2008 Woodie Awards
Jay Fisher discusses view regarding war on drugs
Byron Wilkes
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
Attorney Jay Fisher revealed his and others' belief that the war on drugs is eroding the rights of civilians.
Fisher spoke on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, with the term prohibition referring to the current illegal status of narcotics, from marijuana to crack cocaine and ecstasy.
LEAP consists of sheriffs, constables, and cops, as well as academics such as linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky and noted economist Milton Friedman.
"The act of prohibition effectively sets up the black market which America fights against," Fisher said. "The notion of an absolute ban is a failure. The question of policy can only be debated proactively after elected officials have hashed out the current situation."
Fisher spoke not only from a policeman's perspective, but as someone who has spent five years as a paramedic, seeing the brutal reality of the drug war as it affects common people in the streets.
Fisher also represents Georgia's state corrections department constitutional rights cases, and has seen the overcrowding of prisons by inmates with nonviolent drug offenses firsthand.
During the lecture, Fisher defined the rights an average person is entitled to. After showing a few quotations of men such as John Adams and James Madison, Fisher put on view a quote from current President Bush that read: "There ought to be limits to freedom."
He discussed the statutes which state and federal government have usually made their case against narcotic drugs known as the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which allows Congress to regulate commerce between states, and vicariously, many areas including criminal justice.
Fisher brought up Gonzales vs. Raich, a Supreme Court case in which Angel Raich, an elderly woman, was convicted for buying medical marijuana in California despite the fact that no interstate commerce had taken place in the transaction.
He also pointed to the 18th Amendment that prohibition ultimately fails despite the extent of any measures taken to fulfill the law.
Fisher spoke on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, with the term prohibition referring to the current illegal status of narcotics, from marijuana to crack cocaine and ecstasy.
LEAP consists of sheriffs, constables, and cops, as well as academics such as linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky and noted economist Milton Friedman.
"The act of prohibition effectively sets up the black market which America fights against," Fisher said. "The notion of an absolute ban is a failure. The question of policy can only be debated proactively after elected officials have hashed out the current situation."
Fisher spoke not only from a policeman's perspective, but as someone who has spent five years as a paramedic, seeing the brutal reality of the drug war as it affects common people in the streets.
Fisher also represents Georgia's state corrections department constitutional rights cases, and has seen the overcrowding of prisons by inmates with nonviolent drug offenses firsthand.
During the lecture, Fisher defined the rights an average person is entitled to. After showing a few quotations of men such as John Adams and James Madison, Fisher put on view a quote from current President Bush that read: "There ought to be limits to freedom."
He discussed the statutes which state and federal government have usually made their case against narcotic drugs known as the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which allows Congress to regulate commerce between states, and vicariously, many areas including criminal justice.
Fisher brought up Gonzales vs. Raich, a Supreme Court case in which Angel Raich, an elderly woman, was convicted for buying medical marijuana in California despite the fact that no interstate commerce had taken place in the transaction.
He also pointed to the 18th Amendment that prohibition ultimately fails despite the extent of any measures taken to fulfill the law.
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news across the neocon empire
posted 4/17/08 @ 4:04 AM CST
Well not all drugs are illegal. The only recreational drugs that are prohibited are those that are not the traditional drug of choice of Western Society. (Continued…)
Melanie Marshall
posted 4/18/08 @ 11:17 AM CST
The Drug War is immoral, useless, costly and harmful. Please let your senators and representative know that you want them to start looking into a way out of this war. (Continued…)
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