MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'drug legalization'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:53:31 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592358&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fkj9MA3WDFUo%2F By David BoazI hope you've got your NCAA bracket in by now. The NCAA estimates that 35 million Americans will do so. But keep in mind: As the Washington Post notes, you're breaking the law: Office pools, despite the warnings of law enforcement officials, are among the country’s most popular illegal activities. The FBI estimates that roughly $2.5 billion is gambled on the NCAA tournament, and only $80 million is bet legally through Nevada sports books. A good portion of the rest takes the form of $5 or $10 entry fees to participate in a bracket-pick NCAA tournament pool. Is this the most popular illegal activity in America? Well, the Office of National Drug Control Policy says that 104 million Americans have used marijuana, 28.5 million in the past year. Does it make sense to criminalize... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592358 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:49:08 +0100 4592358 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4386268&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhNOrrAy2tZQ%2F By David BoazThe new NBC drama “Harry’s Law” has a preposterous premise, but it does give Kathy Bates a chance to chew some scenery. In the pilot — to be repeated tonight at 8 p.m. — she’s defending a young black man facing jail time for drug possession. And she unleashes a tirade against the drug war and against an outmatched prosecutor. Conservative bloggers have complained because Bates’s character Harriet “Harry” Korn said that the idea of drug decriminalization ”was first raised by conservative Republicans . . . when the party had thinkers, before it was hijacked by the likes of Rush Limbaugh.” (Exchange begins at about 24:00 in the episode.) Looking for video of her courtroom speech, I found this excellent discussion ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4386268 Sat, 22 Jan 2011 19:10:30 +0100 4386268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4118876&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FpmUqFSZv4JA%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoPolls suggest that Hispanics in California are largely opposed to Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana in that state. This is unfortunate since Hispanics have historically been disproportionate victims of drug prohibition. Earlier this week, David Kopel wrote a historical analysis in Encyclopedia Britannica of the racist origins of marijuana prohibition, which targeted Mexicans in particular. Back in the 1930’s when the federal government started cracking down on marijuana consumption, officials openly worried about the effect of the drug on “degenerate Spanish-speaking residents … who are low mentally, because of social and racial conditions.” Some people might claim that even though racial profiling certainly was behind marijuana prohibition, its c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4118876 Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:55:18 +0100 4118876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993872&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeIxj6Ka_4Uo%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoQuoting great classical liberal minds such as Milton Friedman, Gary Becker and Mario Vargas Llosa, Spain’s former drug Czarina Araceli Manjón-Cabeza endorsed drug legalization today in a compelling op-ed [in Spanish] published in El País, Spain’s leading newspaper. Just a week earlier, Felipe González, Spain’s former Primer Minister, also came out in support of drug legalization. Manjón-Cabeza takes particular aim at the UN International Narcotics Control Board for its criticisms of the different decriminalization and harm-reduction policies implemented in recent years in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Spain, among other countries. She calls the INCB’s views “inadmissible.” She concluded by calling prohibition a “savage and inefficient instrument tha... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993872 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:02:44 +0100 3993872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3920824&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwT5d--kk2qo%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoColombia’s new president Juan Manuel Santos came out last week in support of a debate on drug legalization, endorsing the call made a few weeks ago by his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderón. Santos even said that if Californian voters passed a ballot initiative this November to legalize marijuana, he would team up with the presidents of Mexico and Peru “to work out how we are going to react and what is going to happen after this referendum.” This seems to confirm the reports of the Mexican newspaper El Universal which claimed that Calderón’s turn around in his willingness to discuss drug legalization came after meeting with then president-elect Santos, who told him that Mexico should lead a debate on drug legalization. A week ago, Costa Rican president Lau... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3920824 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:12:01 +0100 3920824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880813&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fcocaine-should-be-legal-says-top-british-doctor%2F In the U.S., it’s hard enough to get a sip of wine until you’re well past the age when you actually start drinking, but across the pond, a top doctor is advocating legalization of some hard-core drugs – including cocaine. Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, who recently stepped down as president of the Royal College of Physicians, said in a valedictory statement to colleagues that he believes legalizing marijuana and cocaine would be beneficial to public health and crime rates: There’s a lot of evidence that the total prohibition of drugs, making them totally illicit and unavailable, has not been successful at reducing not only the health burden, but also the impact on crime. […] I’m trying to take a fresh look, as many people have done. There is a strong case for a differe... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880813 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:46:50 +0100 3880813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3822908&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FynGYbZvuz1A%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoFor the first time ever, Mexican President Felipe Calderón said yesterday that it was “fundamental” to have a debate on the legalization of drugs. Calderon, from the conservative National Action Party (PAN), had until now been reluctant to pay heed to the growing calls in Mexico and Latin America for a hemispheric debate on drug legalization. Once they left office, two of Calderón’s predecessors—Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox—have also engaged in the debate, calling for the need to legalize drugs as a way to battle the drug violence that is crippling Mexico. Others, such as Jorge Castaneda, former foreign minister of Mexico, have also called for an end to prohibition. In today’s edition, El Universal newspaper in Mexico City claims [in Spanish] that... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3822908 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:59:22 +0100 3822908 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477602&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=34469&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medrants.com%2Findex.php%2Farchives%2F4400   Drugs won the war Good medical decision making requires that we balance risks and benefits.  We ask questions about new drugs, are the risk worth the potential benefits. I have maintained for the life of this blog that the "war on drugs" caused more problems than benefits.  If you look to the right, I have put together a series of posts on drug legalization. Could this be the time?  Here in the United States, four decades of drug war have had three consequences: First, we have vastly increased the proportion of our population in prisons. The United States now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average. In part, that’s because the number of people in prison for drug offenses rose roughly from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today. Unt... DB's Medical Rants blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477602 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:55:20 +0100 2477602 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405021&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjGfFSKikb8U%2F Mexico’s former President, Vicente Fox, joins the growing chorus of Latin American ex-presidents calling for an end on the war on drugs. He’s proposing an open debate on drug legalization. It’s a shame, though, that these leaders wait until they are out of office to voice their opposition to Washington’s prohibitionist drug strategy. While it’s true, as Fox points out, that any step towards legalization in the region must be supported by the United States, Latin American presidents skeptical of the status quo could use the pulpits at the United Nations, Organization of American States, or the Summits of the Americas to denounce the war on drugs and call for different approaches. Still, Fox’s opinion on the matter is welcome. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405021 Thu, 14 May 2009 20:10:21 +0100 2405021 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2249687&cid=t_184638_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8FWnOgBFYEA%2F Yesterday I was invited to Pajamas TV to discuss the increasingly violent situation in Mexico, where the drug-related death toll continues to skyrocket. The other guest was journalist Matt Sanchez. The discussion rapidly turned into a debate with Sanchez on the merits of drug legalization as an alternative to the current mayhem. If you’re interested in the topic, the video is available here, and the audio here. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2249687 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:41:02 +0100 2249687