Tag: War on Drugs
Grand Jury Nullification
September 26, 2016 | Post
Just as the police and the District Attorney use discretion in determining to arrest or seek an indictment against someone, jurors too can use discretion in determining whether to hand down an indictment.
Criminal Justice Reform's Big Win in The Release of Weldon Angelos
August 31, 2016 | Post
Weldon Angelos’ release from prison is a high-water mark for criminal justice reform advocates and a sign that maybe the tide is turning against the prison industrial complex and the policies that produce it
What You Need to Know About the Justice Department Prison Announcement
August 22, 2016 | Post
The DOJ’s announcement to discontinue the use of private prisons only affects about 16% of federal prisoners.
Medicinal psychedelics are the new frontier in the movement to decriminalize drugs
August 8, 2016 | Post
Journalist Dan Baum, in an April 2016 article in Harper’s Magazine, mentions a quote he obtained in 1994 from John Erlichman, President Richard Nixon’s domestic policy advisor, discussing how the War on Drugs was established to disenfranchise the opponents to Nixon’s policies. The Drug War was constructed to allow the administration to disrupt black civil […]
Why Police Now Look Like Soldiers
July 22, 2016 | Post
The recent protests in major cities nationwide against police violence have showcased the degree to which the lines between the police and military have been blurred. Weapons of war, including tanks, rifles, and paramilitary units, are increasingly being used by police on American streets. SWAT raids, once used only in high-intensity situations like bank robberies […]
How the Presidential Frontrunners Plan to Win the War on Drugs
June 24, 2016 | Post
In addition to voting for state and local candidates this Election Day, voters in 14 states will be asked about legalizing marijuana. Reducing marijuana prohibition would be a major step toward ending the “war on drugs,” the government’s campaign against drug usage in the United States. Related: The War on Drugs, Part 1 Declaring a […]
How One Bridge Can Mean Three Different Things to a Pot Smoker
April 24, 2016 | Post
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River, serves as the tripoint for the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. borders, allowing drivers pass through each jurisdiction within a few seconds of each other. This matters for people who smoke pot.
Federal Judge Scores Pro-Marijuana Advocates a Free Speech Win at Iowa State
February 11, 2016 | Post
It’s not all gloom and doom for free speech on college campuses through the United States. For instance, a federal judge just ordered administrators at Iowa State to stop censoring a pro-marijuana legalization group’s t-shirts in a free speech win. Jacob Sullum of Reason writes: In October 2012, the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the […]
Celebrate Learn Liberty’s 5th Anniversary With the Top 5 Videos of All Time
February 11, 2016 | Post
February 11th is Learn Liberty’s 5th Birthday. For the last 1,827 days we have worked to bring the ideas of free markets and a free society to life through videos, which have now reached every corner of the globe. To celebrate our anniversary, we’re sharing the top five most viewed videos in Learn Liberty history: […]
Vice City, Mardi Gras, and Government Regulation
February 8, 2016 | Post
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, the celebration of debauchery and vice before the Lenten season begins. For many revelers that means consuming alcohol, tobacco, and drugs – something that is made much more difficult because of counterproductive government regulations. Learn Liberty has a new On Demand program, Vice City, that explains all the ways that the […]
Learn Liberty on Periscope This Week
February 1, 2016 | Post
If you haven’t checked us out on Periscope make sure to stay tuned this week, to discuss our new video releases and help us choose our next video! These are our scheduled streams for this week: Monday, February 1st @ 4pm EST – “Vice City – Government regulations and prohibitions of Drugs, Alcohol and Cigarettes” […]
The Criminal Justice System is Turning Martin Luther King’s Dream Into a Nightmare
January 25, 2016 | Post
Americans across the country celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. And while this is an opportunity to remember all that MLK has done for the civil rights movement, it’s also a chance to reflect on the progress that still needs to be made. Exhibit A: the criminal justice system. In the […]
What happens when you legalize drugs?
January 21, 2016 | Post
Did you know? After decriminalizing drug use years ago, Portugal has actually experienced a decrease in drug abuse. While supporters of the drug war often argue that decriminalizing or legalizing drug use would increase drug abuse, the case of Portugal shows that’s not the case. Check out the video below for some more (absurd) reasons […]
Marijuana Legalization in the United States: What Can We Expect?
January 11, 2016 | Post
More of the United States are legalizing medical marijuana, and voters in two states—Washington and Colorado—voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use a few years ago. The legalization is subject to certain restrictions, but it is a step toward ending the world’s failed experiment with drug prohibition. Will the US turn into a nation of […]
Cops, Drugs, and Cops with Drugs
January 6, 2016 | Post
A California sheriff’s deputy was arrested in Pennsylvania in December as part of a drug bust that seized over $2 million dollars in marijuana. That’s right, the deputy was arrested trying to sell millions of dollars of a substance his department has likely put other people in prison for selling. Countless stories of police officials being caught in […]
Featured On Demand Program of the Week: Vice City
December 21, 2015 | Post
In this new On Demand series professors Peter Jaworski, Aeon Skoble and Daniel D’Amico will take you on a journey into the world of government regulation of all things vices. You’ll explore how government deregulation of craft beers has helped reshape the entire industry and how alcohol laws in Virginia actually do the opposite of […]
Blurred Lines: Police and Military
December 17, 2015 | Post
Dozens of innocent people are terrorized, shot, or killed each year because of botched SWAT team drug raids on wrong houses. Dozens more are killed each year because of botched SWAT team drug raids on the correct houses. This needless suffering and death is largely a result of the massive increase in police militarization in […]
Staff Profile: Daniel Contreras
December 15, 2015 | Post
Learn Liberty: First, when did you join the Learn Liberty team and what is your role? Daniel Contreras: I came on board in June 2014, I am an Online Education Assistant working on the programs team. LL: How did you find your way to the philosophy of liberty? Are there any thinkers in particular that […]
What You Need to Know About Mandatory Minimums
December 1, 2015 | Post
Mandatory minimums are a chief culprit in the rise of the United States’ obscene prison population. Here’s what you need to know about them.
Featured On Demand Program of the Week: The War on Drugs Part 2
November 23, 2015 | Post
Can you believe that drugs in the US were initially banned partly because of fears of miscegenation (interracial relationships)? But that’s not the only reason. Other reasons included alarmist films like Reefer Madness (see program image!), fear of conspiracies, and the notion that government has a right to determine the productivity of its citizens. If […]
Featured On Demand Program of the Week: The War on Drugs Part One
November 16, 2015 | Post
Can you imagine which country would imprison more of its citizens than China or Russia? If you’re an American, you’re living in it. In fact, more people are in prisons in the United States than in all other developed countries combined. In this program, we’ll show you how the criminal justice system is becoming an […]
The War on Drugs: Seen vs. the Unseen
October 26, 2015 | Post
We have lived in Providence, RI for almost four years. I still am not accustomed to the driving habits of Rhode Islanders. There are the ones I might have expected moving up here from Georgia: the honk when the light turns green but I don’t move fast enough, the infrequent use of turn signals when […]