Criminal Justice Reform Took a Back Seat at the 2024 DNC
The official Democratic Party platform no longer endorses abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, or repealing mandatory minimums.
War on Drugs
The Democratic Party Platform Still Won't Commit to Legalizing Marijuana
Democrats' official 2024 platform praises President Joe Biden's marijuana pardons but fails to call for decriminalization.
Don't Blame Dealers for Fentanyl Deaths. Blame Drug Warriors.
Prosecutors' attempts to convert accidental overdoses into homicides are dangerous and morally dubious.
Tim Walz Is Another Big-Government Liberal
Plus: A listener asks the editors about tariffs and subsidies in the manufacture of electric vehicles.
FDA Declines To Approve MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy as a PTSD Treatment
The FDA, which approved the protocols for the studies it now questions, is asking for an additional Phase 3 clinical trial, which would take years and millions of dollars.
A Study of 'Problematic' Opioid Use Among Pain Patients Is Less Alarming Than It Seems
The authors of the meta-analysis misleadingly imply that pain treatment should be blamed for recent increases in drug-related deaths.
My Jotwell Review of David Pozen's "The Constitution of the War on Drugs"
The book is the most extensive analysis to date of constitutional issues arising from the War on Drugs, and why the constitutional law largely failed to constrain its abuses.
Walz, Like Harris, Supports Marijuana Legalization—but He Beat Her to the Punch
The Democratic vice presidential nominee has a long record of supporting cannabis reform.
Weighing Kamala Harris' Veep Options
A very special Reason Roundtable crossover episode with two guests from The Dispatch!
Glenn Loury on Economics, Black Conservatism, and Crack Cocaine
The Brown University economist's new memoir Late Admissions covers capitalism, addiction, race, and the academy.
Majority of Public Comments Support Descheduling or Legalizing Marijuana
While lawmakers remain resistant to change, most of the public thinks it's high time to stop treating marijuana as dangerous.
A Fetus Doesn't Need Its Own Medical Marijuana License, Oklahoma Court Says
The ruling means it's not child neglect for a pregnant woman prescribed medical marijuana to use it. But some judges say it should be.
Kamala Harris's Unduly Narrow View of Bodily Autonomy
She rightly backs "my body, my choice" on abortion, but goes against it on many other issues.
Unlike Biden and Trump, Kamala Harris Has Repeatedly Supported Pot Legalization
The presumptive Democratic nominee has a more liberal drug policy record than both the president and the Republican presidential nominee.
The DEA Claims To Be Able To Search Your Bag Without Your Consent. But Can They?
Recent footage shows a federal agent attempting to search a citizen’s bag without their consent, despite precedent saying that’s illegal.
The Best of Reason: Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Anything'
How legislators learned to stop worrying about the constitutionality of federal drug and gun laws by abusing the Commerce Clause.
The DEA Wants To Ban Scientifically 'Crucial' Psychedelics Because People Might Use Them
The agency claims DOI and DOC have "a high potential for abuse" because they resemble other drugs it has placed in Schedule I.
Michigan Supreme Court Rules Against Detroit's Asset Forfeiture Racket
The ruling is the second recent court decision that has curbed Detroit's aggressive vehicle forfeiture program.
Biden's Final Flip-Flop
The president's decision to drop out after insisting he never would continued a pattern established by a long career of politically convenient reversals.
The DOOBIE Act Would Limit Government Discrimination Against People Who Have Smoked Weed
Under the law, the feds couldn't deny you a job or security clearance just because you've used marijuana in the past.
The DOJ Claims Medical Marijuana Patients Who Own Guns 'Endanger the Public in Multiple Ways'
Defending the federal ban on gun possession by drug users, the government's lawyers seem increasingly desperate.
Trump Promises To Get Rid of Bad Regulations. Can He Deliver?
Growth of regulation slowed under former President Trump, but it still increased.
How Immigration Law Magnifies the Injustice Inflicted by the War on Drugs
Every year, thousands of U.S. residents are deported for drug-related activity, including minor offenses and conduct that states have legalized.
Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Anything'
How legislators learned to stop worrying about the constitutionality of federal drug and gun laws by abusing the Commerce Clause
Constitutional Theory and the Meaning of "Invasion"
Leading constitutional law scholars Larry Solum and Mark Tushnet opine on how we might answer this question.
Detailing the 'Real Problem With Legal Weed,' a Critic Grossly Exaggerates the Prevalence of Pot Addiction
The Manhattan Institute's Charles Fain Lehman misleadingly equates a survey's measure of "cannabis use disorder" with "compulsive" consumption that causes "health and social problems."
Biden, Trump, and RFK Jr. Are All Anti-Freedom
Those three presidential candidates are making promises that would have bewildered and horrified the Founding Fathers.
Review: A Drug Reformer Makes the Case for Harm Reduction
The Harm Reduction Gap argues for individual autonomy and meeting drug users where they're at.
Divided Over Purdue Pharma Deal, SCOTUS Unites in Accepting a Dubious OxyContin Narrative
The majority and the dissenters agree that the drug was "central" to "the opioid crisis," even though there is little evidence to support that thesis.
He Faced a Terrorism Probe, Went to Jail on a Gun Charge, and Now Is Charged With Drug Possession
Although the FBI never produced evidence that Ali Hemani was a threat to national security, it seems determined to imprison him by any means necessary.
California Lawmakers Kill World's Most Marginal Psychedelics Reform
The now-dead bill would have permitted three counties to establish pilot programs in which military veterans could take psilocybin under the supervision of medical professionals.
Does Weed Cause Strokes and Heart Attacks?
A widely cited study commits so many egregious statistical errors that it's a poster child for junk science.
The Government Caused New York's Legal Pot 'Disaster'
The state has thousands of unauthorized shops but fewer than 200 licensed marijuana sellers.
The Bikeriders Is a Nostalgic Vision of America's Postwar Counterculture
Jeff Nichols tells the tragic story of a carefree Midwest motorcycle gang that transforms into something uglier.
If Opiates Are Killing Americans, Why Won't the FDA Let Us Try an Alternative?
As the DEA relentlessly tightens regulations on pain meds, the FDA refuses to approve a safer alternative already being used in similar countries.
Tennessee Law Declares Narcan Recipients 'Under the Influence' for 24 Hours
The Ben Kredich Act, named for a young man killed by an allegedly impaired motorist, overcorrects in response to a tragic incident.
Maryland Governor To Issue Mass Pardon to More Than 100,000 Marijuana Offenders
The blanket pardon is one of the largest yet, and another sign of the collapse of public support for marijuana prohibition.
The Deadly Tobacco Drug War Down Under
Australia’s Prohibition-style attempts to abolish nicotine use have predictably led to a new drug war being fought over a legal substance.
Going Down?
Plus: Hunter Biden is guilty of crimes that shouldn't be crimes, North Dakota's voters take on gerontocracy, and more...
Hunter Biden's Gun Conviction Does Not Resolve a Constitutional Dispute That Pits Him Against His Father
The president's son, who faces up to 25 years in prison for conduct that violated no one's rights, can still challenge his prosecution on Second Amendment grounds.
Mike Solana: Can San Francisco Be Saved?
Pirate Wires Editor in Chief Mike Solana discusses the lessons of San Francisco's politics, his vision for the future, and his critiques of libertarianism.
Rolling Backward
Plus: Hezbollah escalates, congestion pricing halted, the Didion-Dunne family feud, GIMBYism, and more...
FDA Advisers Overwhelmingly Oppose Approval of MDMA As a Psychotherapeutic Catalyst
The panel's recommendation, based on several concerns about two clinical trials, is a serious setback for a promising PTSD treatment.
Hunter Biden's Trial Highlights a Widely Flouted, Haphazardly Enforced, and Constitutionally Dubious Gun Law
The president's son, who is charged with crimes that violated no one's rights, theoretically faces up to 25 years in prison.
Can a Criminal Enterprise Commit an Unfair Labor Practice?
Does the National Labor Relations Board have jurisdiction over a medical marijuana dispensary's treatment of its employees?
Trump Decries Disproportionate Drug Penalties While Threatening Dealers With Death
The former and possibly future president hopes voters will overlook his incoherence.
