Drug War

The Prospects for Drug Freedom

by Laurence M. Vance October 16, 2012

It seems that the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program is allowing too many people to exploit the rules and get more marijuana than they are supposed to. According to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, A person engaged in or assisting in the medical use of marijuana is excepted from the criminal laws of the state for possession, delivery ...

Why the War on Drugs Should Be Ended

by Laurence M. Vance July 10, 2012

The War on Drugs is a monstrous evil that has ruined more lives than drugs themselves. Taking drugs harms the person who partakes, but not those who abstain; the War on Drugs harms everyone, even those who abstain from taking drugs. Yet the Drug War enjoys bipartisan support in Congress, is supported by the majority of Americans, is cheered by ...

Book Review: The Reality of Race Oppression

by Anthony Gregory July 1, 2012

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (New York: New Press, 2010); 312 pages. Many Americans deny that their country is home to any serious problem of institutional racism. Segregation was abolished generations ago and slavery has been extinct nearly a century and a half. Those favoring smaller government often see that the ...

A Tilting Domino

by Rich Schwartzman June 22, 2012

In the 1960s and ‘70s, the war hawks screeched that there was a domino effect in Southeast Asia, that if Vietnam fell to the communists, so too would Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries in the region. North Vietnam won — despite the 58,000 American lives and the untold Vietnamese lives lost in that fiasco — but South Vietnam ...

Twelve Victims of the Drug War

by Laurence M. Vance June 18, 2012

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 37,792 people died from drug overdoses in 2010. That exceeds the number of Americans killed in car accidents (35,080). It was the second year in a row that drug deaths outnumbered traffic fatalities. The majority of those deaths were caused, not by heroin or cocaine, but by prescription opioid painkillers such ...

The War on Drugs: Cui Bono?

by Laurence M. Vance May 17, 2012

Cui bono, a maxim of Cassius quoted by Cicero meaning “who benefits?” or “to whose advantage?” is a useful principle when investigating political assassinations, conspiracy theories, mysterious deaths — and the war on drugs. The war on drugs, which actually began in the United States before World War I with the passage of a series of federal anti-narcotics laws, was ...

When Will Obama Evolve on the Drug War?

by Sheldon Richman May 16, 2012

Much is made of how President Obama’s position on same-sex marriage has “evolved” to an endorsement of legalization. One hopes his position on the atrocity called the “war on drugs” is evolving. It’s not really a war on drugs. It’s a war on people, most of whom have committed no violence or other aggression against person or property. Those who ...

HR 1983: Good Idea, Wrong Reason

by Rich Schwartzman May 2, 2012

The world is changing its view on drug laws and drug use — at least, most people and many countries are doing just that. Here in the States, recent polls indicate 50 percent of people favor full legalization of marijuana, while 80 percent advocate medical marijuana use. The federal government is lagging behind, however. Portugal decriminalized the use of all ...

An Unlikely Ally

by Rich Schwartzman March 19, 2012

It’s unlikely that anyone would confuse Pat Robertson with Walter Cronkite. While both are known as broadcasters, Robertson — an evangelical Christian and host of The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network — is a controversial commentator in the conservative religious right. Cronkite, during his stint as anchor for the CBS Evening News, had ...

Who Benefits from the War on Drugs?

by Tim Kelly February 23, 2012

Libertarians are absolutely correct about the war on drugs. Governments should have no say in what an adult ingests or consumes. And therefore all laws regulating or restricting the production, sale, or use of any drug or substance should be repealed. Libertarians are also correct in pointing out the drug war’s disastrous consequences. Drug prohibition has ...

Three Views on the Drug War

by Laurence M. Vance January 10, 2012

One of the most important things the Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul said as a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno recently was what he said during his backstage interview after the show was over. The first thing Representative Paul was asked was a question submitted by a Jay Leno Facebook fan: “Are you ...

Drug-Sentencing Disparities

by Laurence M. Vance November 22, 2011

As many as 12,000 inmates in federal prison could soon be released early including 1,800 who are eligible for immediate release thanks to the U.S. Sentencing Commissions vote earlier this year to provide retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act that was passed by Congress last year. The new policy took effect on November1. Does that mean that murderers and ...