All Posts Tagged With: "drugs"

What The Drug Warriors Have Given Us

Does anyone still think the “war on drugs” is a good idea?

That may strike some people as an odd question under the circumstances, so let’s take it from another direction. Have you seen the news stories about the violence on the border being perpetrated by the Mexican whiskey and cigarette cartels?

No? That’s probably because there was no such violence and are no such cartels.

So why are there violent cartels in marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but not in whiskey and cigarettes?

All together now: prohibition.

17Jun2009 | Sheldon Richman | 8 comments | Continued

Legalize All Drugs

Reading the New York Post’s popular Page Six gossip page recently, I was surprised to find a picture of me, followed by the lines: “ABC’S John Stossel wants the government to stop interfering with your right to get high. The crowd went silent at his call to legalize hard drugs.”
I had attended a Marijuana Policy [...]

1Oct2008 | John Stossel | 1 comment | Continued

Big Government — Big Risk

In his Freeman column last June, “The End Run to Freedom,” economist Russell Roberts makes the following argument: As people get wealthier, they demand more security. Their demand for security leads many people to favor the welfare state or the nanny state. The welfare state refers to a government that subsidizes people who bear losses; [...]

1Jan2007 | David R. Henderson | 3 comments | Continued

The Robert Downey Jr. Problem

Drugs can exercise a powerful hold over a human being. What other lesson is possible from the arrest of actor Robert Downey Jr., yet again, on drug charges?

His life is a tragedy: a gifted actor, with access to the sort of money and fame of which most people only dream, succumbs to drugs and ends up in jail. His latest arrest came only three months after being released from prison.

1Mar2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | Continued