A RAND analyst lays out seven important questions regarding the establishment of legal marijuana: 1. Production. Where will legal pot be grown -- outdoors on commercial farms, inside in confined growing spaces, or somewhere in between? RAND research has found that legalizing marijuana could make it dramatically cheaper to produce -- first because producers will no … Continue reading What would legalized pot look like?
Tag: Drugs
Legal weed
Fresh Air recently aired a great interview on the marijuana legalization. It spent a lot of time looking at the medical marijuana regulation in Colorado and how that will be the model for full legalization. The interview was balanced and informative. (A very rare thing for drug policy discussions.) He also wrestled … Continue reading Legal weed
NA gives its members opioids?
Marc Lewis discusses an important role of endogenous opioids. Some very prominent emotion scientists have theorized that opioids (made inside our brains) are at the root of human attachment. Mother’s milk is rich with opioid molecules. In other words, nature found a surefire way to soothe the baby with its mother’s milk, using the same … Continue reading NA gives its members opioids?
This is your culture on pot
Keith Humphreys and Mark Kleiman offer some great commentary on marijuana legalization and what a legal marijuana market might look like. First, Humphreys: About eighty percent of the market is “commercial grade” cannabis, which has a THC content of about 5% and sells for $70 to $230 per ounce, depending on how far a buyer … Continue reading This is your culture on pot
K2, Spice and legalization
I do not consider myself a drug warrior. (Though, few people do these days. It can be a little like racism. People attribute it to others, but never themselves.) I oppose incarcerating people for possession of quantities consistent with personal use. I favor policies that target demand rather than supply. I'm also skeptical of hype … Continue reading K2, Spice and legalization
n=8
Published in a prestigious journal with an 'n' of 8. Unbelievable. Participants Eight cocaine-using adults. Measurements Subjects completed nine experimental sessions in which they were pre-treated with 0, 100 or 200 mg oral immediate release bupropion. Ninety minutes later they sampled an intranasal cocaine dose [4 (placebo), 15 or 45 mg] and made six choices between that dose and … Continue reading n=8
Harsh enforcement has failed
This Foreign Policy article provides a concise snapshot of the failure of the "harsh enforcement" approach to drug policy: As a domestic policy, a harsh enforcement approach has done little to control drug use, but has done a lot to lock up a growing portion of the U.S. population. Cocaine and opiate prices are about half … Continue reading Harsh enforcement has failed
Only 2.6% of welfare applicants test positive
Not surprisingly, drug testing of welfare recipients does not confirm the assumptions of supporters: Of the 4,086 applicants who scheduled drug tests while the law was enforced, 108 people, or 2.6 percent, failed, most often testing positive for marijuana. About 40 people scheduled tests but canceled them, according to the Department of Children and Families, … Continue reading Only 2.6% of welfare applicants test positive
I can’t sleep no more…
Ta-Nehisi Coates reminds us that human error will exist, whatever the drug policy, and uses a recent police killing of an unarmed 18 year old to point out that the stakes are very high when anything is criminalized. When people talk about ending the War on Drugs, or decriminalizing marijuana, or reining in stop and frisk, they … Continue reading I can’t sleep no more…
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