Bob Barr Reforms Drug Stance

Via the Politico.

Bob Barr, who as a Georgia congressman authored a successful amendment that blocked D.C. from implementing a medical marijuana initiative, has switched sides and become a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.

But that doesn’t mean he has become a bong-ripping hippie. He isn’t pro-drug, he said, just against government intrusion.

“I, over the years, have taken a very strong stand on drug issues, but in light of the tremendous growth of government power since 9/11, it has forced me and other conservatives to go back and take a renewed look at how big and powerful we want the government to be in people’s lives,” Barr said.

Good to see that the Libertarian Party is changing Bob Barr and not the other way around.

are being appreciated.

At least, according to the video transcript of his January "debate" with Ethan Nadelmann, which was more of an agreement than a debate, Barr appeared to go far beyond the medical marijuana issue by advocating the federal government should neither prohibit nor regulate any controlled substances. While he may not advocate legalization at the state level, he apparently views it's within the states' right to legalize if they so choose. From his comments, it didn't appear to me to be limited to merely marijuana. My take was that Barr's "reformed" federalism would now tolerate(though not advocate) hard-core legalization at the state level.

In any event, i discuss this matter and the Drug war in general in my first blog post on this site, The Drug War: The Gateway power for the Leviathan State