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I agree that positions and comments in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 should be discounted, and what counts for more are subsequent statements and actions. I am more troubled by Holder's comments on the insane War on Drugs™. As you said, this drug prohibition nonsense has been bedrock policy for 20 years now in the country. But I think things may be changing. Massachusetts, for example, just passed a marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative by more than two to one, even though all the usual suspects were railing that the end of civilization was at hand.
One effective tactic is to highlight the shocking costs associated with intoxicant prohibition: the direct costs of investigation, prosecution, and incarceration are compounded by the lost tax revenue (for marijuana, anyway) and the costs associated with combating the black marketeers who always have and always will satisfy the demand. When the country is going broke, that's a good time to re-examine our priorities.
