James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.<\/p>\n
“I ask kids all the time, and they’ll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government,” he said, noting that drug dealers don’t ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements.<\/p>\n
So Gray \u201d\u201d who spent two decades as a superior court judge in Orange County, Calif., and once ran for Congress as a Republican \u201d\u201d switched sides in the war on drugs, becoming an advocate for legalizing marijuana.<\/p>\n
“Let’s face reality,” he says. “Taxing and regulating marijuana will make it less available to children than it is today.”<\/p>\n