[cottonseed]

Around the world, see: leap.cc (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). However, this voice is still soundly in the minority. I remember when the pot decriminalization ballot question came up in Massachusetts. Law enforcement came out loudly against.

[Nursie]

I find it hard to see what business it is of theirs. They're there to enforce the laws passed down by legislators, not make the laws.

[aaronem]

They're citizens of a democracy with every bit as much right to organize in support of their legislative proposals as any others, is what business it is of theirs. I may tend to disagree with their arguments, but until they try a coup, advancing those arguments is well within their rights.

(Thought experiment: Would you make the same argument against LEAP, which is another organization of LEOs who take the opposite position on decriminalization?)

[Nursie]

I agree they have the right to organise and speak like any other group.

I just wonder why they think they ought to be given any special consideration when it comes to policy making, or be able to use their status as law-enforcement officers (a group the public give weight to) to voice such opinions.

[aaronem]

Perhaps because they have domain expertise not generally available outside their field. Do you also argue developers have no reason to think they should be given special consideration in W3C's and IETF's standards processes?

[Nursie]

I disagree, I think they have selection bias. I also think that they are more like a CPU than they are like a developer. The legislator is the developer. The constitution (of whichever country you are in) is the standards body. It is their job to execute the law, not to make it.

[zequel]

Their argument was that weed charges gave them leverage on going up the ladder from the street-level dealers to higher-ups. Not sure if it was true but their opinion didn't play a factor in the ballot question vote.

[Nursie]

>> Their argument was that weed charges gave them leverage on going up the ladder from the street-level dealers to higher-ups.

Very broken logic there. Could equally apply to anything that has been prohibited. About what I expected I guess :)