Drug history and drug policy

Johann Hari’s new book nails nails Harry Anslinger as a lying racist fanatic.  

But what does that tell us about cannabis policy going forward? 

Not much, I’d say.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

2 thoughts on “Drug history and drug policy”

  1. While I broadly agree with the overall premise, there are parts of this article that rub me the wrong way. The author takes a "vigorous marketing effort designed to promote heavy use" as a given, as if there is no way a legal cannabis industry and its advertising could possibly be regulated. As for "minors who damage their life-chances by spending too many teenage hours stoned", where do parents enter into this equation? As much as I hate to say it and sound like a Libertarian, "personal responsibility" is not a completely BS retort 100% of the time (the "Broken Clock" principle, if you will), and I think it applies here. This is indeed a very cynical article. "Parents are unable to control their kids, lobbyists have completely captured our government so of course there's going to be no regulation, legalization doesn't sound like all that great of an idea now, does it?"

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