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The United States has done little to curb the flow of illegal drugs into this country, continues to disproportionately jail young minority men for drug offenses and trapped police officers between conflicting state and federal laws on marijuana legalization, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland says in an in-depth radio interview.

“Most police chiefs understand that when it comes to marijuana use, we cannot (continue) to criminalize such a large population of society that engage in casual marijuana use,” McClelland said during a pre-recorded interview for the Houston-based radio show, Cultural Baggage. “We can’t, you just can’t continue to do that, we understand that.”

A transcript and recording of the show, which is set to be broadcast this Friday, at 4:30 p.m., on KPFT 90.1 FM, was provided by the show’s host, Dean Becker.

“A lot of law enforcement officers see things in black and white, and they want to know … from the federal government, if it’s illegal, do you want us to enforce it or not?” McClelland said “And if it’s something that should be changed, then take it off the list. I think that that’s what they want, they want some guidance.”

During the approximately 30-minute interview, the chief and Becker touch on everything from the rights of people to demonstrate against the government, to whether the police department will hire new officers who have previously used drugs, to why drug cartels are so strong, and why so many Americans use drugs.

Here are a few more quotes from the show:

“I’m certainly proud of the fact that myself, the Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, and the Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson have this pilot program that’s taking place as we speak for first-time offenders, first-time offenders who are caught with two ounces or less of marijuana, that, you know, can choose this option and not have a criminal record, not go to jail, and after the six months I think we’re going to be able to make some good recommendations to our state lawmakers and other elected officials on where we need to go in the state of Texas. “Now in those other states, when I talk to my counterparts, police chiefs in those other states, they go right back to where I go with the federal government, because here’s, here’s some of the unanticipated problems that come up. Because it’s, it is a federal law against marijuana distribution and use, the banks won’t take the marijuana industry’s money, so it’s a cash business, people are subject to robberies now and folks know that. And there is a continuing underground market of drug dealers still selling small amounts on the street corners, and selling it cheaper, undercut, undercutting the legitimate industry there. So those things cropped up.”

Following the broadcast, a link to the complete transcript of the interview will be posted here on Narco Confidential.