Ex-U.S. attorney: Time to change pot laws
Three years ago, former U.S. Attorney John McKay was somewhere near the front lines of the nation's drug war.
Directing federal prosecutions in Western Washington before he was fired in 2006 by the administration that appointed him, McKay's office sent marijuana smugglers and farmers to prison on decade-long terms. It indicted a loudmouth Canadian pro-pot activist for selling cannabis seeds by mail order.
So the crowd at an Edmonds auditorium could have been forgiven its surprise on Monday when McKay stood on stage with travel author and decriminalization advocate Rick Steves and declared that, of course, he is "against stupid laws."
"I think there has to be a shift in the paradigm," said McKay, now a professor at Seattle University. "The correct policy change would be a top-to-bottom review of the nation's drug laws."
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