Posts in "War on Drugs"

NJ Governor Chris Christie: War on Drugs “A Failure”

Jul 12, 2012 at 12:54 PM

Touting a new mandatory treatment program for non-violent drug offenders in the state of New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie is the latest high-ranking US government official to condemn the decades-long War on Drugs. In a speech Monday at the Washington, DC-based Brookings Institution, Christie called the War on Drugs a well-intentioned public policy failure:

The War on Drugs, while well-intentioned, has been a failure, and that we’re warehousing addicted people every day in state prisons in New Jersey, giving them no treatment, sending them back out on the street after their term of incarceration, and wondering why recidivism rates go up, and why they don’t get better, why the commit crimes again. Well they commit crimes to support their addiction.

In the criminal justice world, recidivism refers to repeated criminal activity that occurs even after incarceration, creating a cycle of crime and incarceration in which the recidivistic criminal spends life in and out of jail without ever being rehabilitated. Gov. Christie’s solution is mandatory drug treatment for non-violent drug offenders...

UCSD: Just Say No to the DEA

Jun 5, 2012 at 11:20 AM

By Chase Donnally

The Young Americans for Liberty at University of California-San Diego have been hard at work trying to motivate students to stand against the DEA in the recent wake of the debacle with Daniel Chong. After pushing for a resolution through our student government denouncing the DEA for their actions (which passed unanimously), YAL members tabled on two separate days. We educated students about the negative consequences of the War on Drugs and the policies of the DEA.

Students were also asked to sign the D^EAARE Pledge, a play on the DARE pledge that elementary school students are usually encouraged to take. Over the course of two days, we collected more than 160 signatures, not counting the signatures of those who only signed the poster version of the pledge!

This was a fun event to do, and logistically, it’s not very difficult to pull off. This is the 3x6 ft poster that we used:

Dare to Resist

YAL@VU: 4/20 Bake Sale & Radley Balko on the War on Drugs

May 9, 2012 at 3:02 PM

By Kenny Tan

In a free society, individuals should be able to make their own choices about their own bodies. We believe that individuals have the right to consume, smoke or drink any substance as long as their resulting actions do not harm another individual who does not wish to be harmed. But regardless of their initial intentions or motives, those individuals who choose to exercise this right must also take full responsibility for the choices that they make while under the influence of any substances, including any actions that cause injury or death to another individual.

In direct contradiction to libertarian principles is the war on drugs that has been ongoing in America since alcohol prohibition, from 1920 to 1933. Since 1971, the war has been focused on the prohibition of a wide range of illegal substances including marijuana.

During these periods of prohibition, the statistics gathered clearly indicate that homicide rates and police enforcement costs have increased as a result of the drug war. A simple economic analysis shows that whenever a consumer good is prohibited, a black market will result in order to meet supply with demand. However, a black market lacks both a legal system and assurances of product quality, often becoming a dangerous trade.

NC State supplies munchies on 4/20

Apr 22, 2012 at 11:06 AM

By Ross Bradley

As students from NC State walked through the brickyard Friday wearing sunglasses, hiding their reddened eyes from their 'allergies', they stopped by the YAL tables to pick up a brownie made with an extra ingredient: liberty!

Crowded tables

Once they stopped for their free munchy our members informed them on the tragedies of the War on Drugs: overpopulation of prisons for nonviolent crimes, the creation of the black market, and of course the attack on our civil liberties and the constitution along with a couple others! We had around 40 new sign-ups for our mailing list that will invite them all to our first meeting next semester. The largest impact we had on people that day was to remind them to protest against laws and government programs we believe to be unjust. Just being out there was a friendly reminder to the thousand or so students that walked by to fight for what you believe in.

Don't tread on weed

Wars on You

Jul 22, 2011 at 5:25 PM

By Mark Anthony

by Andy Singer

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Medicinal Marijuana: It's A Jersey Thing

Jul 21, 2011 at 10:03 AM

By John McKenna

The road to 2019 continues to get a lot greener -- and we aren't talking about the worthless Federal Reserve Notes. Tuesday, Governor Chris Christie officially made New Jersey the 16th state to allow medicinal marijuana dispensaries to be opened, after a two-year delay by the governor to ensure the users and sellers of the drug wouldn't face federal persecution.

A letter from the Justice Department assured Gov. Christie that New Jersey's laws would not be targeted by them, stating that medicinal marijuana is not a top priority of either the Obama administration or the department. To keep any trouble with the Justice Department to a minimum, the law will limit the distribution of medicinal marijuana to six licensed vendors which will not be allowed to make home deliveries or use the marijuana in an edible form (so my apologies to our pot brownie fans out there). Also, the marijuana itself will be limited to only 10% THC content, the chemical in the plant that makes you high, and patients can only buy 2 ounces of marijuana every 30 days. Some critics consider these restrictions to be rather harsh, especially to those dispensaries that might be too far away for some patients to get to, but supporters say the law will be refined over time, and that implementation was the most important thing right now. Originally published at www.silverunderground.com.

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Ron Paul & Barney Frank Introduce Pot Legalization Bill to House

Jun 28, 2011 at 1:28 PM

By John McKenna

Are the days of smoking pot in fear of arrest coming to an end? After a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy stated that the international War on Drugs has failed, Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) have sponsored a bill that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana, and leave the decision of legalization to the states.

The bill would also reduce Washington's role in the War on Drugs to combatting organized crime and illegal smuggling, rather than individual possession offenses. Rep. Frank supports marijuana laws moving to the states, stating that "prosecuting responsible adults who make the decision ...to smoke marijuana interferes with their personal freedom," and likened this proposed piece of legislation to the 21st Amendment that repealed federal alcohol prohibition. However, due to the large number of pot prohibitionists in Congress, Rep. Frank admitted that the bill has "no chance of passing" but introducing the piece will help the "educational process" of marijuana laws within government, and lead to change down the road. More at www.silverunderground.com.

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Why Compromise Makes Things Worse

Apr 22, 2011 at 10:53 AM

By Shaun Bowen

As we move into another election cycle, there are some major moves coming down the pipeline around marijuana legalization. Two states, California and Colorado, will push for full legalization this year with a ballot iniative, and Washington or Oregon may as well.

One point that all of these states have in common that activists will have to overcome the already-passed Medical Marijuana laws in each of these states. One might think that simply because these laws are passed and marijuana is widely available, taking the next step should be easy. However, this state of affairs can actually hinder the legislative process for a number of reasons.

First and foremost (at least to the liberty-minded) is something that I covered in my piece on why Prop. 19 died in California: embedded interests who enjoy government protection from competition.

More Black Americans in US Prisons than were enslaved

Mar 30, 2011 at 12:20 PM

By Matt Cockerill

This is shocking data.

I'm willing to bet that a majority -- if not most -- of these incarcerations relate to nonviolent "drug offenses" (i.e. non-crimes). If you aren't a pugnacious opponent of the breathtakingly racist War on Drugs -- no matter how politically correct you might consider yourself -- you are implicitly facilitating the most racist domestic policy of our time.

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The War on Drugs is the new Slavery

Mar 29, 2011 at 12:54 PM

By Bonnie Kristian

A new book from an Ohio State law professor reports that there are now more black American men in prison, jail, on probation, or on parole than were enslaved in 1850. This is largely due, the author has found, to the impact of the War on Drugs, which is "'waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,' she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks." Here's an interview with the author:

Read more here. Hat tip to Matt Cockerill.