Time: Sun Jul 13 06:45:30 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id GAA23423; Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:07:39 -0700 (MST) by usr03.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id GAA12652; Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:07:34 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:07:17 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Calif. Judge pro legalization (fwd) <snip> > >By Gene Ghiotto >The Press-Enterprize > >An Orange County judge suggested Thursday that marijuana, heroin and cocaine >be sold in government-operated "package stores" as part of a new approach to >dealing with drug use in the United States. > >"Regulate it and tax it and use the money for drug treatment and drug >education," Superior Court Judge James P. Gray told about 45 members of the >Grand Jurors' Association of Riverside County. > >Gray said the suggetion is part of a strategy put fourth five years ago when >he began speaking about how government and law enforcement have failed to >eliminate illegal drug use through the war on drugs. > >He said the policy has led to families being broken up because of the >prosecution of drug dealers and users and that street violence has increased >as dealers fight to control the lucrative drug trade. > >"We are not making any progress," Gray told the former grand jurors. "We have >no expectation of making progress." > >Gray did not say what he would do to revamp drug laws but said there should >be some experimentation before another policy is approved. > >"California should try one policy. New Hampshire should try something else >and Maryland should do something different," he said. > >Anything deemed successful should be incorporated into an overall policy, and >the programs that fail are discarded, he said. > >Gray, a former assistant U.S. attorney, Municipal Court bench in 1984 and >elevated to Superior Court in 1989. This is not the first time he has >suggested the fight against illegal drugs has failed. > >In 1992 he suggested that the war on drugs be abandoned and that government >look at other ways to deal with illegal durg use. His beliefs have not >changed much since then. > >Gray said he believes drugs like heroin, marijuana and cocaine should be >"decriminalized," and he likened the atmosphere surrounding their use to that >which prevailed during Prohibition, when alcohol was illegal. > >During that era, crime increased because of the struggle to control the >alcohol trade, he said. Once Prohibition was abolished, crime related to the >alcohol business declined because disputes that once led to violence were >taken to the courtroom to be resolved. > >If illegal drugs were regulated, Gray believes that violence associated with >the illegal drug trade would end and that the huge profits that dealers are >willing to fight over would dry up. > >He insists something must be done because the current policy of arresting and >prosecuting drug users and dealers is not working. > >"The criminal justice system is unable to handle the problem", he said. > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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