Reality Check

Our last three Presidents smoked marijuana (and probably still do), but they advocate prison for today's users. If Clinton, Bush and Obama had been clapped in prison for puffing weed in their youth, none would have become President. But now they are willing to ruin the lives of others.

The hypocrisy is contemptible.

Back in the 1960s, some police officers in Buffalo confiscated a pound of marijuana from a kid and then began to roll joints and light up. "This stuff is good," they explained to a friend of mine, "Too good for hippies."

The federal attorney general has issued a threat to the voters of California: if they pass Proposition 19, legalizing marijuana, the feds will crack down on the state. It's hard to know what to make of this. It might be a ruse designed to enrage California voters and ensure passage of Prop 19. Or, the only real alternative, it might be the same bluff that was tried when medical marijuana went to a vote. You might recall the result of that threat: nada, nothing, nil. We have medical marijuana. Anyone in California who wants dope can get it. No one cares. The feds are quiet. Washington isn't quite stupid enough to make open war on the voters of California.

I intend to vote yes on Proposition 19 and make marijuana legal, safe and taxable.