On his personal blog, city council public safety committee chair Tim Burgess argues that legalizing pot makes good public safety and economic sense.

Burgess, a former Seattle cop, lays out his argument:

The so-called "war on drugs" has not been successful.  In fact, it's been quite negative and caused major problems for our country, especially the accompanying policy of mass incarceration that has had many, many unintended consequences within our communities of color and among those living with poverty.

The United States is the world's largest jailer.  Is that something we should be proud of?  I don't believe so.  We incarcerate more people on a per capita basis that any other country in the world. [...]

A criminal justice policy that is centered on high rates of imprisonment isn't sustainable (because of the HUGE costs), isn't fair or just, and produces what I referred to above as unintended consequences. Those consequences are tied directly to the stigma of being a convicted felon—lower chances of finding a meaningful and family-supporting job, lower chances of finding housing, lower chances of becoming an active participant in our democracy.

Last week, former police chief and current US drug czar took some time out of an already-planned trip to Seattle to talk to the Seattle Times ' editorial board about legalization, which the Times supports and he opposes. According to the Times, Kerlikowske did not (contrary to what the Stranger said), plan a special trip to Seattle to "bully" the paper into coming around to his position.