Former cop: Legalize drugs

In 20 years in law enforcement, Peter Christ says he made drug-related arrests on a daily basis.

Ever since he retired, however, he has been traveling the country to speak out against the so-called war on drugs - and to push for legalizing illicit ones.

Christ spoke in Huntsman Hall Wednesday night to a crowd of about 40 people on behalf of the Penn Libertarians Association.

"Don't be dumb enough to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about - I dragged a badge and gun around for 20 years," he said. "I know what's going on out there."

Christ told the audience that the government's ban on drugs is similar to the government's prohibition on alcohol in the 1920s and that the country should learn from that policy's failure.

Legalization of drugs, he said, would allow the government to regulate and control drug use in America.

"Why do we have this prohibition on drugs? Because we know of the violence and crime that it causes, especially that one drug: alcohol. Wait, that's the one we regulate and control," Christ said. "Alcohol did not create people like Al Capone. Prohibition did."

Christ expressed his discontent with the government's current policy against drugs, saying it "is never going to work, because what we're doing is stupid."

"There's no joy in stupidity," he said. "I don't want 13-year-olds doing crack. Kids have a harder time getting alcohol than marijuana because at some point, they bump against the government's restrictions."

These restrictions, he said, are in place because alcohol is legal and the government can control the market.

"But the public is afraid of the 'l-word:' legalization," he said.

When asked about his position on legalizing only marijuana, specifically for medical purposes, Christ said the drugs themselves were not the issue.

"When you hear about drug-related violence in the news, 85 percent of it is over territory squabbles and the market for the drugs," he said. "So I don't want to do it drug by drug, I want to shut down the whole market."

College freshman James Munson said that having Christ come to speak broke campus taboos.

"I heard he's the first drug legalization speaker in two years on our campus, and it's refreshing to hear someone say something that no one wants to talk about," Munson said.

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