So
Portugal, which has successfully decriminalized drugs,
is similar in scale to a mid-sized U.S. state.
Somewhat bigger than
Washington state, which just almost got marijuana decriminalization
on a ballot, and of whose voters almost a majority support it.
With a little more work, people against prohibition could get
Washington to be the first state to end marijuana prohibition.
Too bad they’re not going for
all drugs, like Portugal did,
but marijuana offences account probably for the most drug-related lockups,
so that’s a good place to start.
Still, the problem won’t be solved until the drug cartels
and the prison-industrial-complex are deprived of their drug-related income
by legalizing the rest, and taxing them so states derive income from them.
Meanwhile we could refuse to participate by declining a private prison in Lowndes County, Georgia, and spending that tax money on rehabilitation and education instead.
