Conservative publications have accused the Biden administration of planning to distribute $30 million worth of free crack pipes and other paraphernalia as part of its effort to achieve “racial equity” among “underserved communities.” The original notice for federal grants included provisions to pay for “safe smoking kits/supplies” but the Biden administration insists that no federal funds will be specifically used to purchase crack pipes. But taxpayers will get screwed anyway thanks to federal distribution of free condoms under the same program. While “harm reduction” is the stated goal...
Drug Prohibition
6/24/21 Ted Carpenter on the Bloody Legacy of America’s Drug War
Ted Carpenter discusses the harmful effects of drug prohibition in America, both at home and abroad. First of all, he points out, prohibition simply doesn't work. We learned this during alcohol prohibition, when consumption remained high but prices and violence skyrocketed, and we continue to see it now, with ubiquitous street drugs, gang violence and millions of people in prison for nonviolent crimes. The public health problem of drug use is very real, Carpenter readily concedes, but that doesn't in any way imply that the answer is to use the police force and the penal system to try to...
How the American War on Drugs Demolished Guatemala
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Guatemala earlier this week to bestow millions of dollars in new foreign aid on that government. The Biden administration is pretending that giving more US tax dollars to Central American governments will miraculously reduce the surge of illegal immigrants that Biden’s appointees are welcoming in Arizona, Texas, and elsewhere. The purpose of Harris’s trip and the new handouts is not to solve that problem but simply to make the Biden administration appear to give a damn about the issue. In her official statements during the visit, Harris included no...
Yes, Republicans Are the Party of Drug Warriors
The federal government considers growing, distributing, buying, selling, possessing, or using marijuana to be a criminal offense, punishable by fines and imprisonment. Possession of marijuana will get you a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction. Yet there are fourteen states (plus the District of Columbia) where the recreational use of marijuana is legal. In the Supreme Court case Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the Court ruled that the federal government has the authority to prohibit marijuana possession and use for any and all purposes...
Does Oregon’s Decriminalization Signal An End to the War on Drugs?
Oregon became the first state to decriminalize possession of otherwise illegal drugs. According to this Feb. 1 Associated Press article, “Police in Oregon can no longer arrest someone for possession of small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other drugs as a ballot measure that decriminalized them took effect on Monday.” Instead of being arrested, those found in possession “would face a $100 fine or a health assessment that could lead to addiction counseling.” That such a measure was approved by Oregon voters is an encouraging sign that more people are waking up to...
Recovering Addict Explains How Gov’t Spurs Addiction Ep. 150 ft. the Clean Libertarian
https://youtu.be/kyuxnMc-NSc In this episode of the podcast, Drew Cook joins me to share his story of recovery and to explain his first hand account of how the state creates addicts. Drew is the host of The Clean Libertarian and has been a long time listener of the show! Subscribe to The Clean Libertarian Episode 150 of the Liberty Weekly Podcast is Brought to you by: Subscribe Star Liberty Weekly Substack The Liberty Weekly Patreon Page: help support the show and gain access to tons of bonus content! Become a patron today! Become a Patron!Liberty Weekly on Flote. Patreon Bonuses for...
Another Victim in America’s Drug War
On November 15, 2018, my wife came home to give me the worst news that I have ever gotten in my adult life. My stepdaughter, Mandy Koblischek, who had been my stepdaughter for the past 21 years, and who I loved dearly, died from a lethal overdose of heroin laced with fentanyl. If heroin was legal, Mandy would still be alive today. To some readers, that last sentence might appear to be a misprint. After all, isn’t America’s strict laws against the sale and use of recreational drugs designed to prevent what happened to Mandy? The answer is yes, but the reality is that drug prohibition, just...
You See, Government is Not Your Security Force, They Are Your Deadly Enemy
Washington Post: DEA seizes life savings of senile old man without the slightest pretext of a suspicion or belief that the money was involved in any crime at all. Every dollar Terry Rolin had saved over a lifetime was stacked in a large Tupperware container: $82,373. At 79, he was aging and worried about keeping so much cash on hand, his daughter said, so during one of her visits he asked her to open a joint bank account. Rebecca Brown was catching a flight home from the Pittsburgh airport early the next day and said she didn’t have time to stop at a bank. She confirmed on a government...
This Is Your Brain on Government Intervention (in the War on Drugs)
Ludwig von Mises, in his Critique of Interventionism, stated that one government intervention in the market creates unintended consequences, which inevitably justifies the next government intervention. Nowhere is this more true than in the healthcare and drug markets, including the illicit drug black market. The War on Drugs, which has fundamentally transformed American society, and has borne out tragic unintended consequences: Communities and families destroyed, a heavily militarized police force, an empowered, unelected bureaucratic super-state, and millions of people incarcerated,...
Accessories to Murder
Every American who supports drug prohibition is guilty.