Barr: War on Drugs should end

Now that Bob Barr has been converted into a Libertarian, he's had a change of heart about the War on Drugs, which was launched in 1972 by President Richard Nixon and has been an abysmal failure ever since. In "Federal Drug War Rethought" at the Huffington Post Barr writes:

As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition. But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. The other candidates for president prefer not to address this issue, but ignoring the failure of existing policy exhibits both a poverty of thought and an absence of political courage. The federal government must turn the decision on drug policy back to the states and the citizens themselves.

My change in perspective might shock some people, but leadership requires a willingness to assess evidence and recognize when a strategy is not working. We are paying far too high a price for today's failed policy to continue it simply because it has always been done that way.

Talk about seeing the light!

Click here to read this astonishing piece by the former Republican congressman from Georgia who is running for president on the Libertarian ticket.

-- H/T to Jackie