I have enjoyed my National Review subscription for many many years. My enjoyment has declined pari-passu (to use a WFB word) with the founder's declining involvement.
Now, the very sad news that he is "relinquishing his [controlling] shares."
He says he will still write. I hope he will pen many more pieces like Free Weeds
Legal practices should be informed by realities. These are enlightening, in the matter of marijuana. There are approximately 700,000 marijuana-related arrests made very year. Most of these — 87 percent — involve nothing more than mere possession of small amounts of marijuana. This exercise in scrupulosity costs us $10-15 billion per year in direct expenditures alone. Most transgressors caught using marijuana aren't packed away to jail, but some are, and in Alabama, if you are convicted three times of marijuana possession, they'll lock you up for 15 years to life. Professor Ethan Nadelmann, of the Drug Policy Alliance, writing in National Review, estimates at 100,000 the number of Americans currently behind bars for one or another marijuana offense.[...] A Boston commentator observed years ago that it is easier for an 18-year old to get marijuana in Cambridge than to get beer. Vendors who sell beer to minors can forfeit their valuable licenses. It requires less effort for the college student to find marijuana than for a sailor to find a brothel. [...]
We're not going to find someone running for president who advocates reform of those laws. What is required is a genuine republican groundswell. It is happening, but ever so gradually. Two of every five Americans, according to a 2003 Zogby poll cited by Dr. Nadelmann, believe "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and make it illegal only for children."
It is unfortunate that many Americans choose to completely ignore this issue. They do not see this as something that impacts them, but with our overpopulated prisons each person incarcerated for a marijuana-related offense takes away a jail cell from a real criminal.
Posted by: saint stephen at June 30, 2004 08:55 AMIt's funny, but a cross section of my friends (those few people who can stand being around me now and then...) overwhelmingly support much more moderation in drug laws. Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians (of course). These people are split 50/50 on taxes, the Iraqi War, school vouchers -- but I would say there is 75-90% approval for a least legalized medical use.
My wife has suggested that she would like to become active in this (Colorado is one of several states to pass a Medical Marijuana bill). She says it's because of my Multiple Sclerosis, but she might be wanting to relive her college days...
Mr. Buckley has been the best advocate for this. John Stossel does a great section in his book "Give Me A Break," and Larry Elder is an articulate spokesperson.
While I love party politics, I fear that may be the holdup. A plurality is divided all across the spectrum, and its power is therefore diffused. Someday.