In a recently released report titled “Ending the Drug Wars,” five previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics have endorsed the London School of Economics' IDEAS center’s findings. The report looked at “the high costs and unintended consequences of drug prohibitions on public health and safety, national security and law enforcement,” according to the Huffington Post. "The pursuit of a militarized and enforcement-led global ‘war on drugs’ strategy has produced enormous negative outcomes and collateral…

[caption id="attachment_6313" align="alignleft" width="240"] Rep. Steve Cohen[/caption] More and more states, in conflict with federal policy, are permitting the use of medical marijuana and decriminalizing its recreational use. In order to examine this unnecessary conflict as well as the current federal policy’s broad impacts, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced legislation last week to create a National Commission on Federal Marijuana Policy. “[I]t’s important that we understand the impact…

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Shafer Report, the extensive study commissioned by Richard Nixon to advise him on drug policy. Surprisingly, both to Nixon and to most readers today, the report suggested making marijuana legal all the way back in 1973! Nixon did not approve and ignored the findings of the report, having already decided to embark on a disastrous “War On Drugs” that continues to this day, with increasingly devastating effects on society. Eric Sterling covers the report extensively…

Back in May, the Associated Press published the first piece in a groundbreaking series concluding that, after 40 years and more than $1 trillion spent, America’s war on drugs “has failed to meet any of its goals.” Today, as part of the same series, the AP looks specifically at U.S. enforcement strategy toward drug cartels in Mexico, and concludes that even record-level arrests and seizures have failed absolutely to curb the power of the violent gangs that control vast swaths of northern Mexico and…