the correctional officer to the parole officer.
Land of the free? Not quite.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2011 Boulder Weekly
Contact: letters@boulderweekly.com
Website: BoulderWeekly.com
Details: MapInc
Apart from traffic and crowd control, it is stupid to bring law enforcement in to watch over the smoke-out. These are pot smokers, not crackheads. The worst thing they'll do is eat the hell out of a bag of Cheetos and litter.
Still, having more than 10,000 people gather in a single spot might create traffic and crowd-control issues. Perhaps there's a role for law enforcement there.
But when it comes to wasting money, 4/20 isn't even a blip on the monetary radar compared to the failed war on drugs. Already this year, the federal government has spent almost $5 billion on the war on drugs. Last year it spent $15 billion.
If $50,000 could be spent to better benefit CU students, imagine what we could do with the money we'd save if marijuana were decriminalized.
This isn't popular with federal and local law enforcement, however, because the money we wouldn't be spending would come out of their budgets. The war on drugs is job security to everyone from the beat cop to the correctional officer to the parole officer.
Land of the free? Not quite.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2011 Boulder Weekly
Contact: letters@boulderweekly.com
Website: BoulderWeekly.com
Details: MapInc
