Drug Policy

Jillette: If Obama Were Arrested Under His Laws, He'd Be In Prison

The Huffington Post | Christine Friar | Posted 05.25.2012

In a recent episode of his podcast "Penn's Sunday School," comedian Penn Jillette laid his opinions on the Obama drug policies out on the table. J...

Author and Legal Scholar, Michelle Alexander, Talks about The War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration (Part 3)

Kathleen Wells, J.D. | Posted 05.14.2012

Kathleen Wells, J.D.

Author and legal scholar, Michelle Alexander, has written a powerful and highly acclaimed, well-researched book titled, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness."

Obama Campaign Nightmare

Richard Feldman | Posted 05.08.2012

Richard Feldman

The question is, will the Romney campaign understand the relationships between these two freedom- and liberty-related issues and pilot a course to maximize gun owners' fear and marijuana reformers' distrust?

Playing Tough While Communities Suffer

Rep. Charles Rangel | Posted 05.03.2012

Rep. Charles Rangel

Too many aspects of the current justice system permanently marginalize and disenfranchise ex-offenders. That is what makes too many of our communities dangerous.

The Obama Administration Is Wrong to Deny American Farmers a Profitable Crop

Eric Steenstra | Posted 05.03.2012

Eric Steenstra

Despite growing consumer demand for these eco-friendly and healthy products, the U.S. remains the only industrialized nation in the world that allows the importation and sale of hemp raw materials and finished goods, but bans its farmers from growing the crop.

When Does "Pro-Life" Equal "Pro-Imprisonment"?

Lynn M. Paltrow | Posted 04.18.2012

Lynn M. Paltrow

The Liberty Counsel has established that the "pro-life" position is "pro-punishment," not just for doctors who perform abortions, but also for pregnant women who have no intention of ending their pregnancies and go to term.

A Drug Policy for the 21st Century

R. Gil Kerlikowske | Posted 04.18.2012

R. Gil Kerlikowske

Today we are releasing the 2012 National Drug Control Strategy -- the Obama Administration's primary policy blueprint for reducing drug use and its consequences in America. It is based on the premise that drug addiction is a chronic disease of the brain that can be prevented and treated.

"New" White House Drug Control Strategy: New Rhetoric, Same Failed Policies

Bill Piper | Posted 04.17.2012

Bill Piper

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (more commonly known as the drug czar's office) released its 2012 National Drug Control Strategy today. The strategy is nearly identical to previous national drug strategies.

Setting the Record Straight: Responding to the Prescripti​on Drug Abuse Epidemic

R. Gil Kerlikowske | Posted 05.22.2012

R. Gil Kerlikowske

The Obama administration has adopted a mainstream approach to the drug problem, employing a balance of public health and safety approaches to reduce drug use and its consequences. All of these policies are grounded in science and research -- not politics or ideology.

U.N. Misses Opportunity to Address Failed Drug War

James Gierach | Posted 05.19.2012

James Gierach

The world is fraught with too much violence, too much crime, too much addiction, too many overdose cases, too many prisons, too many bullet holes, too many AIDS cases, and too many bills related to prohibition. The war on drugs has proved to be public enemy number one.

Does Medical Marijuana Increase Drug Use?

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D. | Posted 02.10.2012

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D.

It's time to get the legalization lobby out of the business of medical marijuana and instead focus our attention on scientists developing non-smoked marijuana-based medications for the truly ill. That would make this issue no longer the sick joke that it is today.

Not Your Father's Drug Prevention Program

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D. | Posted 04.06.2012

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D.

The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America will welcome more than 2,500 delegates from across the country for the 22nd Annual National Leadership Forum in National Harbor, MD, just outside Washington. And they have a lot to show for their more than two-decades of work.

Silence Says a Lot: An Open Letter to Google About Marijuana Legalization

Stephen Downing | Posted 04.03.2012

Stephen Downing

In more than twenty years with the Los Angeles Police Department, where I retired as deputy chief of police, I saw a lot of puzzling behavior at close range. This week I saw some odd behavior from Google, YouTube and President Obama.

Lucia Graves

Barrage Of Pot-Related Questions Ignored In Obama's Online Chat

HuffingtonPost.com | Lucia Graves | Posted 01.31.2012

WASHINGTON, DC -- President Barack Obama in an online "conversation" with American voters on Monday, failed to answer a barrage of questions about mar...

The Carnage in Mexico: Do We Care?

Norm Stamper | Posted 03.30.2012

Norm Stamper

American drug policy, and our gutless, unreasoned refusal to change it, has caused the epic violence south of the border.

How to Write a Clichéd, Unpersuasive Argument Against Drug Legalization

Scott Morgan | Posted 03.18.2012

Scott Morgan

Let's take a moment to review some of the tactics on display here, which may go a long way towards illustrating why modern drug war apologists have been losing traction in the growing public debate over American drug policy.

Coloradan Arrested With Almost 50 Lbs. Of Marijuana

Posted 01.13.2012

A Colorado man was arrested in Nebraska Wednesday afternoon after state troopers there found him transporting a large amount of marijuana and hashish....

Youth Drug Use: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

R. Gil Kerlikowske | Posted 02.20.2012

R. Gil Kerlikowske

Last week, I joined officials from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Department of Health and Human Services to announce the results of the largest annual survey on youth drug use in America.

Drug Courts: Enter At Your Own Risk

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli | Posted 02.14.2012

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli

The drug war is forty years old this year. It's time to step back and ask ourselves what's the best way to solve the problem we're trying to solve -- how to reduce drug abuse and addiction -- and use the best available evidence to guide us.

Fixing Our Drug Policy Will Require A Hatchet, Not A Scalpel

Scott Morgan | Posted 02.07.2012

Scott Morgan

Despite our disappointment with the substance of Obama's policy on controlled substances, we can and should applaud the president for at least understanding that the thoughtless tough-on-drugs pandering of the 80s and 90s has no place in modern American politics.

Strange Bongfellows? Newt Gingrich and Marijuana

Steve Heilig | Posted 02.01.2012

Steve Heilig

The Republican from Georgia was embarking on his first rise and fall as King of the Hill, but he had a way with words and seemingly a good grip on the true conservative's creed of minimal governmental interference in private lives.

Chris Christie Speaks Out Against The Drug War

Posted 12.01.2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spoke out against the war on drugs on Monday, saying that "we need to do much different and much better than what w...

The War on Drugs Has Failed - It's Time for a New Approach

Amanda Feilding | Posted 01.24.2012

Amanda Feilding

There is much debate as to what the best model of future drug control might look like, but the important thing is not the specific policy to be implemented, but the principles upon which they will be founded and the freedom for countries to experiment with new approaches.

Losing Hearts and Minds in the Drug War

Norm Stamper | Posted 01.14.2012

Norm Stamper

In the forty years since Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs," Americans' perceptions of that war are finally beginning to shift.

Congress on Speed: Partisan Conflict Led to Many Problems in 1986 Drug Law

Eric E. Sterling | Posted 01.01.2012

Eric E. Sterling

If Congress were functioning properly, it would take the time to consider the many potential improvements in drug policy that could save lives by preventing overdose, reducing the spread of HIV, and lessening violence, preventing crime, and saving money.