Odds and Ends

“bullet” Interesting Cannabis Thread over at Daily Kos. Grassroots liberals understand that the lack of leadership within the Democratic Party on changing marijuana laws is sending some of their young people to the Ron Paul camp.
“bullet” Drug War cheerleader and former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is officially gone as of this morning. Don’t let the door…
“bullet” Mark Kleiman is a “legalizer.” Link

Marijuana should be legalized for personal use and free distribution, Mark Kleiman told delegates at the 2007 conference of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.
“Not everybody has a green thumb, so you could get your pot from your friend,” Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA, said in a later interview. “Do I think people would sell it? Of course they’d sell it and I couldn’t care less. I don’t want the billboards.”
The goal of drug policy should be to limit the damage from drugs — such as disease, accidents, crime and social functioning — not to wage “cultural warfare” on drug users, Kleiman said.

“bullet” As always, Stop the Drug War has some interesting posts. Scott Morgan’s Does Marijuana Make You Better at Sports?, David Guard’s Republicans Try Marijuana at Higher Rate Than Democrats
Scott also highlights probably the most inane drug response by a Presidential candidate (McCain):

Look, I’ve heard the comparison between drugs and alcohol. I think most experts would say that in moderation, one or two drinks of alcohol does not have an effect on one’s judgment, mental acuity, or their physical abilities. I think most experts would say that the first ingestion of drugs leads to mind-altering and other experiences, other effects, and can lead over time to serious, serious problems.

Setting aside the incredibly vague use of the word “drugs” (a term that includes alcohol and caffeine), I don’t know what’s more bizarre — that he believes this, or that he thinks the country is stupid enough to believe this.