Just remember, the drug war is here to protect potential drug users from danger:



The poor man died on the scene with a broken bone in his throat and according to Chief Deputy Ard of the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, "there's no regret" about what happened. Check out Ryan Grim's chilling interview at the Huffington Post, in which Ard rambles in defense of using these sorts of tactics in the war on drugs.

Inevitably, when police are done investigating their own actions, it will be determined that everyone followed procedure. And that may very well be the case, because police are generally encouraged to choke the hell out of anyone who they suspect of attempting to swallow drug evidence.

The larger question -- and the one no police investigation would dare attempt to address – is whether a rational and humane drug policy would produce outcomes like this. How many among us can watch police literally squeeze the life out of this frightened man and say that justice has been served? How many among us would call that a fair sentence for the crime of possessing and attempting to conceal a small bag of drugs?

The police say they released this footage because they believe it vindicates the officers involved. Yet, in the process, they've indicted the very foundations of the war on drugs itself. Once again, we may watch with our own eyes as our drug laws destroy everything they were supposed to protect.