You Know it’s Time to Legalize it When…

August 16th, 2011

…former President Jimmy Carter asks the government this summer to “Call Off the Global Drug War”. Carter served and enforced the War on Drugs while he was in office, inheriting it from the creator Richard Nixon in 1971. Carter was seen as largely humanitarian throughout his time served as President and has now noticed that the Drug War is the antithesis of his values. His motivation to join forces with the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s stand against drug prohibition comes from the shocking statistics of drug usage since the Drug War has been implemented. The former President claims that this age-old policy:

“…(is) compatible with United States drug policy from three decades ago. In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts. I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

He has a right to be skeptical of the drug policies of today. There were 500,000 Americans incarcerated when he left office…today that number has reached about 2.5 million. The huge spike you see below can be attributed to the drug policies instated in the 70′s and 80′s.

I think it’s a no brainer when you have former leaders of this country calling for the end to these ineffective laws; it’s time to re-evaluate. As we all know many problems including the Mexican Drug War and youth incarcerations point towards the failing Drug War. The end to this bad policy has GOT to be right around the corner. Just ask Bernie from Silver Circle…


About the Author: megan

Megan is the Marketing Manager for Silver Circle who spends endless amounts of time on making sure the word gets out about this film and graphic novel! As a liberty activist since '08 she also has gained a passion for advancing liberty in her personal life and helping others to do the same. Questions about getting involved with the film, events, liberty, and hip-hop can go straight to her!