Former ONDCP Director John P. Walters is at it again, only this time he has help from Donald Trump’s former US Attorney General, prohibitionist William P. Barr. Barr joins Walters in authoring a Hudson Institute publication claiming that marijuana is dangerous and its legalization was a big mistake. Their announcement was quickly debunked online here and here. The Hudson Institute was originally founded by a nuclear war strategist named Herman Kahn who later became the inspiration for the character portrayed by Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick’s movie Dr. Strangelove. John Walters became the I ..read more

Rumors that the CIA orchestrated the meth and heroin trade in Southeast Asia during the Viet Nam War have been examined in Patrick Winn’s excellent new book, Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel that Survived the CIA. During the Viet Nam War the CIA was faced with a critical choice. The agency could undermine the drug trade of a Burmese tribal people called the Wa who occupied land next to the Chinese border, or they could leave the Wa alone to block Communist China’s expansion into the mountainous Golden Triangle area of Burma and beyond. Being the CIA, they threw their full support ..read more

A Proclamation on Granting Pardon for the Offense of Simple Possession of Marijuana, Attempted Simple Possession of Marijuana, or Use of Marijuana I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., do hereby grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who, on or before the date of this proclamation, committed or were convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, regardless of whether they have been charged with or prosecuted for these offenses on or before the date of th ..read more

The US Department of Justice wants us all to know that internet swindlers are impersonating DEA agents and scamming money from people online. Unfortunately, the warning doesn’t include a similar public concern about the DEA’s own scams. Actual DEA agents in plain-clothes are mugging airline passengers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by tricking disembarking passengers into being searched for cash when the passengers don’t know they are legally free to reject the search and simply walk away. Any cash seized by the agents disappears into a quagmire of red tape while returni ..read more

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House drug policy advisor, eulogizes the late-Senator Dianne Feinstein for her opposition to medicinal marijuana in the 1990s: …“For a Californian like me working on drug policy, Senator Feinstein was a role model throughout my career in public service. She stood steadfast against legalization until the very end because she knew it was the right thing to do to protect public health and safety. “Throughout her illustrious career, the Senator was a leader on drug policy even when the lobbyists and special inter ..read more

Tony Perkins and Jennifer Bauwens of the Family Research Council (FRC)–a think tank and organization of churches accused of wanting to end democracy in the U.S. and replace it with a theocracy–are warning Americans that psychedelics open people up to demonic activities: …when you’re reading the Bible and you see the word “witchcraft”… for example … Moses’ encounter with magicians in Egypt … those magicians weren’t just partaking in witchcraft to access the evil realm … they were also doing it with drugs … that now we would know as psychedelic or hallucinogenic drugs…. Ritualized medical appl ..read more

Public consumption of marijuana terrifies prohibitionists. In practice they appear to view cannabis users in groups as the moral equivalent of demonic rituals. Maybe it’s because for thousands of years heaps of smoldering marijuana and psychedelic herbs have been publicly consumed during mystic ceremonies, usually attended by all types of pagans, witches, heretics and ancient Romans participating in orgies. Whatever the reasons, the Las Vegas hotel industry is progressively challenging Nevada’s laws prohibiting public use of weed. According to Nevada attorney David Edelblute: …the distinguish ..read more

If failure can be defined as something that creates the very crisis it’s intended to prevent, then a recent Brown University study of close-proximity opioid overdoses in Indianapolis confirms suspicions that little else fails like the drug war when it comes to saving lives. The [researchers] found that within seven, 14 and 21 days, opioid-related seizures of drugs by police were significantly associated with increased overdoses within 100, 250 and 500 meters of the seizure location. Most notably, the number of fatal overdoses was two-fold higher than expected within seven days and 500 meters ..read more

Remember John P. Walters? Sigh… We know marijuana is linked to mental illness — so what are we doing? by John P. Walters in the New York Post. Yep. The same nonsense that he was promoting years ago. It’s the old “link” to schizophrenia story. And our own Servetus debunked the whole scare earlier this year: Alleged cannabis links to psychosis busted Of course, Walters buries the important part… “The skeptical will note the study establishes no specific cause-and-effect process, which is more of a caution than a flashing red light.” In fact, as you continue to read, you understand that he’s simp ..read more

A Senator talking about marijuana… “Two ounces. Just two ounces is equivalent to three joints.” “Just two ounces is equivalent to three joints” — the Republican arguments against legal cannabis are going well. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/PYxftaaMtq — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 28, 2023 ..read more