Wednesday, June 29, 2005

A surreal glimpse inside the mind of a prohibitionist This article is your fairly standard teens-have-the-most-fatal-car-accidents-exposé, and would not be of interest to me, except that Andrea Barthwell was quoted (as co-director of a physician-led group called End Needless Death On Our Roadways -- an organization whose entire purpose appears to be to allow Andrea to ocassionally be quoted as co-director of it, while channelling some more treatment business her way.) Anyway, here's the quote that made me fall off my chair: "Sometimes you can't legislate all of the changes you need," said Andrea Barthwell, co-director of the physician-led group. She said parents have to be brought into the campaign against risky driving because they are often the only ones who know they have risk- and thrill-taking kids. [emphasis added] Yep, we may have to actually involve parents in raising their kids, because "sometimes you can't legislate all the changes you need." Mind like a blotter. Soaks it up, but gets it all backwards. 10:13:17 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

America, land of the not-quite-as-free-as-England Students for Sensible Drug Policy have put out this release: Lawyers for the United Kingdom's Department for Education and Skills have warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that students who are forced to take drug tests without consent as part of his anti-drug initiative could sue for compensation under the 'right to privacy' in the Human Rights Act. The announcement comes less than one week after the U.S. House of Representatives approved $10 million to fund the Bush administration's random student drug testing grants program, despite the largest-ever study conducted on the topic showing no positive effect from the practice. "As young Americans living in the 'land of the free,' we're outraged that students across the Atlantic have more rights than we do," said Scarlett Swerdlow, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. "Drug testing is an unnecessary invasion of students' privacy, especially since it just doesn't work." Go Scarlett! 9:08:50 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Rhode Island tells John Walters to Suck Eggs After the Supreme Court decision earlier this month, John Walters: "Today's decision marks the end of medical marijuana as a political issue." Not so fast, John. Yesterday, Rhode Island legislature passed their own medical marijuana bill. It passed the House last week 52-10 and the Senate yesterday 33-1. It looks veto-proof. State #11. John, as long as the administration blocks the standard scientific methods for approving medical marijuana, it will continue to be political, and nothing that you or the Supreme Court or Congress says can stop that. Update: Jacob Sullum has more, including a discussion on the reason some people use different counts for the number of states supporting medical marijuana. 8:38:54 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []