Drugs: The Anti-Thug

Police in Portugal (Europe's most underrated country, as far as I'm concerned) will allow English soccer fans to smoke pot before a game on Sunday, with the goal of keeping potential hooligans too calm to cause trouble:

Pot-smoking fans have been assured they will not be arrested, cautioned—or even have their drugs confiscated.

Says a police spokeswoman: "If people cause a problem through drugs and become a menace then police will take action. But when this doesn?t happen why should the police be the ones making the fuss?"

Well I'll venture the American response: "Because they're the police!"

Link courtesy of Drudge.