As sometimes happens in politics, I fear that Grand read positive comments the opposite way purely because of the source. I’ve defended Obama on this blog several times over the last few months, and this was another occasion where I gave him credit for touching on something no one else is.

To Carter: I agree with your premise that the war on drugs is a complete failure. In my opinion all drugs should be legal. Period. Every mood altering substance has its downside as you rightfully point out. Lets use a bit of commonsense and stop throwing people in jail for drugs. Its stupid.

I do take issue with the fact that both Obama and McCain are mentioned at the beginning of your piece. You specifically criticize Obama. The candidate you support is only mentioned by name in the last third. Isn’t Clinton on the same page with Obama with regard to law enforcement and sentencing?

I have never used any illegal drugs and I never will, but ending the War on Drugs is my chief (and largely only) domestic policy concern. The ramifications for inner cities, prison conditions, race relations, Latin American, terrorism by way of Afghanistan, our murder rate, our schools, our welfare services, our taxes, our budget, our border security, and dozens of more aspects of American life cannot be understated. There is simply no policy with as many far-reaching positives as ending the War on Drugs.

This means legalizing every drug and treating them like alcohol. Some people might balk at legalizing the hard stuff, but we let people drink frickin’ Everclear, which is to beer as many awful hard drugs are to marijuana. Make it legal, regulate it, tax it, and reap the benefits of the end of America’s stupid second embrace of prohibition.

This is one of the three pillars of my domestic policies (along with Blasting Things Into Space and Building Lots of Nuclear Plants), and it’s very exciting to see a clear and comprehensive article supporting it. Hooray for you, Carter.