Drug War

Why Should Americans Have to Vote to Legalize Marijuana?

by Laurence M. Vance December 2, 2022

In addition to the thousands of candidates running for federal, state, and local offices in the recent midterm election, voters in 37 states also had the option of deciding on 132 statewide ballot measures. Five of those ballot measures were related to marijuana. The federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) ...

The Republican Death Wish

by Laurence M. Vance October 25, 2022

Republican politicians are not just incorrigible drug warriors; they also have a death wish, but not for themselves. Not only do they want to lock people in cages for possessing too much of a plant or a substance that the government doesn’t approve of, they are once again openly calling for the federal government to kill drug dealers. Yes, these ...

Drug Decriminalization Disaster

by Laurence M. Vance October 5, 2022

Critics are calling Oregon’s Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act a failure. According to Oregon’s ABC affiliate KATU: “Oregon still has among the highest addiction rates in the country. Fatal overdoses have increased almost 20% over the previous year, with over a thousand dead. Over half of addiction treatment programs in the state lack capacity to ...

The Problem with Marijuana Legalization

by Laurence M. Vance August 16, 2022

Although the medical use of marijuana has been legalized in 37 states, its recreational use is legal only in 19 states. (South Dakota voters approved a recreational marijuana initiative in the 2020 election, but it was overturned by a state circuit judge and upheld by the state supreme court.) That is still a lot of states ...

The Effectiveness of Medical Marijuana Is Not the Issue

by Laurence M. Vance June 21, 2022

Earlier this year, Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize the medical use of marijuana, which is also legal in the U.S. territories of the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Since California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, every couple of years, another state or two ...

Biden’s Libertarian Feint

by Scott McPherson May 3, 2022

The White House used April 20 to reiterate President Biden’s alleged belief that marijuana users should not be in jail. The date is significant, because marijuana advocates celebrate that date as an informal pot holiday and refer to it as an ideal one on which to imbibe. Asked about the president's opinion, White House Press Secretary Jen Psake expanded ...

State Marijuana Bills Are a Far Cry from Marijuana Freedom

by Laurence M. Vance March 7, 2022

Although many states and territories have legalized the medical or recreational use of marijuana, the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) with “a high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use,” and “a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.” The possession ...

Marijuana Legalization vs. Marijuana Freedom

by Laurence M. Vance December 14, 2021

There is a difference between marijuana legalization and marijuana freedom. Since 1996, 36 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Since 2012, 18 states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. In addition, 27 states have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The District of Columbia has done all three. The medical use of marijuana is legal in ...

The Case Against Drug Courts

by Laurence M. Vance November 2, 2021

A recent article in World magazine profiled Judge Michael Taylor and the Mississippi 14th Circuit’s drug court that he oversees. In “Sober-minded,” Kim Henderson makes the case that “drug courts can use a strict nexus between crime and punishment to offer addicts a chance to see the light.” Henderson informs us that “the nation’s first drug court convened in ...

Deserting the Drug War

by Matthew Harwood October 1, 2021

As you leaf through the first few pages of Dr. Carl L. Hart’s book Drug Use for Grownups, you come across a quote from the writer and social critic James Baldwin. It says: “If you want to get to the heart of the dope problem, legalize it.... a law, in operation, that can only be used against ...

Neither Necessary nor Proper

by Laurence M. Vance July 16, 2021

It was sixteen years ago last month that the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Gonzales v. Raich (2005), ruled that the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801) did not exceed the power of Congress under the Commerce Clause as applied to the intrastate cultivation and possession of marijuana for medical use. In this case, Angel ...

What Is Missing in the Arguments for Marijuana Legalization

by Laurence M. Vance June 14, 2021

The federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act with “a high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and “a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.” The possession of even a small amount of marijuana can result in ...