Marijuana Legalization Scares Us, Panicked DEA Official Tells Senators

“There are more dispensaries in Denver than there
are Starbucks,” marveled Drug Enforcement Administration Chief of
Operations James L. Capra, varying a bit from his
prepared script (PDF) during a Senate hearing about anti-drug
efforts in Afghanistan. “Going down the path to legalization in
this country is reckless and irresponsible,” he said. “It scares
us!”

Aaauuuuugh!

“This is a bad experiment. It’s a bad, bad experiment,” he
insisted. The drug-warrior lifer (he’s been
in the DEA since 1987) got emotional, and then apologized for
his excitement, proving that whatever the prohibitionist side may
lack in sense and respect for liberty, it doesn’t want for sweaty
dedication to the cause. Or maybe he just hit way too many of those
Starbucks while counting dispensaries. It’s thirsty work.

“You’re going to demand from me…You’re going to demand from
DEA: How are you going to stop that?” he said, seemingly on the
verge of tears.

Senator Fianne Feinstein voiced sympathy for Capra’s outburst,
attributing it to “great law enforcement frustration.” She then
called marijuana a “gateway drug” and repeated her longstanding
opposition to legalization, though she allowed for some medical
use.

Just a thought: Marijuana is pretty soothing, and effective at
calming nerves overstressed by hard and, perhaps, fustrating
work.

The fun starts at the 1:20 mark in the video below.