Why Can't Norm Stamper Be the Drug Czar?

Because the former chief of police in Seattle and outspoken advocate for policy reform would legalize drugs and then regulate them in a manner similar to tobacco and alkyhol, thus undercutting the whole drug war establishment.

A great interview with Stamper from last night's Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. And check out Law Enforcement Against Prohibition's site.

Norm Stamper in the pages of Reason.

Comments

[?]

A drug-regulatory establishment certainly wouldn't go around laying siege to and pointing tanks at anybody, just like the tobacco and alcohol one doesn't, because "war" isn't in the name.

Sold!

[gmatts]

The Children, Mr Gillespie, the Children.
How could you possibly forget the horrors awaiting Them should drugs be made legal to purchase by adults?

[Elemenope]

Norm Stamper is teh Awesome!

But seriously, he's the sort of guy we need as a spokesperson for this movement. It's really a blessing that he is who he is and has felt the need to come forward and speak on these issues.

[The Great Hairy Troll of Juani]

Why Can't Norm Stamper Be the Drug Czar?

Because he's a damn druggie. Drugs are bad m'kay.

[Al Coholic]

Alkyhol?

[Naga Sadow]

I've always been confused about the "For the Children" message on drug prohibition. Where the hell would kids under 14 even get the money for drugs? Is there some sort of lucrative market for selling drugs to customers that have no income or way of earning an income to pay for said drugs? I mean, you can only steal so much money from your parents before they notice, right?

[Paul]

That's the $64,000 question, isn't it?

[Jeff P]

Norm Stamper.
Porn name or wrestler name?

[Ska]

It leads to children prostituting themselves Naga. I thought your post was heading right towards that obvious result.

[Naga Sadow]

Ska,

Indeed. Forgot about that one.

[gmatts]

"Where the hell would kids under 14 even get the money for drugs?"

I mowed lawns in the summer to earn $ to stock up for the fall harvest.

[BakedPenguin]

Okay, forget everything bad I've said about Red Eye. If they'll put on Stamper, they deserve major credit.

[Naga Sadow]

gmatts,

I did as well but never got more than 40 bucks a day for it. Which I promptly spent on useless shit at the mall to impress mall tramps. I was young but I was smart enough to realize that to buy them shit was a bad move. Just let them think I needed a little persuasion to buy them stuff was far more effective.

[Rhayader]

Stamper points out an interesting truth: the majority of LEAP members are retired from their law enforcement positions. Is that because they were the disgruntled ones who left because they didn't fit in? Seems unlikely, because many of them held their positions for decades.

Or is it basically peer pressure, the "blue wall"? Are they afraid to speak out for fear of being ostracized?

[Episiarch]

Porn name or wrestler name?

Crush film name.

[gmatts]

But if you bought weed, the bad girls might become interested in you.

[Naga Sadow]

gmatts,

Sadly I did not discover weed til I was 14. Years wasted!

[gmatts]

Naga,

Better late than never I suppose.

[Ska]

It was the bad girls that introduced me to weed. It was alcohol that introduced me to them. And let's be honest: pussy is the most powerful gateway drug you will ever find.

[Naga Sadow]

Q: Why can't Norm Stamper be the new Drug Czar?

A: Cuz that would be CHANGE!

gmatts,

I suppose. Though the skankier mall tramps had moved on to others . . . (sigh).

[Naga Sadow]

Ska,

Same for me. Making out with a chick that likes getting her weed shotgun style is awesome!

[Seattleite]

Good spokesman because he has the gravitas of an ex-police chief? Sorry, no.

Stamper was the lamest, most ineffectual chief Seattle ever had.

[Paul]

Stamper was the lamest, most ineffectual chief Seattle ever had.

But somehow he never angered me to the level that Kerlikowske has.

Officer: Is that a kid being beaten to death over there?

Kerlikowske: Yeah, but we should let them work it out, after all, if we intervene it could 'escalate'.

[...meanwhile, years later at a gun control debate]

Kerlikowske: No one needs a gun in an urban environment... the police will protect you.

[Rainbow Party]

"Where the hell would kids under 14 even get the money for drugs?"

Blow jobs in the alley.

[Seattleite]

Paul, I do agree with you. Kerlikowske is somewhat of a Nazi. Protected bad cops from getting just punishment. I had to wonder who he blew to get a Cabinet post.

Nope, I didn't like either of them. I guess just getting someone competent for the job is too much to ask.

[ChrisO]

Or is it basically peer pressure, the "blue wall"? Are they afraid to speak out for fear of being ostracized?

That's a big part, along with the traditional notion that police are there to enforce the law, not devise it.

Obviously cops (and prison guards) have no qualms about trying to influence civil-service laws that directly benefit them, and increasingly seem more mercenary about advocating for drug laws and prison construction etc.

[Hormonal Redhead]

Norm Stamper should run for President! I'd vote for him.

[Hormonal Redhead]

"Stamper was the lamest, most ineffectual chief Seattle ever had."

And yet he can't be worse than the Presidents we've had lately. Somehow, I think a lame Prez would be an improvement.

[Kunal]

This is why the US is in the state it it in currently. You get the chance to have a public official name Czar Stamper, and you pass. Sometimes I think there's no hope for this country.

[Tingy Wah]

LEAP is such a valuable organization in the movement against drug prohibition that I hope they get as much exposure as possible. However, I'm afraid that their super-sucky website will undermine their credibility. Will someone please tell them that their website sucks? Maybe a libertoid web developer would be willing to donate time to bring them up to 2009.

[Dangerman]

Tingy, I bet a Libertoid web developer would be willing to update their sucky site for a reasonable fee.

[Tingy Wah]

Maybe we could just organize a money bomb for LEAP and they could hire someone decent. How does one go about doing that?

[patrick]

So this Stamper guy sounds reasonable. One tiny request from Reasonoids: please try to remember which political party tears him a new one in the press and in hearings, which will likely prevent from having a bet decent sort as drug czar mkay? Thanks.

[zoltan]

The political party whose Vice President is one of the most vociferous drug warriors in this country? That one, right? Am I right?