This New Republic interview with deputy drug czar Tom McClellan is truly inspirational. Why? Because it shows, I think, how close we are to completely driving these guys over the edge. His best and only argument against marijuana legalization is that "marijuana’s not good for you," as though that is a sufficient criteria for making something illegal.

By the time McClellan finishes complaining that some people actually get paid to advocate drug policy reform (as though he doesn’t get paid to advocate against it), it's clear, yet again, how isolated and confused the once-proud drug war cheerleaders have become:

It’s almost as though there were a contingent of people out there really eager to keep it at the front of the newspapers. Well, it isn’t us. We don’t want it there.

Dude, there's no almost about it. There absolutely is a massive contingent of people who want to talk about this. Don't you dare try to act surprised by it. You can't criminalize and vilify millions of good, hard-working, intelligent Americans and expect them to just be silent about it. If you don't want to talk about it, that's your problem and maybe "deputy drug czar" was an unfortunate career choice for you.

Watching the drug warriors try to explain the growing popularity of marijuana legalization is a guaranteed laugh-riot every time. 'It just seems so strange to me, I don't understand it. Why do people care so much about this?' Well, if you can't even figure that out, you're going to lose this debate before you know it.

More at NORML and DrugWarRant.