Just say yes

Mike Seate has a nice column about a former police officer who now crusades against the war on drugs:

His main problems with the war on drugs are the astronomical costs in lives and money.

"What grinds me up is the way law enforcement people perpetuate the lie that arresting drug dealers will make a difference in the availability and strength of drugs," he said. "The smugglers are smart enough to factor in a loss of maybe 20 percent of a shipment. So even when there's a big bust, they just ship more."

It might seem odd for a former cop to question the sanity of locking up casual drug users, but Wooldridge said the $28,000 it costs to imprison a user for a year could be better spent on rehabilitation programs or tracking down violent criminals.