The Argument That 'America Has Gone Too Far in Legalizing Vice' Ignores the Cost of Prohibition
Is it just to punish the many for the excesses of the few?
War on Drugs
Happy Trails: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Won't Run for Reelection
The longest-serving California senator was a hardline drug warrior, a surveillance hawk, and no friend of freedom.
How a Drafting Error Made It Harder for New Yorkers To Obtain Relief From Marijuana Felony Records
Because legislators omitted a crucial letter, there is no straightforward way to downgrade convictions for offenses that are no longer felonies.
We Need New Laws To Protect People in Pain
The CDC’s revised prescribing guidelines retain an anti-opioid bias and do nothing to reverse the harmful policies inspired by the 2016 version.
Under No Circumstances Did Joe Biden Save Social Security
Plus: a listener question on prohibition and a lightning round on the editors' favorite Super Bowl moments
New California Bill Proposes Legalizing Authentic Cannabis Cafes
Cannabis consumers should have the same commercial leisure spaces that alcohol drinkers do.
The Fight To Criminalize Opioid Prescribing
Over 88 percent of opioid overdose deaths now involve either heroin or fentanyl. Targeting prescriptions is not an efficient way to address mortality.
Biden's Drug Price Controls Will Kill More Patients in the Long Run
And increase total health care costs to boot.
Calls To 'Close the Border' in Response to Fentanyl Deaths Are Misguided
As Biden mentioned fentanyl deaths in his State of the Union address, Republicans called on him to close the border. But "open borders" aren't to blame for overdoses.
Mike Pompeo Says He 'Grew Up Libertarian'
These days, he may run for president. His politics have changed.
A Federal Judge Says the Ban on Gun Possession by Cannabis Consumers Is Unconstitutional
The government argued that marijuana users have no Second Amendment rights because they are dangerous, unvirtuous, and untrustworthy.
Kentucky's Governor Shields Medical Marijuana Users From Prosecution
Gov. Andy Beshear issued a conditional pardon aimed at protecting people who use marijuana for medical purposes from criminal prosecution.
After Repeatedly Opposing Marijuana Banking Reform, Cory Booker Says It Is Urgently Needed
The senator bemoans the "cannabis crisis" he helped maintain by blocking the SAFE Banking Act.
Illinois Town Will Pay $12 Million to Family After SWAT Officer Shot 12-Year-Old in Kneecap
According to a lawsuit, Amir Worship was sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands raised when an officer shot him, shattering his kneecap.
Are We Making Any Progress on Police Brutality?
Plus: The editors consider the ongoing debt ceiling drama and answer a listener question about ending the war on drugs.
Serene Wanted To Quit Heroin. She Tried Psychedelics.
A documentary short about a woman who takes ayahuasca to alleviate the pain caused by addiction
U.S. Will No Longer Require Animal Testing for New Drugs
Plus: From jokes to jail, Google urges SCOTUS to protect Section 230, and more...
Pot Possession Cases Have Plummeted in Federal Courts, but Prior Marijuana Convictions Still Boost Penalties
Federal sentences for simple marijuana possession dropped by 93 percent over seven years.
Texas Executes Man Using Expired Drugs
A last-minute injunction gets tossed, allowing the state to give Robert Fratta a lethal dose of pentobarbital.
Andrew Tatarsky and Maia Szalavitz: How 'Harm Reduction' Is Transforming Drug Policy
As the drug war retreats, individualist approaches to substance use and abuse will make us all better off.
How 'Harm Reduction' Is Transforming Drug Policy
Andrew Tatarsky and Maia Szalavitz push individualist approaches to substance abuse as the drug war retreats.
This Congressman Wants the U.S. To Use Military Force Against Mexican Cartels
Like other authorizations for the use of military force—or AUMFs—it would be an unnecessary, unwise expansion of executive power.
Colorado Voters Delivered a Win for Pharmacological Freedom
A ballot initiative approved in November decriminalizes consumption of natural psychedelics.
Here's an Officer Who Might Have Actually ODed From Fentanyl Contact—but Not Because He Just Touched It
A North Carolina detective may have inhaled a significant amount during a drug bust.
Is Texas About To Use Expired Drugs To Execute Death Row Inmates?
Defendants say this practice violates the state’s own laws. The attorney general is pushing onward anyway.
Rand Paul Complains That Democrats Squandered Their Opportunity To Enact Marijuana Reforms
The prospects in the next session, when Republicans will control the House, are iffy.
Psychiatrists Do Not Know What They Are Treating
The mysteries of the mind are harder to unravel than psychiatrists pretend.
A Former Obama Drug Policy Adviser Blames 'Libertarianism' for 'Fueling San Francisco's Drug Crisis'
Stanford University psychologist Keith Humphreys misconstrues libertarianism and ignores its critique of prohibition's deadly impact.
Why Take Responsibility When You Can Blame Somebody Else?
The year’s highlights in buck passing feature petulant politicians, brazen bureaucrats, careless cops, loony lawyers, and junky journalists.
California Bill Builds on Reforms That Could Herald the Surprisingly Fast Collapse of Psychedelic Prohibition
S.B. 58, which emulates an initiative that Colorado voters approved last month, would legalize the use of five psychoactive substances found in fungi and plants.
The Failure To Enact Marijuana Banking and Crack Sentencing Reforms Is a Window on Congressional Dysfunction
Although both bills have broad bipartisan support, they never got a vote in the Senate and were excluded from the omnibus spending bill.
Jacob Grier: Craft Cocktail Freedom and the Terrible Science Behind Vaping Bans
Q&A with the co-author of Raising the Bar: A Bottle-by-Bottle Guide to Mixing Masterful Cocktails at Home.
Bartender Jacob Grier: Craft Cocktail Freedom and the Terrible Science Behind Vaping Bans
Q&A with Jacob Grier, co-author of Raising the Bar: A Bottle-by-Bottle Guide to Mixing Masterful Cocktails at Home.
Congress Misses Another Chance To Correct Blatantly Unjust Crack Penalties
The legal distinction between the smoked and snorted forms of cocaine never made sense.
Congress Yet Again Fails To Pass Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reforms
A compromise to cram crack sentencing reform into the year-end omnibus spending bill fell apart at the last minute.
Why Does Funding Government Take $1.7 Trillion and 4,000 Pages?
Plus: Title 42 order termination is on hold, the FTC vs. Meta, and more...
Merrick Garland's New Charging Policy Aims To Ameliorate the Damage His Boss Did As a Drug Warrior
The attorney general's memo to prosecutors is an improvement, but it is no substitute for legislation.
Chuck Schumer Scrambles To Save the Marijuana Banking Bill He Blocked Last Year
The Senate majority leader is suddenly keen to pass legislation that he portrayed as a threat to broader reform.
Attorney General Orders Prosecutors To End Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity as Congress Dithers
The move comes as legislation flounders in Congress to end the crack-powder sentencing disparity once and for all.
These Memos Show That FDA Regulation of E-Cigarettes Is Driven by Dubious Value Judgments Rather Than Science
The agency is determined to ban the flavors that former smokers overwhelmingly prefer. For the children.
Don't Let Police, Media Mislead You About Fentanyl Exposure Overdoses
Another officer claims to have been laid out just by being close to the drug. That’s not how it works.
Even States That Have Already Decriminalized Marijuana Use See Fewer Possession Arrests After Legalization
A study credits "an overall lower police search rate," the result of new priorities and legal constraints.
New Zealand Bans Cigarette Sales to Anyone Born After 2008. Forever.
The country's strategy ignores the failures of prohibition.
Merchants of Death, Swaps, and Shake-ups
Plus: The editors briefly celebrate a noteworthy shake-up in the Senate.
