Sorry for the long delay between posts. I was on vacation for a little while, and just lazy for a little while as well.

Just a little anecdote on the evils of the war on drugs, which is really a war on individuals on our society and on our freeoms.

Today I got a case where my client is charged with possession of drugs. The police stop him walking down the street because, in their words (and I'm not making this up, despite the fact that all my co-workers were sure I was until I showed them the police report), he was smoking a cigar and dropping ashes on the ground (which they deemed a violation of laws prohibiting dumping and littering of burning materials into the street). Of course, once they see a violation, it all proceeds a apace, leading to an arrest. I'm not sure whether what they say is true, but eventually, they get their way into his pockets, finding a tiny little drop of coke.

This client is lucky, he has no priors, and will probably only spend a little while in jail (assuming he pleads guilty, he gets out immediately for drug treatment, if he fights the case, he may have to remain in custody for 3 months). Other clients in this situation have faced life in prison, all over a little drop of drugs.

Now do we feel much safer as a result of this littering bust? And we slouch closer to tyranny.