Author Archives: Pete

I found this mildly interesting. DEA director Michele Leonhart is testifying before Congress today on the DEA budget. I took a look at her prepared remarks, and was struck by the lack of any reference to what is going on … Continue reading →

The White House spends all year traveling around the country talking about their “third way” and their “21st Century Drug Policy” — that the focus needs to be on treatment and that we can’t arrest our way out of drug … Continue reading →

A couple of articles worth reading on the subject of Law Enforcement. One of the real important reasons for ending the drug war, in my opinion, has been to reclaim the positive relationship between police and their communities. The drug … Continue reading →

When Kevin Sabet tweeted a virtual thumbs up to an article, I thought I should go check it out: Not so fast! A case against legalizing marijuana by Daniel K. Duncan, director of community services for the National Council on … Continue reading →

Idaho Court of Appeals overturns marijuana DUI conviction BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a Boise man for driving under the influence of marijuana, a rare reversal for a kind of case … Continue reading →

A lot of people have been talking about the new Pew Research Poll showing that a majority now supports legalizing marijuana (for the first time in this major poll). I’m not at all surprised, and, to some extent, I was … Continue reading →

A very good article by Isabel Macdonald in The Nation: The GOP’s Drug-Testing Dragnet. The article goes into depth how drug testing industry came about in part as a back-door method to go after marijuana users… But the Reagan administration … Continue reading →

Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic: A Heartbreaking Drug Sentence of Staggering Idiocy John Horner, a 46-year-old fast-food restaurant worker, lost his eye in a 2000 accident and was prescribed painkillers. Years later, he met and befriended a guy who seemed … Continue reading →

In the previous post, I asked the commenters to discuss Mark Kleiman’s statement: Just 20 percent of users consume 80 percent of all the weed in the U.S., Kleiman said. (Forty-six percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S. is … Continue reading →

I’ve got some things to discuss, but some big deadlines at work are keeping me busy. Here’s one of the things I wanted to talk about, so why don’t you take a stab at it? Are the economics sound? Are … Continue reading →