Good case for drug legalization

I'm back on the rotation for the week but here's an especially good LTE, notable in that it appeared in the ultra-conservative Washington Times. Read it all, it's short, but here's my favoraite graf.

None of that argues for use of psychoactives of any kind, legal or currently illegal, particularly by young people with unformed intellectual and emotional lives. But it makes a powerful case for bringing other substances out of the shadows with decriminalization and legalization, and for spending some of those wasted billions on education, harm reduction, and, when needed, addiction treatment. The obsession of drug warriors with cutting off supplies of softer drugs has pushed thousands to try the bathtub gin of Neo-Prohibitionism, crystal methamphetamine.

The author is speaking about Orrin Hatch's recent intervention in a Dubai drug case where he rescued his friend from a prison term there. As he notes, if Hatch could do it in Dubai, he should certainly be working for reform here so American drug defendants can enjoy the same benefit of the doubt.