Juan Jose Soriano, deputy commander of the Tecate Police Department in northern Mexico, helped U.S. authorities find a drug-smuggling tunnel. That night, while Soriano slept with his wife and baby daughter, two heavily armed men broke into his house and shot him 45 times. The 35-year-old father of three young daughters died in his bedroom. He had lasted two days as the second-in-command of the department. [7]

This is the cost to civil society because of our failed drug policy. This is risk we put on our law enforcement officers and their families. This is reminiscent of Chicago-style gangster killings during the 1920s prohibition on alcohol. Why are we allowing history to repeat itself? By legalizing marijuana, we take out the criminal element. We can tax the product and use proceeds to educate about the dangers of abuse.

While we recognize there are millions of wonderful things about our country, nothing points to the gross shortcomings of democracy more than the current "War Against Marijuana." Leading scientists, medical professionals, politicians, law enforcement officials and countless other experts AGREE that our current policy on this substance is irrational and counterproductive. Yet we are unable to change direction!

There is little debate that 70-80 percent of Americans want to see a change in policy. At least 12 states have already done so. Nevertheless, the federal government and remaining states continue to push a bad policy on all of us.

It is estimated there are tens of millions of marijuana smokers in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of citizens, who in every other way are law abiding, who are arrested each year for medical or personal use. Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), notes that there have been 20 million marijuana-related arrests since 1965 and 11 million since 1990 -- "every 38 seconds a marijuana smoker is arrested." [1]

Rep. Barney Frank, (D, MA), introduced (7.30.08) House Resolution 5843, Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008, which would end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance. He emphasized that our current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance, and unfairly affect African-Americans.

"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business," Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time." [2]

St. Pierre noted that alcohol use is permitted in our country and the government focuses its law enforcement efforts on those who abuse booze or drive under its influence. "We do not arrest and jail responsible alcohol drinkers," he said.

Bill Piper, Drug Policy Alliance Network, remarked that those found guilty of marijuana use can lose their jobs, financial aid for college, their food stamp and welfare benefits or their low-cost housing. The U.S. stance on marijuana, Piper said, "is one of the most destructive criminal justice policies in America today."

Because of this irrational policy, you are less safe; your tax dollars are being wasted; and we are less effective at keeping young people from experimenting with marijuana and other drugs -- including alcohol and tobacco. So why do we continue on this failed path? We lack the courage to stand up and demand change!

The bottom line is that advocating for political change is a "death sentence" for most politicians. We seem to label anyone who advocates for change as a "dope smoking" liberal. Any citizen who expresses support for a change in policy must also be a "pot head."

What does this say about us as a nation, as a people? The vast majority of us recognize this failure, yet we are too afraid to stand up and demand a correction? Is this truly the "land of the free and home of the brave"?

When the shooting stopped, two dogs lay dead. A mayor sat in his boxers, hands bound behind his back. His handcuffed mother-in-law was sprawled on the kitchen floor, lying beside the body of one of the family pets that police had killed before her eyes. [3]

This was a tragic and terriblly flawed drug seizure ... We are strong supporters of law enforcement and other public servants. But this failed war on drugs puts these dedicated professionals in an unconscionable position. By changing this failed policy, we can help them keep us safe.

The August incident in Prince George highlights the complexity of law enforcement efforts to stem the flow of drugs. County police officials had burst into the home of Berwyn Heights' mayor, Cheye Calvo, to seize an unopened package of marijuana that an undercover officer had delivered an hour earlier.

Two men had orchestrated a plot to deliver marijuana to the addresses of unsuspecting recipients - in this case, Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic. To protect themselves from prosecution, drug trafficers steal names and addresses of potential recipients. Unbeknownest to the recipient, they mail a drug-filled package to their home. They then stake out the house and wait for the delivery. Once it arrives, they either steal the package or rob the unknowing homeowner.

"Trinity was an innocent and random victim of identity theft ... However, Trinity and our family have not been treated as victims of a crime. Instead, our home was invaded. Our two beloved Labrador retrievers are dead. My mother-in-law and I were tied up for nearly two hours," Mayor Calvo said. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

Police killed one dog, Payton - named for football running back Walter Payton - even though Porter was standing next to him.

Police said the dogs "engaged" officers. Calvo confirmed that Payton probably moved toward the door but would have ultimately done nothing more than lick them.

"He was an aggressive licker," said Calvo.

Chase was shot while running away from sheriff's deputies, Calvo said. "He was hunted down and shot in the back while he fled," he said. "They didn't deserve to die. They don't deserve to be blamed for their deaths." [4]

The harm we do to millions of Americans doesn't seem to affect us. We continue this failed policy. I hope that the loss of these two, adorable Labrador retrievers may cause you to wake up! This situation could happen to you next.

Due to our illegal drug market, criminals manage the flow of the drugs demanded by Americans. This leads to violence, gang activity and numerous related crimes. To support their international efforts, high-powered automatic weapons and ammunition are flowing virtually unchecked from border states into Mexico, fueling a war among drug traffickers, the army and police and thousands of law abiding Mexican citizens are now dead -- victims of our failed policy.

More than 90 percent of guns seized at the border or after raids and shootings in Mexico have been traced to the United States. Texas, Arizona and California accounted for most of those traced weapons.

The body count, meanwhile, is rising. Since a military-led crackdown on narcotics traffickers began 18 months ago, more than 4,000 people in Mexico have died in drug-related violence, including 450 police officers, soldiers and prosecutors, as well as innocent bystanders, cartel members and corrupt officials, according to Mexican authorities. [5]

Tom Mangan, a senior ATF special agent in Arizona, compared the flow to reverse osmosis. "Just like the drugs that head north," firearms move south, he said. "The cartels are outfitting an army."

If we developed a new policy, where marijuana was available through legal channels, we could end this corruption and violence. Rather than spending tax dollars to continue failure, we would tax sales. This revenue could be used for education and rehabilitation programs. It's so simple and smart that a 4th grader could think it up -- why then can't our leaders? Why can't you?

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner repeated her call this week to decriminalize personal drug use and crack down on traffickers and dealers.

"I don't like it when people easily condemn someone who has an addiction as if he were a criminal, as if he were a person who should be persecuted."

"Those who should be persecuted are those who sell the substances, those who give it away, those who traffic in it."

"Decriminalization of the consumer should include what are called second-generation human rights, but at the same time there should be a strong policy of prevention, so that no one falls in the situation of consuming any substance," said Anibal Fernandez, the minister of security and justice.

"The evidence generally shows that the decriminalization of possession is not clearly associated with any increase in illicit drug use," said Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance.

A few years ago, Mexican President Vicente Fox proposed decriminalizing possession of drugs combined with a crackdown on traffickers, but a harsh reaction from the Bush administration caused him to retreat, Nadelmann said. [6]

Two-thirds of Americans support drug treatment instead of jail time for first-time drug offenders. We want to free our law enforcement personnel to pursue serious criminals; we want our tax dollars to be used for productive and efficient programs; and we want to end this failure. Please wake up; have the courage to stand for responsible democracy; and let's return this nation to the shining city on the hill of justice!

In one more testament to the potential positive applications of legal marijuana, researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs. The cannabinoids may prove useful as a topical agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to prevent the microbes from colonizing on the skin. [8]