I don't normally blog about my own TV appearances, but Thursday night on CNBC, debating medical marijuana with former prosecutor and Drug Watch International board member Terrence Farley, I found myself almost feeling sorry for him. Not because I'm such a hotshot debater -- watching the encounter later, I could easily spot a dozen things I could have done better -- but because I suddenly saw what it was like to be on the losing end of history.
Now I think I know what it must have been like to be,…
There are a lot of colorful characters who, for fun and profit, devote their lives to prolonging the war on marijuana users, no matter how much damage it causes to society or how little it does to stem drug trade violence.
Many of these drug warriors are clearly unhinged, their views informed more by blind zealotry than by sober policy analysis. That's why I hesitate to post this video of longtime anti-drug culture warrior Joyce Nalepka attempting to disrupt a recent MPP-sponsored press conference…
Two weeks and eight arrests after a photo of Michael Phelps smoking from a bong made headlines, Richland County, S.C., Sheriff Leon Lott has called off the criminal investigation of the Olympic champion.
Unlike Phelps, who has expressed regret for the entire incident, Lott was unrepentant about wasting the county's time and resources on a case that at most would have led to charges of possession of a pinch of marijuana. He also didn't apologize for the armed raids and arrests of eight college kids…
Last night I had the opportunity to debate medical marijuana policy with the White House drug czar's chief counsel, Ed Jurith. Scott Morgan of StopTheDrugWar.org did a great job covering the event.
Nobody expected a drug czar official to get up on stage, slap his forehead and say, "Oh, you're right, arresting patients for using a safe, effective drug recommended by their doctors is shameful and immoral." Still, I thought there were signs in the debate that there could be some common ground somewhere.…
Folks, it's official: Opposition to safe, legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients has dwindled to the point where only the most obnoxious blowhards like Bill O'Reilly even bother stoking it.
Here he is spouting off on the latest lie from the White House drug czar's office that medical marijuana dispensaries outnumber Starbucks coffee shops in San Francisco. My colleague Aaron Smith has already exposed this nonsense as a complete fabrication, and it's already been reported in…
So police discover a package of marijuana apparently shipped to the mayor of a small town in Prince George's County and respond by sending a SWAT team to pounce on the unarmed man as he returns from work, killing his two Labradors for good measure. The police then handcuff him and his mother-in-law next to their pets and interrogate them for hours as blood pools on the floor. And a PG police spokesman says the raid was carried out properly according to their policies.
I'm sure it was. Does anybody…
