Former police chief opposes war on drugs

November 18, 1:10 PMCivil Liberties ExaminerJ.D. Tuccille

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Norm Stamper is the former Seattle Police Chief, a position he held from 1994 through 2000. So he'd seem to be an unlikely person to advocate drug legalization. But that's exactly what he's done time and again, drawing off his 34 years of police experience, and his knowledge of the failures of the war on drugs. In 2005, he wrote the following words for the Los Angeles Times:

Sometimes people in law enforcement will hear it whispered that I'm a former cop who favors decriminalization of marijuana laws, and they'll approach me the way they might a traitor or snitch. So let me set the record straight.

Yes, I was a cop for 34 years, the last six of which I spent as chief of Seattle's police department.

But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD.

See Stamper discuss his beliefs and experiences in the following video for ReasonTV. Note especially his statement, "I believe this body is mine, that it is sovereign. I believe in taking care of it. But if I didn't, it would still be my right to inject, ingest or inhale anything into this body that I chose."

Norm Stamper now works with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition in his efforts to end the threat to life and liberty posed by the doomed effort to tell people how they can and can't get high. 

Contact J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com