San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara County, CA November 3, 1998 General
Smart Voter

Marijuana Legalization

By David L. Bersohn

Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 33

This information is provided by the candidate
The simple solution: end the war on drugs.
Drug Prohibition, a colossal failure, drives the expansion of our nation's prison population, from 196,000 inmates in 1970 to 1,726,000 in 1997. The drug war diverts police and prosecutorial resources from the fight against violent crime. Overworked courts press for lenient plea bargains, and overcrowded prisons parole thousands of violent criminals prematurely.

We all want to see crime against people and property reduced towards zero. Fortunately, there is an easy way to sharply diminish crime. It doesn't involve expanding government, or raising taxes, or violating our constitutional liberties. The simple solution: end the war on drugs.

Of course, gangs and organized crime would suffer severe economic hardship if drugs were legalized. For the rest of us, peace,prosperity, and liberty would be enhanced by decriminalizing drugs. There would then be plenty of prison cells to deal with violent criminals and white collar defalcators and defrauders.

Liberty includes the freedom to ingest what we will, wisely or unwisely, fatty foods or nutritional supplements or drugs. We are not government property. A free society is based on mutual respect for the right of each individual to live as he or she pleases so long as he or she does not injure others through force, trespass, or fraud. That is the golden rule of responsible freedom that I wish to restore.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 28, 1998 16:27
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