October 21, 2009 12:19PM 

# ‘Reefer Sanity’ 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

Kathleen Parker in the *[Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/20/AR2009102003084.html):*

> Arguments for and against decriminalization of some or all drugs are familiar by now. Distilled to the basics, the drug war has empowered criminals while criminalizing otherwise law-abiding citizens and wasted billions that could have been better spent on education and rehabilitation.
> 
> 
> By ever-greater numbers, Americans support decriminalizing at least marijuana, which millions admit to having used, including a couple of presidents and a Supreme Court justice. A [recent Gallup poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/123728/U.S.-Support-Legalizing-Marijuana-Reaches-New-High.aspx) found that 44 percent of Americans favor legalization for any purpose, not just medical, up from 31 percent in 2000.

Read the [whole thing](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/20/AR2009102003084.html). For more Cato work, go [here](https://www.cato.org/subtopic_display_new.php?topic_id=10&ra_id=9).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).