Open Thread

“bullet” A Freakonomics Quorum. What Would Happen if Marijuana Were Decriminalized?. Strong opinions from Joel W. Hay, Robert Platshorn, Jeffrey A. Miron, Paul Armentano, and Mike Braun. (breakables warning when reading Hay and Braun).
“bullet” Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee continues his effort to do something about marijuana laws, in a slightly unrelated hearing yesterday (one on crack and powder disparity), and goes off on another rant on Anslinger and jazz musicians. I love this guy. His questions were directed toæ Reps. Rangel, Jackson Lee and Waters. Here is the video. His part comes 53:50 into the video. (Thanks, Eric!)
Here’s a youtube version of that section:

“bullet” New Scientist: Get real, drug czars

International drug policy has become absurd: it’s time world leaders abandoned their futile pursuit of a drug-free world

“bullet” UNODC pushes bad laws onto other countries. Nigeria:

The United Nation’s Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has challenged the Federal Government on the lapses of its constitutional provision for immunity of public office holders, pointing out the need for it to institute the non-conviction based asset forfeiture legislation.
Senior Project Manager of UNODC, Oliver Stolpe, said the non-conviction based asset forfeiture which is a relatively new concept which is already in operation in some countries is important in countries where stolen assets are difficult to recover.
His words, “Non-conviction based asset forfeiture can provide a procedure that allows for confiscation of stolen assets without the need for a criminal conviction…

“bullet” DrugSense Weekly
“bullet” “drcnet”