TruthOnPot.com – Eric Holder’s job as attorney general comes with a lot of expectations, but speaking out against the War on Drugs isn’t one of them. So it was a surprise to many when the top U.S. law enforcement officer highlighted a few of the drug war’s failures in an interview with NPR on Wednesday. “The war on drugs is now 30, 40 years old. There have been a lot of unintended consequences. There’s been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color.” And he’s not wrong. A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that African Americans are about four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, despite the fact that marijuana use is about the same between both groups. With prisons overflowing with non-violent offenders, Holder and other U.S. policymakers are looking at lowering mandatory minimums and giving judges more discretion as possible solutions, NPR reports. “I think there are too many people in jail for too long and for not necessarily good reasons.” Nearly half of the federal prison population are serving sentences related to drug charges, many of whom were arrested for nothing more than simple possession. Whatever the end solution is, it’s long overdue. http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/07/us-attorney-general-admits-war-on-drugs-had-unintended-consequences/
via Facebook http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/07/us-attorney-general-admits-war-on-drugs-had-unintended-consequences/
via Facebook http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/07/us-attorney-general-admits-war-on-drugs-had-unintended-consequences/
