Legalizing Drugs

A friend and I talked at lunch the other day about legalizing drugs. What my friend had to say about it made a lot of sense. Leonard Pitts made a good case for the same conclusion in yesterday's K.C. Star. Perhaps, in these two events, there's an omen that more people will become aware of the need for a movement toward legalization. Doing so could certainly reduce our law enforcement costs, perhaps freeing up resources we could use more effectively to control illegal immigration or some other compliance problem. Other problem areas that could be addressed besides drugs are child pornography, identity theft, car theft, securities fraud, or home burglaries. Putting all those narcs on the street wouldn't be good for the unemployment figures. But wait, if we keep fighting crime, we won't save the money wasted on the War on Drugs or reduce our prison population. How do we get out of this mess? Perhaps, dumping the War on Drugs would leave enough money to bear down on some crime problems and still reduce costs for enforcement and prisons. Hopefully, the narcs could qualify as air marshals, teachers, counselors or other jobs that would be useful in improving society. More people need to weigh in on this and something has to change. Our drug "problem" isn't getting solved and we have too many people in prison with too many adverse consequences for them and the rest of us.

New Directions for America- Immigration Polcy

My experiment, comparing my ideas for a new direction for America with Barack Obama's ideas, as expressed on his campaign Web site, to see if I could support hom for President continues:

Immigration. An immigration policy and the laws implementing it must first be enforceable. Clearly, as evidenced by the great number of non-citizens residing and working in the United States, the present policy as expressed by immigration law is, for whatever reason- lack of will, lack of coherence, lack of resources, lack of public support, or other defect- not working. Immigration policy must set forth the number of immigrants who can be assimilated. It should set forth the requirements for immigration. It should spell out the process for each kind of permissible visitation to this country. Because Congress has been unable to accomplish this task, I suggest that bi-partisan national commission representative of the populace be created by law to develop an immigration policy that would go into effect as a government regulation, unless Congress amended the commission's actions by a 2/3s majority. I further suggest that its enforcement be totally funded from fees payable by immigrants or their sponsors, except for border protection services which would be assigned to the Department of Defense and funded by general tax revenue.

Barack Obama's Plan
Create Secure Borders. Obama wants to preserve the integrity of our borders. He supports additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.
Improve Our Immigration System. Obama believes we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.
Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally. Obama will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
Bring People Out of the Shadows. Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
Work with Mexico. Obama believes we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.

Generally, I support Obama's ideas, however, the enforcement must be insulated from political interference and supported by adequate resources. I don't believe the problem is with the bureaucracy, rather it is the laws, regulations, and system that are dysfunctional. Working with Mexico should be done only when cost-effective.