Federal Appeals Judge Says US Should Consider Legalizing Pot
A federal appeals judge says the United States should consider legalizing marijuana and possibly other drugs.
Speaking to law students at the University of Puerto Rico, appeals judge Juan Torruella said the United States has lost the war on drugs, at a high cost to society, the Associated Press reports, citing a story by the newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
Torruella said experimenting with legalization of marijuana and possibly other drugs may be a better way to reduce crime and drug abuse.
Torruella, 77, is a Reagan appointee on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Boston. A 2000 profile of Torruella published by the Puerto Rico Herald says he called for a re-examination of U.S. drug policies as early as 1996. At the time, he decried the U.S. emphasis on law enforcement rather than education.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
