Common sense drug legislation introduced in the House of Representatives...

Naturally, it has no chance of becoming law, since most politicians in both parties are too scared to take a reasonable approach to drug laws...

The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said Wednesday, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.

Frank says law enforcement resources are squandered on marijuana use. Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.

"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business," Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time."

The Massachusetts Democrat and his supporters emphasized that only the use -- and not the abuse -- of marijuana would be decriminalized if the resolution resulted in legislation.

You gotta love Barney Frank. He is never afraid to put himself out there in order to advance sensible, if not necessarily popular, legislation.

He's got guts more guts than most of the suits in Washington, and I hope someday we'll be calling him "Senator Frank"...
- posted by Brian @ 2:34 PM