PLATFORM : War on Citizens
What in the world can you say to something like that? My first reaction is that it’s hyperbole that comes out of Alice in Wonderland or as (marijuana researcher) Tod Mikuriya referred to it, “Malice in Blunderland.”
Over the years, drug policy has widened its net of who moves into the criminal category, so that more and more U.S. citizens are pulled into criminal sanctions. The question was what severity of criminal sanctions is going to produce the necessary result.
What this one does for people who are not committed drug-users is to move them into criminal categories that (Gates) says are equal to treason. What it does is place the government at war with its citizens--for the most part citizens not at war with their government.
Their behavior for the most part is recreational and ought to be outside the whole scope of what is considered criminal.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
