New York University
Professor of Public Policy at New York University and previously at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs; consultant on Washington State's marijuana legalization regulations; co-author of Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know and Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know and author of When Brute Force Fails: How to Have less Crime and Less Punishment
Consumer Reports for Legalized Marijuana "Start Small." "Wait." "Don't Mix." Those are some of the warnings Maureen Dowd did not know about. As a result, she overdosed on a marijuana-laced candy bar, an experience she made the subject of two recent columns in the New York Times. Dowd was a non-user -- even of medical marijuana -- who went to Denver to find out what legalizing recreational use was all about. That's territory that Justin Hartfield has been exploring since 2007 when he founded Weedmaps . Now he's the CEO of a $25 million company, headquartered in Irvine. He says he's perfectly positioned to become the "Phillip Morris of marijuana." We hear from him and from Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy at UCLA and co-author of Marijuana and Legalization : What Everyone Needs to Know.
Is There a Bipartisan Ceasefire in the War on Drugs? International statesmen and some law enforcement officials have long declared that the "War on Drugs" is a failure. American politics appear to be catching up. Last week, after President Obama told the New Yorker magazine that pot was no worse than alcohol, there was an almost deafening silence from Republican critics. In fact, GOP Governors Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry are talking up medical use and decriminalization, as even red states get on the bandwagon. Polls show more than half of Americans favor outright legalization, although even some long-time critics of the war on drugs warn that's going too far, and the Obama Administration is speaking with more than once voice. We look at the fast-changing, increasingly complicated politics of marijuana.
Are Washington's and Colorado's Pot Regulations Too Lax? Last year, voters in Washington and Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Now, regulators are getting down to writing new regulations. Is there any way to guarantee moderation without allowing abuse? Mark Kleiman is a professor of Public Policy at UCLA, and co-author of Marijuana Legalization : What Everyone Needs to Know. He’s a consultant to the State of Washington’s Liquor Control Board.
How the State of Washington Should Roll Out Legal Pot Voters in Colorado and Washington States have agreed to legalize marijuana, but nobody knows what the impact will be. That's according to UCLA Professor Mark Kleinman whose company BOTEC Analysis has been hired to consult on the implementation in Washington and determine what works and what doesn't.
Is America Suddenly Turning Blue? Measures to legalize recreational marijuana passed Tuesday in two states. For the first time in any election, voters in Washington State, Maine and Maryland approved same-sex marriage. In Minnesota, a constitutional ban was turned down. We look at the pace of change in some of America's traditional cultural norms.
Is America Suddenly Turning Blue? In Colorado and Washington states, it's not just medical marijuana any more. Recreational pot was legalized by the voters on Tuesday. In Washington State, Maine and Maryland on Tuesday, voters approved same-sex marriage -- the first time that's ever happened in any US election. In Minnesota, a constitutional ban was turned down, after 30 previous efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. Will the Obama Justice Department back away from enforcing federal laws against marijuana now that more and more voters have spoken? Will the US Supreme Court look at the election returns if it decides to rule on DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act?
Mexico's Presidential Election and the War on Drugs When Felipe Calderón was elected President six years ago, he declared a military offensive against Mexico's murderous drug cartels. Since then, 50,000 people have died. Calderón's term is over and he is barred from seeking a second six-year term. Former President Vicente Fox has called for drug legalization, and although all three major candidates in the July election have pledged to reduce the violence, none has been specific so early in a three-month campaign. Enrique Peña Nieto, the leading candidate, belongs to the PRI, which ran the country for 70 years; Calderón's conservative PAN party is running Josefina Vázquez Mota, the first woman candidate of a major party; and the left-leaning PRD has nominated Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former Mayor of Mexico City. We hear about a nation of disillusioned voters, and what the election results could mean for the US.
California Prisons: Mercy or Madness? "If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we start?" That's the question from San Francisco's Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno, who wrote the new law providing that inmates who are incapacitated should be released on humanitarian grounds and to save money. But last week, at its first opportunity, the State Parole Board said "no" to a man whose spine was severed in a prison fight, so he can't move either his arms or his legs. His family has agreed to provide care and to pay for it. Note: The Parole Board refused our request to participate in today's program.
Crime, Punishment and Constitutional Rights in California According to yesterday's ruling by the US Supreme Court, California has two years to reduce the prison population by more than 30,000 inmates. The five-vote majority said overcrowding is so bad it violates the constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishment," even causing unnecessary deaths. The four dissenters warned in different ways about a flood of criminals loosed on the streets of the biggest state in the union. Governor Brown's Corrections Director said his goal "is not to release inmates at all." He already has a plan to send non-violent, less serious offenders to county jails.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
