Costs Of Overzealous Pot Policing Vary From State To State

A Washington Post editorial.   Skyrocketing incarceration rates for nonviolent drug offenders have come to symbolize the futility of the national “war on drugs.”    Even the most ardent drug legalization opponents are beginning to view drug use through the lens of public health, rather than criminal justice. This shift in focus is      ... MORE

Matthew DesOrmeaux: Legalize Pot, Don't Socialize It

What if a state just legalized it?    The campaign to end the War on Drugs has gained momentum in recent years with state ballot initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana use in Colorado and Washington, and a similar referendum coming to Washington, DC on this year’s general election ballot. Along with the push to reform sentencing laws,   ... MORE

Colorado Teenagers Stubbornly Refuse to Smoke More Pot

Despite legalization.      New survey data from Colorado indicate that marijuana legalization so far has not led to an increase in pot smoking by teenagers, as prohibitionists warned it would. In the 2013 Healthy Kids Colorado survey, 37 percent of high school students reported that they had ever tried marijuana, down from 39 percent in 2011. The ... MORE

Jonah Goldberg: Liberals Come Late To The Pot Party

40 years behind Friedman, Sowell and Buckley.       With the usual fanfare and self-regard we have come to expect from the New York Times editorial board, the prestigious paper has changed its mind about pot. It now believes that the federal ban on the substance should be lifted and that the whole issue should be sent back to the    ... MORE

6 Months of Legal Pot In Colorado: More Money, Less Crime

by Laura Pegram.     Bad news for drug warriors. With the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, Colorado made history and became one of the first two states to approve legal regulation of the cultivation, manufacture and sale of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Colorado has become a proving ground to demonstrate the positive impacts  ... MORE

Colorado's Cannabis Consumption Conundrum

by Jacob Sullum.        Buying pot is easy; smoking it is hard. For cannabis consumers who are accustomed to the black market's meager selection and iffy quality, Colorado's dispensaries are a revelation: dozens of strains, each with a distinctive bouquet, fresh enough that you can actually smell the difference. Denver-area budtenders, who say    ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Pot, Poker, and Prohibitionism

GOP becoming party of unprincipled killjoys?     Mike Lee calls for "a new conservative reform agenda" based on "three basic principles," one of which is federalism. "The biggest reason the federal government makes too many mistakes is that it makes too many decisions," the Republican senator from Utah explained in a speech at the       ... MORE

Nick Gillespie: 10 Really Successful Potheads

Marijuana users are lazy, unmotivated slackers?       A few weeks ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that there is no "responsible way to recreationally use marijuana." Rubio's statement isn't wrong because it's unpopular. Plenty of people on every part of the political spectrum believe what he believes. It's wrong because it is flatly ... MORE

Ten Pot Studies Government Wished It Hadn't Funded

Inconvenient truths for prohibitionists. Number 10. Marijuana use has no effect on mortality: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death.          ... MORE

London Economists Slam The War On Drugs

New report details futility of drug war.      In an 81-page report released Monday evening, the best and brightest minds in the economic drug policy world send the United Nations a loaded message about the drug war: Enough. The individual analyses of the economists and drug policy experts, signed by five Nobel Prize winners in economics, ... MORE

Medical Marijuana's Dramatic Effect On Pain Relief

by Jan Hefler.    What the Surgeon General does not want you to know. Before buying cannabis at South Jersey's only medical-marijuana dispensary, patients must circle one of six animated faces that stare out from a clipboard. The row of smiling, wincing, frowning, and sobbing cartoon faces is being used to rank the degree of pain that   ... MORE

The Five States Most Likely To Next Legalize Marijuana

by Kimberly Ruble.       Colorado and Washington are the only two states that have passed laws on legally using marijuana but individuals all across the United States are wondering if their state is going to be next. However it takes more than just curiosity. There have to be a combination of factors in place such as polling data, what the     ... MORE

Marijuana Legalization Could Bring Unexpected Benefits

by Jacob Sullum.    Why more pot may mean safer roads. The anti-pot group Project SAM claims drug test data show that marijuana legalization in Washington, approved by voters in that state at the end of 2012, already has made the roads more dangerous. The group notes with alarm that the percentage of people arrested for driving under the      ... MORE

VIDEO: Should Marijuana Be Legal?

Frank Luntz queries a national television focus group.

Marijuana Research Hampered By Government And Politics

by Ariana Eunjung Cha.      Millions of ordinary Americans are now able to walk into a marijuana dispensary and purchase bags of pot on the spot for a variety of medical ailments. But if you’re a researcher like Sue Sisley, a psychiatrist who studies post-traumatic stress disorder, getting access to the drug isn’t nearly so easy. That’s because the    ... MORE

Alex Greig: Six Year Old Dies From Medical Pot Prohibition

Another victim of the drug war.      A little girl has died just days after a Utah bill, HB104, was named Charlee's Law in her honor. Six-year-old Charlee Nelson died on Saturday after battling a debilitating neurological disorder called Batten disease. On Thursday, the Utah Legislature passed a law named for Charlee that allows children    ... MORE

Radley Balko: Yes, The Drug War Is Pretty Awful

Myth-busting prohibition propaganda.       Last month, I wrote a response to Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson in which I laid out many (but by no means all) of the harms caused by the modern-era war on drugs. Now Charles Lane, a columnist and editorial writer here at the Post, has responded to my post. You can read Lane’s response      ... MORE

John Stossel: Codgers Freaking Out

America's most popular cable news host is upset.  "Marijuana use, video games and texting (are) creating major social problems," says Bill O'Reilly. "This is an epidemic that will lead to a weaker nation!" Give me a break. Crotchety old geezers always complain about "the kids." The Boston Globe frets about "Idle Trophy Kids." The New York   ... MORE

VIDEO: Government Impedes Life Saving Medicine To Child

Feds require 3-year old to pay the price. 

AP: Legal Marijuana Revenue Exceeding Expectations

Economic health improving in Colorado.        Colorado’s legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that gives the first official estimate of how much the state expects to make from pot taxes. The proposal outlines plans to spend some $99 million   ... MORE