Rebecca Delaney talks to a former police chief who thinks drugs should be legal about new efforts to ban a pot substitute:
With more states debating whether marijuana should be legalized for medical use, and with many on the West Coast considering broader legalization measures, drug-policy reformers finally seem to be winning some arguments. Just not in Kansas and Missouri, where lawmakers are in a frenzy to outlaw a new pot-imposter drug dubbed “K2.” If Gov. Mark Parkinson of Kansas signs off on the law, his state will be the first to prohibit the drug.
New drug bans run counter to the message of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a coalition of current and former criminal-justice professionals. The group’s main goals are to educate the public about the failures of drug prohibition and to repair the damage that the drug war has done to people’s perceptions of police. They believe all drugs should be legalized and regulated. The Prospect asked LEAP member and former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper a few questions about liberalizing drug policy, K2, and what fake pot suggests about a misguided war on drugs.
