By Matt Ferner

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Monday that the war on drugs has been a “failure” — even though he has vowed to enact a federal crackdown on marijuana, a substance that has been a primary target of the drug war for decades.

“This is a disease and the war on drugs has been a failure — well-intentioned, but a failure,” Christie said at a presidential forum in New Hampshire on Monday. He went on to say that the country should “embrace” people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, offering them a chance at rehabilitation rather than incarceration.

Christie’s remark about the war on drugs reflects the views of many lawmakers and drug policy reformers alike. But critics of the two-term governor and 2016 presidential hopeful say that his record of forceful anti-marijuana rhetoric suggests he may be missing the point.

“Governor Christie is right that the war on drugs is a failure,” Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Huffington Post. “But what he apparently doesn’t realize is there are more arrests and prosecutions for marijuana than for any other drug. The war on drugs begins and ends with marijuana.” 

Marijuana offenses account for roughly half of all drug-related offenses, and most of those are for simple possession. According to a recent report on marijuana arrests from the American Civil Liberties Union, of the more than 8 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88 percent were for just being in possession of the drug. The report also found significant racial disparities in the arrest patterns. While both black and white Americans use marijuana at about the same rates, blacks were nearly four times more likely than whites, on average, to be arrested for marijuana during the years examined.

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Source:: Weed Feed