State Marijuana Laws Moving Towards Legalization

From USA Today:

Attorney General Eric Holder last fall announced that raiding medical marijuana facilities would be the lowest priority for U.S. law enforcement agents — a major shift that is spurring many states to re-examine their policies. The American Medical Association recommended in November that Congress reclassify marijuana as a drug with possible medicinal benefit.

At least 14 states this year — some deeply conservative and Republican-leaning, such as Kansas — will consider legalizing pot for medical purposes or lessening the penalties for possessing small amounts for personal use. Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia already have liberalized their marijuana laws.

This is all to the good, of course. But it still bothers me that reasons like "pot is no worse than alcohol" are usually the only  justifications offered for  legalization. Why not argue that a government-issued uniform, shiny badge,  and nightstick don't absolve cops from the moral law the  rest of humanity is bound to? "Legalization" of victimless crimes is more properly understood as forbidding our "protectors" from  grabbing, shackling, and kidnapping  innocent people whose habits politicians disapprove of.