Katherine Mangu-Ward: Plastic Bags Are Good

Another thing prohibitionists get wrong.  Here is a list of things that are thicker than a typical plastic grocery bag: A strand of hair. A coat of paint. A human cornea. High-density polyethylene is a miracle of materials science. Despite weighing less than 5 grams, one bag can hold 17 pounds, well over 1,000 times its own weight. At about a penny ... MORE

VIDEO: Nullified In Practice: Banning Sex Or Alcohol

Jacob Sullum: Where Can You Smoke Legal Pot?

Out from the shadows.     When the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts unveiled the text of its 2016 legalization initiative this month, the group highlighted several features of the measure but omitted the most interesting one. The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act would allow consumption of cannabis  ... MORE

Claire Bernish: What Happened When Gloucester, Mass. Stopped Arresting Drug Addicts, And Offered Help Instead

Government as public servants, what a novel idea.  Situated on the coast of Massachusetts, Gloucester’s claims to fame include its status as “America’s original seaport,” as well as being the real-life location on which events in the movie The Perfect Storm (2000) were based. Now, the small town has a new reason to be the center of attention:  ... MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - End The Drug War

These 17 States Could Have Legalized Marijuana Soon

by Kyle Jaeger.      A marijuana legalization initiative in Ohio received enough signatures to get on the November 2015 ballot, Secretary of State Jon Husted announced on Tuesday, much to the excitement of the measure's pro-pot supporters. If it passes, Ohio will become the fifth state (plus the District of Columbia) to allow people 21 or older to   ... MORE

Augur Could Be The Greatest Gambling Platform In History. Is There Anything The Government Can Do To Stop It?

by Jim Epstein. The wisdom of the crowds. An online gambling platform could do to the neighborhood bookie what electric refrigerators did to the ice delivery man. Coming this fall, Augur will allow participants to wager money on any future event of their choosing. Software will set the odds, collect the bets, and disperse the winnings. The price alone    ... MORE

Drug War Update - Jacob Sullum: Texas Cops Sexually Assault Another Motorist In The Name Of Pot Prohibition

Another warrantless roadside cavity probe.      What is it with Texas cops and roadside vaginal searches? Last May I described three strikingly similar cases in which Texas troopers fruitlessly looked for marijuana in the private parts of women pulled over for minor traffic offenses. The incidents were outrageous enough to inspire a new  ... MORE

Anti-Pot Hard-Liner Chris Christie Admits The Drug War Is A 'Failure,' Even Though He More Or Less Wants To Restart It

by Matt Ferner.  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Monday that the war on drugs has been a "failure" -- even though he has vowed to enact a federal crackdown on marijuana, a substance that has been a primary target of the drug war for decades. "This is a disease and the war on drugs has been a failure -- well-intentioned, but a failure," Christie  ... MORE

VIDEO: Charles Murray - Lawlessness of the Legal System

How Marijuana Taxes & Restrictions Recreate Prohibition

by J D Tucille.   Are you a government official who yearns for the good old days of marijuana prohibition? Do you feel out of place in an era of voter-approved legalization, grow clubs, and pot shops? My, how the world has changed! But you can feed your nostalgia for busts and streetcorner deals even while "respecting" the public's desire to legalize       ... MORE

Feds Deploy Warrantless Database Fishing Expeditions

by Mark J. Fitzgibbons.   While focusing their resources and political energy on the NSA’s mass collection of metadata, privacy advocates have neglected the most dangerous institutionalized violations of the Fourth Amendment: administrative subpoenas. Now a United States District Court judge in Texas has ruled for the Drug Enforcement Agency        ... MORE

VIDEO: The War On Pot - Just The Facts

Zach Weissmueller: You Have a Right to Buy and Sell Sex. Now, Will the Courts Protect It By Legalizing Prostitution?

See video.  "Our hope in the lawsuit is to have the anti-prostitution law overturned as unconstitutional and invalidated in the state of California," says Maxine Doogan, a former sex worker and president of the Erotic Service Provider Legal, Education, and Research Project (ESPLER), a group that has filed a lawsuit against California's attorney general   ... MORE

Man Spends 3 Months In Jail For Possession Of Vitamins

Overzealous drug warriors thought they were contraband.  A man spent nearly three months in jail on felony drug possession charges after police searched him during a traffic stop and found vitamin supplements. Joseph Burrell, 31, was pulled over by police in November 2014 when he was observed allegedly driving without his      ... MORE

New Mexico Cops Complain That State's Asset Forfeiture Ban Impedes Progress In Fighting The Failed Drug War

Police unhappy their license to steal has been revoked.  Cops in New Mexico are complaining that a new law requiring them to obtain a conviction before taking residents’ property via civil forfeiture is hurting their ability to perpetuate the government’s long-failed war on drugs. New Mexico House Bill 560, which takes effect this month, effectively  ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: How Libertarian Is Rand Paul On Drug Policy?

More than the others, but there is room for improvement. Last week about 40 people paid at least $2,700 each to hear Rand Paul talk about drug policy during the National Cannabis Industry Association's conference at the Denver Convention Center. That "private briefing" made the Kentucky senator the first major-party presidential candidate ... MORE

Marijuana Legalization: Bad For The Cartels, Better For All

by Hillary Bricken.        Marijuana legalization has already led to many benefits in the United States, ranging from increased tax revenues to decreased cannabis use by minors. Marijuana legalization is also putting a dent into what the Department of Justice calls the “greatest organized crime threat to the United States,” the Mexican drug cartels.    ... MORE

F.D.A. Sets 2018 Deadline To Rid Foods Of Trans Fats

by Sabrina Tavernise.   The option reducers are at work again. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave the food industry three years to eliminate artery-clogging artificial trans fats from the food supply, a long-awaited step that capped years of effort by consumer groups and is expected to save thousands of lives a year. Trans fats —   ... MORE

JURY NULLIFICATION: Jury Sends Message To Cops, Chase After REAL CRIMINALS; Acquits Man On Felony Pot Charges

by Matt Agorist.    In an emotional courtroom display Friday, Steven Ficano, 65, embraced his attorney and his wife after the jury read their verdict of “not guilty.” In 2012, Ficano’s house was raided by heroes protecting the citizens of Nevada from the horrors of marijuana plants. For the next three years, Ficano anxiously lived his life thinking that  ... MORE