Arianna appeared on Monday morning's edition of "CNN Starting Point With Soledad O'Brien," joining a roundtable to discuss singer Tony Bennett's call to legalize drugs. Bennett's comments came on Saturday evening after singer Whitney Houston died at 48.
"First it was Michael Jackson," Bennett said. "Then it was Amy Winehouse. and now, the magnificent Whitney Houston. I'd like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs -- so they'll have to get it through a doctor, not to some gangsters who just sell it under the table."
Arianna weighed in on Bennett's view, pointing to the United States' struggles in containing the war on drugs.
"The point I think is absolutely fair -- that the war on drugs has failed and we are not acknowledging it. We are spending over $50 billion a year fighting a war that has become a war on our own people, especially among African Americans and minorities in general. All the distinctions between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, we are seeing our jails filled with non-violent drug offenders."
Watch the clip below, courtesy of CNN.
Neill Franklin and Katharine Celentano: Tony Bennett Is Right That Legalizing Drugs Would Save Lives
In Australia we have a system where a Doctor has to be registered to prescribe certain medications & when a script is issued an Authorization number, that is registered on a national data base must be obtained for each script , another Authorized script CANNOT be obtained until the previous one has expired. Dr shopping doesn't work because a red flag will come up if another script is requested too early or multiple times.
Marc J. Victor
www.AttorneyForFreedom.com
Proof, from a real world experiment, that decriminalization works. Lets start treating drug abuse as a health issue, not a criminal one.
A new hemp industry in the USA could create millions of jobs, supply healthy food supplies via the vegetable hemp seeds, and save the environment at the same time.
For me, it's a no brainer. One has done nothing wrong by taking a drug to feel good. The wrong-doing starts at driving a vehicle after the drug has impaired your ability to drive safely, etc.
There are all sorts of ways one can harm oneself and we should not even start trying to outlaw them all. That's what personal responsibility is for.
It's better for all if we show compassion for those whose sense of personal responsibility fails them. That's what charity is for.
It seems a simple process to help eliminate the drug problem in this country.
1) Legalize drugs.
2) Tax all drugs at a rate depending on the addiction of said drugs (including alcohol). If certain drugs are more addictive and more people are abusing them tax them more.
3) Use the tax money to rehabilitate those that are abusing drugs. Let the people that don't have a problem help pay for those that do.
"Muggles" is the title of a recording by Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra, recorded in Chicago on December 7, 1928. The title refers to the use of the word "muggles" as a slang term for marijuana amongst jazz musicians of the 1920s and 1930s. Armstrong was an enthusiastic user of marijuana, which was legal in most American states at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggles_(recording)
I have read the statement from police and military that also call for legalization.
I feel so upset to think that 50,000 people have died in 6 years of just leg of the fight in Mexico, all the incarcerated people, with disproportionate sentences for AA, Latinos, NA.
What makes me sick to my stomach are the prisons for profit.
6 Republican state governors are slashing education and beefing up the jails.
It simply makes me sick.
For anyone but that one blond woman who had the same old answers while her family is safe, its pretty clear.
President Obama was asked numerous questions during the public google question session, about legalization, that he failed to answer.
Like contraception, the policy is completely, utterly out of step with humanity.
Its a failure and the only way to correct it is to admit it.
I do believe there is one old dinasaur who is specifically directing this policy, and then, gets everyone else to do the work.
Its like another 'ahhh' moment, wow, this can't go on any longer in this way....
In Portugal they decriminalised all drugs ten years ago , drug usage there is down 50% since the move.
It is purely a States' rights issue. At least in the Prohibition Era (an equally flawed policy), we took the time to amend the Constitution. Now we just assume that the consolidated federal government has our consent to control anything and everything.
If Dr. Paul can make headway on this difficult issue, maybe he can similarly make headway on the true catalyst for America's decline - the Federal Reserve central bank.