Only a matter of time

Maine got a lot of grief this last week, due to voting down Gay Marriage. But don't blame Maine -- what other civil rights question would you like to put to voters and see if they reject it? Women voting? African American civil rights? Legal Immigration? Point is, civil rights shouldn't be up for a vote. They should be Rights.

Anyways! Two great things did come out of the election in Maine last week: A voting down of anti-tax program which is a darling to the Sophisticated Teabagging set (read: Grover Norquist), and, best of all, legalization of state approved marijuana dispensaries. Maine now has the most liberal marijuana laws in the land, bypassing California with this latest act. It's a huge deal - it allows folks to sell medical marijuana from stores, all licensed by the state. It also expands the list of conditions covered, and protects against discrimination due to the activity. It's not complete legalization of course, but it's getting closer.

And this is the point: The War on Drugs has been as damaging and destructive - more so probably - than any other "war" in America's history. I don't say that lightly. It's put countless hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people in jail, around the world, spread violence and death wherever enforcement goes, enslaved millions more to suffer the pains of addiction with little legal option, but most of all, it has corrupted our laws, our police, our governments, and in turn much of the rest of the world. Have you seen your typical cop these days? He's closer to a Stormtrooper than Andy Griffith. 

We've lost our freedoms and part of the very idea of what it is to be American, all to deny someone else the freedom to get high, or whatever. It's the worst strain of Puritan meddling, and it has no place in what is supposed to be the land of the free. And to be clear: It's not about the drugs. It's about the principle of whether you should be free to do what you want as long as it harms no one else.

Are you?