Americans recently celebrated another 4th of July, the day we as a people celebrate our independence. It’s been over two centuries since those men in Philadelphia declared that we are all endowed with, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Such stirring words for a country to be based upon. Yet, we know that not everyone was granted these rights (i.e., women, peoples of African ancestry, even those who didn’t own property).

Yet on this day that we celebrate “freedom” we are reminded that even now, in an era when all have been granted those rights that were signed in Philadelphia, we are still subjected to prosecution. I’m speaking of the “War on Drugs.”

On July 4th I participated in a rally against this injustice here in Washington, DC. To this day, the majority of our prison population is imprisoned for no other reason than possessing or sharing with a friend one particular type of “smoked grass” compared to another. It is unconscionable that this should result in the denial of liberties that the War on Drugs produces.

What do you think? Why in an era when we are faced with the far more serious threat from prosecuting a real, live-action war in the Middle East do we continue to devote billions of dollars to prosecuting people for choosing to smoke a harmless substance? Is it not harmless, or does it really pose a threat? I’m interested in knowing what a humanist thinks about the War on Drugs.