Libertarians recognize that if government officials can’t even keep drugs out of prisons, they sure aren’t going to keep drugs out of the country. We must end the insane War on Drugs. This will take the criminal profit out of the illicit drug trade and bring some peace to our cities again.  The drug war has been an excuse for police to harass and arrest African-Americans and Latinos for decades, and this must stop.

668,000 people were arrested for marijuana offenses in 2018, more than for murder, rape, robbery and other violent crimes combined. 47% of federal prisoners and 17% of state prisoners are locked in cages for non-violent drug offenses. Often drug users spend more time in jail than murderers or rapists. We need to jail violent criminals, not peaceful drug users.

Democrats and Republicans keep fighting this losing war because it makes them look tough on crime, and it gives them more power over our lives. Libertarians have never signed on to the War on Drugs.  We have opposed this war since the 1970s. California Libertarians were the earliest promoters of medical marijuana, since it’s well-known that cannabis relieves pain and other symptoms of a variety of illnesses.  Adults must be allowed to put any substances in their bodies that they choose. Libertarians treat people like adults, not like errant children. I will work to repeal all of America’s drug laws, starting with those against marijuana.  It must be taken off the schedule of controlled substances immediately.