“Not criminalizing drugs doesn’t mean we approve of it,” says Nancy Gertner, a judge for the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, in her speech to a panel of judges at the 1998 Voluntary Committee of Lawyers (VCL) sponsored by the Partnership for Responsible Drug Information (PRDI). She continues:
Not criminalizing drugs doesn’t mean we approve of it, any more than not criminalizing tobacco means that we approve of cigarette smoking or not criminalizing alcohol means we approve of it. Just because something isn’t criminal doesn’t mean it isn’t right. And yet that’s the way this debate has been cast: If you are against criminalization, you are encouraging use.
So I’m not saying drugs are a good thing. I’m not saying that while I’m a judge I’m going to ignore the law as it is . . . I took an oath and I have to fulfill that oath . . . I have to look at what Congress intended, however much I disagree with it. Continue reading “the war on drugs – a dismal failure”