By Samuel R. Caldwell
Special Federal Correspondent
April 1, 2008

In a surprise move today while visiting Kiev, Ukraine, in advance of NATO meetings, US President George Bush made a dramatic announcement that in one giant sweeping act of Executive Clemency he was freeing all 70,000 of America’s marijuana-only prisoners.

President Bush said, “I was down in Crawford last week…drivin’ my pickup ‘round the ranch, lookin’ for some brush to cut…turned on the radio…it was my buddy, my fellow Texan, Willie Nelson, he was singin’ “Bobbie McGee”. Well, right after that song finished, Willie came back on and did a PSA for NORML, you know, that marijuana group. I was sittin’ there in my truck alone, listenin’…and a guess what? A thought occurred to me. You know, I’m at the end of my term in office…and I’m never gonna be runnin’ to be elected for anything, ever again…That’s when I realized that freedom isn’t just another word, when you ain’t free. And I have the power to free America’s most harmless prisoners, the 70,000 marijuana- only prisoners.

After all, what Willie Nelson says is right…half of all adult Americans have smoked a doobie sometime in their life. Shoot, if the cops ever caught everybody who was breaking marijuana laws in America at the same time, you’d have to fence off a couple of states to make us a jail big enough to hold ‘em all. And you know, letting all those marijuana prisoners go, I’ll also be freeing up 70,000 prison cells for real criminals…or we could use some of the freed-up billions of dollars we were spending to lock those people up and spend the money for college scholarships…or fixing roads.

I was watching one of my all-time favorites TV shows last week, Real Time with Bill Maher, and agree with Rep. Barney Frank that the Congress needs to pass the ‘Make Room for Serious Criminals’ bill.

Lastly, in preparation for my last NATO meeting in Europe, my aides included recent writings from travel guru and author Rick Steves. Who can’t appreciate his practical advice?

The veteran Washington press corps was momentarily stunned by Bush’s dramatic pronouncement. And before they could ask a single question, President Bush waved his hand in the air and said, “That will be it for today. Thank you all for coming, but I’ve got to leave. I’ve got a very important meeting at 4:20 this afternoon with other heads of state.”

Suffer no fools this April 1st…support and contribute to NORML!

Best selling author, TV travel guru and NORML Advisory Board member Rick Steves continues to advance in both mainstream print and radio the common sense notion that cannabis prohibition does not work at all well and that Europe is doing a better job with overall drug policy because most of their governments don’t harass and arrest cannabis consumers—and they incarcerate hardly any offenders.

Compare that to the United States where a consumer is arrested every 38 seconds on cannabis-related charges (830,000 cannabis arrests in 2006), and, as of 2004, there were over 69,000 ‘offenders’ in jail or prison.

Update: Continued kudos in the New York Times today for Steves’ honesty and foresight regarding the urgent need for America to re-evaluate federal cannabis policies.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, in collaboration with noted travel author and NORML Advisory Board Member Rick Steves, is launching a multimedia public-education campaign to encourage communities take part in an “honest, candid discussion” regarding America’s marijuana policies.

ACLU Washington head Kathleen Taylor kicks off this new campaign with a heartfelt plea in today’s Seattle Times.

Let’s Talk About Marijuana
by Kathleen Taylor

As parents, we want to shield our children from harm and reserve certain choices for when they are old enough to understand the risks and repercussions. Certainly, this is as true of marijuana as it is of alcohol and tobacco. But just as certainly, and as most teenagers will tell you, it is easier for them to buy marijuana than beer or cigarettes. Our marijuana laws don’t work. I know it. You know it. Scores of our neighbors know it.

But no one is talking. Most of us have our own ideas about what should be done, but this has to be a decision that we make as a community. Too much is riding on this issue not to have an honest, candid discussion. Please join us in the conversation.

Read the full story here.