SEATTLE (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state is launching a new campaign to get people talking about changing marijuana laws, and it's enlisted travel writer Rick Steves in the effort.
Steves filmed a 30-minute video for the ACLU, in which he says he has traveled all over Europe, and he's learned that it makes more sense to treat marijuana use as a public health issue than it does to arrest people for using it.
The ACLU says it is trying to start a national conversation about whether American drug laws are working with regard to marijuana.
The organization says nearly 830,000 people are arrested on marijuana charges every year - 90 percent of them for possession - and that the U.S. spends far more money arresting, prosecuting and jailing people than it's worth.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Steves filmed a 30-minute video for the ACLU, in which he says he has traveled all over Europe, and he's learned that it makes more sense to treat marijuana use as a public health issue than it does to arrest people for using it.
The ACLU says it is trying to start a national conversation about whether American drug laws are working with regard to marijuana.
The organization says nearly 830,000 people are arrested on marijuana charges every year - 90 percent of them for possession - and that the U.S. spends far more money arresting, prosecuting and jailing people than it's worth.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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