The 'Law Enforcement' Rationale for Invading Venezuela Is an Open-Ended License for War
If an indictment is enough to justify military action, why bother seeking congressional approval?
War on Drugs
Thoughts on the Capture of Maduro and Trump's Attack on Venezuela
Maduro is a brutal dictator who is getting what he deserves. But Trump's actions are still illegal, because lacking proper congressional authorization. Whether they result in a beneficial regime change in Venezuela remains to be seen.
Donald Trump Says the U.S. Will 'Run' Venezuela After Maduro's Ouster
When asked who would be in charge, Trump said: “We’re designating those people.”
Trump Should Have Tried To Get Congressional Authorization If He Wanted To Strike Venezuela and Capture Maduro
The strikes against Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro might be popular or defensible. They were not legal.
The DOJ Thinks Cocaine Couriers Are Not Worth Prosecuting. Trump Thinks They Deserve To Die.
Even as the president blows up drug boats, the government routinely declines to pursue charges against smugglers nabbed by the Coast Guard.
Rand Paul's Annual Festivus Report Highlights $1.6 Trillion in Wasteful Spending
These wasteful boondoggles add up. So do the programs that many Americans insist are important but refuse to reform.
If You Give a Bear a Badge, Will It Respect Your Rights?
Despite their general ignorance of constitutional law, bears pose a much less grave threat to your civil liberties than humans do.
Here Are 5 Wars Trump Started or Expanded in 2025
The U.S. military is fighting or preparing to fight in more countries than it was when the self-proclaimed "peace president" took office.
From Nixon to Trump, the 'War on Drugs' Has Been a Disaster for Americans' Freedom
The Trump administration's chest-pounding approach is costing lives and eroding freedoms.
Trump's Marijuana Order Vindicates Longstanding Criticism of the Plant's Legal Classification
In addition to its symbolic significance, rescheduling the drug will facilitate research and provide tax relief to state-licensed cannabis suppliers.
Can J.D. Vance Stop a MAGA Civil War?
Plus: Debating marijuana at Turning Point USA, Massie and Khanna threaten Bondi with contempt over Epstein files, and Minnesota’s welfare fraud case.
Trump's Designation of Fentanyl As a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' Is a Drug-Fueled Delusion
The executive order does not accomplish much in practical terms, but it jibes with the president's conflation of drug trafficking with violent aggression.
Cannavictory
Plus: Polymarket bets on when killers will be apprehended, how locking up phones saves high school, and more...
Trump Orders the 'Expeditious' Reclassification of Marijuana
The long-awaited move will facilitate medical research and provide tax relief to the cannabis industry, but it falls far short of legalization.
Hegseth Won't Let Us See a Video That Might Undermine Support for Trump's Bloodthirsty Anti-Drug Strategy
The defense secretary claims the video, which shows a second strike that killed two floundering survivors, would compromise "sources and methods."
Should Libertarians Support Federal AI Regulation?
Plus: reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug, mass shootings at Bondi Beach and Brown University, and the U.S. seizes a Venezuelan oil tanker
Trump's Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched
The main practical benefits would be tax relief for the cannabis industry and fewer barriers to medical research.
Reflections on Lecturing in Mexico
My first-ever visit to Mexico gave me some perspective on America's crucial neighbor.
Stoner King Trump
Plus: Universal childcare, Canada's abortion industry, the new media personality cults, and more...
Review: When the CIA Tried To Unlock Mind Control
Project Mind Control tells the story of the federal government's failed MKUltra program.
The DOJ Says It Will Challenge Unconstitutional Gun Policies. Maybe It Should Stop Defending Them.
The Justice Department's litigation positions are at odds with its avowed intent to protect Second Amendment rights.
Trump's Word Games Can't Conceal the Murderous Reality of His Anti-Drug Strategy
Calling suspected cocaine smugglers "combatants" does not justify summarily executing them.
Trump Is Still Claiming He Saves '25,000 American Lives' When He Blows Up a Suspected Drug Boat
So far, by the president's reckoning, he has prevented 650,000 U.S. drug deaths—eight times the number recorded last year.
Hegseth Mulls Releasing a Video That Illustrates the Brutality of Trump's Murderous Anti-Drug Strategy
The footage shows what happened to the survivors of the September 2 attack that inaugurated the president's deadly campaign against suspected drug boats.
Boat Strike Inquiry
Plus: Hep B vaccines, national parks nonsense, Trump involvement in Netflix deal, and more...
Philip Hamburger on "The Importance of Granting Cert in Canna Provisions v. Bondi"
Columbia Prof. Philip Hamburger urges the Supreme Court to hear this caseand take the opportunity to overturn Gonzales v. Raich.
The 'Threat' That Supposedly Justified Killing 2 Boat Attack Survivors Was Entirely Speculative
The commander who ordered a second missile strike worried that the helpless men he killed might be able to salvage cocaine from the smoldering wreck.
Boat Attack Commander Says He Had To Kill 2 Survivors Because They Were Still Trying To Smuggle Cocaine
Adm. Frank M. Murphy reportedly told lawmakers a controversial second strike was necessary because drugs on the burning vessel remained a threat.
The Supreme Court Should Hear Case Seeking to Overturn Gonzales v. Raich
Raich is one of the Court's worst federalism decisions, holding that Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce allows it to ban possession of marijuana that never crossed state lines, and was never sold in any market.
Rand Paul Bashes Pete Hegseth Over Boat Bombings: 'He Was Lying…or He's Incompetent'
Paul says Hegseth misled Congress about deadly strikes on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean.
Hegseth's 'Fog of War' Is No Excuse for Summarily Executing Suspected Drug Smugglers
Regardless of what the defense secretary knew or said about the September 2 boat attack, the forces he commands are routinely committing murder in the guise of self-defense.
DHS Continues Airport Cash Seizures, a Year After the Justice Department Ended Them Due to Constitutional Concerns
A year ago the Justice Department suspended the DEA's airport interdiction program because of significant legal risks. The DHS is still using the same tactics.
The Law of War Was Not Designed for Trump's Bogus 'Armed Conflict' With Drug Smugglers
Instead of asking whether a particular boat attack went too far, Congress should ask how the summary execution of criminal suspects became the new normal.
No One Left Alive
Plus: Vaccine committee meets, privatizing air traffic control, the digital land as a fairy-tale realm, and more...
Hegseth's Alleged Order To 'Kill Everybody' Complicates Trump's Defense of His Murderous Anti-Drug Campaign
Even if you accept the president's assertion of an "armed conflict" with drug smugglers, blowing apart survivors of a boat strike would be a war crime.
'Kill Everybody'
Plus: War with Venezuela looms, a National Guard member shot in D.C. dies, and Sean Duffy wants you to stop flying in your pajamas.
McCarthy: "'We Intended the Strike to Be Lethal' Is Not a Defense"
NRO's Andrew McCarthy on why strike on defenseless survivors of strike on drug boat was "at best, a war crime under federal law."
They Built a Hemp Business in Good Faith but Washington Is About To Crush It
A new THC limit buried in the funding bill threatens to wipe out nearly the entire hemp market, while restrictive state laws are already choking small producers.
Trump Pardoned Gobble and Waddle. He Should Pardon More Deserving People, Too.
The president loves freeing people. His controversial clemency grants should not obscure the fact that the pardon power is incredibly important.
Trump's Habitual Charges of 'Treason' Reflect His Authoritarian Impulses
The president’s reaction to a supposedly "seditious" video illustrates his tendency to portray criticism of him as a crime.
Psychoactive Hemp Products Will Be Federally Prohibited in a Year Unless Congress Intervenes
A spending bill approved as part of the package that ended the federal shutdown aims to close a loophole that gave birth to $28 billion industry.
Mass Surveillance Is Powering a New Era of Pretextual Traffic Stops
An extensive network of automatic license plate readers is being used to develop predictive intelligence to stop vehicles, violating Americans’ rights.
Trump Says Legislators Committed Treason by Noting That Soldiers Are Not Obligated To Obey Unlawful Orders
The president's authoritarian response to a video posted by six members of Congress, who he says "should be arrested and put on trial," validates their concerns.
Trump's Venezuela Escalation Could Destroy MAGA, Warns Rand Paul
Blowing up boats won’t stop drugs—but it could sink Trump.
This Gun Case Harks Back to Constitutional Concerns About the Limits of Federal Power That Now Seem Quaint
Congress justified that National Firearms Act of 1934 as a revenue measure—a rationale undermined by the repeal of taxes on suppressors and short-barreled rifles.
A Senate-Approved Bill Would Ban the Hemp-Derived THC Products That Congress Legalized in 2018
The appropriations bill, which the House is considering, would wipe out an industry that offers alternatives to cannabis consumers in states that still prohibit recreational marijuana use.
Britain and Colombia Cut Off U.S. Intelligence Access Over Caribbean Boat Bombings
The two U.S. allies were OK with helping arrest suspected drug smugglers, but not with helping kill them.
