Cato Unbound has an interesting symposium on the changing status of men in society, including a lead essay by Kay Hymowitz arguing that men are in decline and “falling behind.” The idea that the men are declining is not unique to Hymowitz. Anthropologist Lionel Tiger has a book advancing the same thesis. Other writers have […]
Archive | War on Drugs
NAACP Calls for an End to the War on Drugs
The NAACP recently adopted a resolution calling for the abolition of the War on Drugs, emphasizing the harm that it inflicts on minority communities. This is a sea change for the nation’s most prominent black civil rights organization. The NAACP resolution is far from the first indication that the War on Drugs inflicts great harm […]
Bloggingheads TV Dialogue with Glenn Greenwald
I recently did a Bloggingheads TV dialogue with Glenn Greenwald, a prominent liberal legal blogger. We focused on several ongoing legal controversies, including the debate over legality of the Libya war, the constitutional controversy over the debt limit, and recent developments in the War on Drugs. It turns out that there was a high degree […]
Mead on the Failing War on Drugs
Walter Russell Mead has an interesting post on the failure of the drug war, and what might come next. This passage sums up so much of what is wrong with the current approach. The Drug War, with an impact stretching far beyond the inner cities, is one of America’s worst policies. It costs billions we […]
Obama Administration Gives Green Light for Raids on Medical Marijuana Distributors
Back in October 2009, the Obama Justice Department issued a memo that some interpreted as discouraging federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries operating in states where medical marijuana is permitted under state law. I pointed out at the time that the memo imposed few if any genuine restrictions on federal prosecution of medical marijuana producers. […]
Barney Frank and Ron Paul Introduce Bill that Would Legalize Marijuana Under Federal Law
Democratic Representative Barney Frank and Republican Ron Paul recently introduced a bill that would repeal the federal law banning marijuana: The legislation would eliminate marijuana-specific penalties under federal law, but would maintain a ban on transporting marijuana across state lines. It would allow individuals to grow and sell marijuana in states that make it legal. […]
The 40th Anniversary of the War on Drugs
Today is the 40th Anniversary of Richard Nixon’s Declaration of the War on Drugs. Coincidentally, it comes on the heels of declarations by international and British commissions that the War has been a miserable and costly failure. Over the last four decades, the War on Drugs has killed tens of thousands of people, imprisoned hundreds […]
Global Commission on Drug Policy Concludes that “the Global War on Drugs Has Failed”
The Global Commission on Drug Policy recently issued a report concluding that “[t]he global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” It points out that fifty years of international drug prohibition policies have had little impact on drug consumption (which continued to rise), but has caused enormous […]
How Much Good Could a Good Leader Do?
By Ilya Somin on June 1, 2011 3:30 pm in Constitutional Theory, Democracy, Libertarianism, War on Drugs
Libertarians, economists, and my fellow constitutional theorists are all known for arguing that the conventional wisdom overstates the importance of individual political leaders. Instead, we emphasize the the constraining impact of institutions, public opinion, and political incentives. The structure of the system matters a lot more than the individual leader. Libertarian economist Bryan Caplan, however, […]
Feds Continue to Target Medical Marijuana Distribution
In 2009, the Obama Administration announced a new federal policy regarding marijuana in states in which medical marijuana has been legalized. The policy statement instructed federal prosecutors not to devote federal resources to prosecuting those who use or supply medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law. At the time, Ilya and I praised the […]
British Panel Concludes that the War on Drugs is a Failure
A British panel composed of leading members of Parliament and former public officials has concluded that the War on Drugs is a failure and should be abandoned. The panel includes former heads of MI5 (the British domestic intelligence agency) and the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as leading Conservatives, including prominent former members of Margaret […]
Where Pat Robertson and I Agree
I rarely have anything good to say about Pat Robertson. But the devil-monger deserves his due: I have to commend his call for the legalization of marijuana. Moreover, he cites several good reasons for this stance, including the high cost of prohibition, and the fact that imprisonment of small-time drug dealers and users is “ruining […]
The Politics of Pot
Pete Guither has a helpful roundup of reactions to the defeat of Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana under California state law. Opinion seems to be divided between those like myself and Kevin Drum who believe that support for legalization is rising and those who claim that the cause is probably hopeless because of […]
The Defeat of Proposition 19
To me, the most disappointing of the many electoral results this Tuesday was the relatively narrow (54-46) defeat of California Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative that I and and many other VCers endorsed. I’m not disappointed because this proves that law professors have little electoral clout. We knew that already. Rather, the disappointment is […]
Reefer Madness and the Prohibition of Marijuana in the United States
My short essay for the Encyclopedia Britannica blog looks at the racist origins of marijuana prohibition. The essay is part of a two-day series of pro/con articles related to California’s proposition 19.