Mark Davis: Those Pushing for This Don't Know What It Does to Neighborhoods Looks like this is my year for congratulating the Dallas City Council, although I do not pretend that the horseshoe is bending toward my worldview. First they found a way to reject the absurdity that there was a First Amendment obligation to host a porn convention on city property. Now, at least for the moment, they are resisting widespread urgings to loosen marijuana laws. As some state-level experiments plod forward with outright pot legalization, the Dallas issue involved ratcheting pot-possession penalties down from a jailable offense to a mere ticket. [continues 581 words]
It's a fascinating sight. Former high school teacher and anti-drug advocate Grant Cluff leans forward to light a much-needed marijuana joint. He inhales deeply. Breathing out a dense plume of smoke, he slumps against the backrest of his mobility scooter. The muscle pain and stiffness throughout his body immediately subsides. A tense expression gives way to a look of utter relief. His eyes brighten up. He smiles. "Now I can relax," he says. His herbal medicine - until recently, dismissed by society as merely a recreational drug for slackers - is already working. [continues 1500 words]
Name One Societal Benefit of Legalizing Marijuana, Mark Davis Challenges. You Can't. Libertarians are an odd bunch. I should know, because on many issues, I am one. But I've always identified two things that will keep them from full participation in the American mainstream. One is the profound ill wisdom of isolationist foreign policy. The other is weed. With the collapse of our national will to act as a force for good in the Middle East, libertarian energies are freed to pursue their other pet project, which accrues to our detriment: the notion that legalizing marijuana is a good thing. [continues 533 words]
William F. Buckley Approved of Drug Legalization. Is It Time More Conservatives Reconsidered? When William F. Buckley died Feb. 27, I thought a tribute column would be in order. But rather than walk in the footsteps of others who have sung his praises, I decided to do something that genuinely invokes his legacy of lively debate: a hard look at one of the most controversial views he held. Mr. Buckley was a conservative's conservative, a modern icon of what it means to favor less government, lower taxes and free markets. But at some point in his intellectual journey, he adopted a view that alienated many of his admirers. [continues 656 words]
The three guys washed up at an extended-stay hotel in Norcross, part of the wave of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who flooded temporary housing facilities across metro Atlanta earlier this year. But instead of using Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency aid to buy furniture, groceries or the incidentals you need after fleeing a hurricane, police said, the trio had a high old time buying and selling crack. Now, Gwinnett police said Thursday, the three have a new residence the Gwinnett County jail. [continues 568 words]
It's a racial thing: The sort of condemnation Randall Roberts writes about in "Meet the Anarchists" [June 25] happens all the time. The motivation is just as political as the one involving Bolozone. Throw in a handful of racism, and you have "Project 87," a special partnership between the St. Louis building division and the police department. Most of the condemnations happen to African-Americans living in less-than-trendy neighborhoods. The usual scenario is: The occupants of a housing unit -- say, one unit in a four-family flat -- are suspected of drug activity. [continues 372 words]
The head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is under fire for manipulating data in a report to Congress to cover shortcomings in his federal antidrug program. Bill Clinton's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, has had no shortage of trouble recently. First, he provoked outrage by paying TV producers to let him edit scripts to promote the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's, or ONDCP's, antidrug message. Then he got into even more trouble when Salon, a liberal Internet magazine, discovered that he was paying publishers to run antidrug editorials. And McCaffrey's problems only got worse when it was discovered that his office's Website was allowing advertisers to store "cookies" on visitors' computers, potentially allowing advertisers totrack what other Websites they visit. [continues 1624 words]
The head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is under fire for manipulating data in a report to Congress to cover shortcomings in his federal antidrug program. Bill Clinton’s drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, has had no shortage of trouble recently. First, he provoked outrage by paying TV producers to let him edit scripts to promote the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s, or ONDCP’s, antidrug message. Then he got into even more trouble when Salon, a liberal Internet magazine, discovered that he was paying publishers to run antidrug editorials. And McCaffrey’s problems only got worse when it was discovered that his office’s Website was allowing advertisers to store “cookies” on visitors’ computers, potentially allowing advertisers to track what other Websites they visit. [continues 1624 words]