The HEMPeror speaks

I talk with Brian Lehrer of WNYC (New York public radio) about the pleasures and pains of pot-czardom. One point that failed to come across clearly: It’s not true that 60% of cannabis users don’t have high school diplomas. What’s true is that 60% of the days of cannabis use involve either people still in school or dropouts. The days-of-use calculation is dominated by a relatively small number of heavy users; heavy use, rather than casual use, is concentrated toward the bottom of the distribution of education, which reflects the distribution of income and status.

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 “The HEMPeror speaks”

  1. …heavy use, rather than casual use, is concentrated toward the bottom of the distribution of education, which reflects the distribution of income and status.

    Given that wealth seems to be following the 90-10 law (90% of the stocks are owned by 10% of the population).
    And given that Mr. Obama’s compromise budget looks to whack the already ungenerous Social Security monthly handouts (thus concretizing the 90-10 law).
    And given the arrival of yet more talented robots to replace yet more expendable humans. (Said robots to be owned by a consecrated few.)
    And given that very little gets done legislatively in American unless it’s oligarchs and plutocrats give it a wink and a nod (catapulting the self-proclaiming makers over the takers).

    Forgive me for being a realist-cynic:

    But I can understand why cannabis is slowly escaping the regulatory lasso.
    It shows great promise at keeping the gamma-minuses happy and sedated.

    PS: Congratulations of the stardom of your Czardom. You deserve it and have earned it.

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