Throughout most of the country right now it is graduation season. Across thousands of colleges and high schools, scores of new graduates are celebrating remarkable academic accomplishments with their families, all while planning for a future full of hope and possibility. YOU on the other hand went to law school, so your graduation felt either like…
Weed Golf Is Real, Spectacular, and Involves Foxes
When the organizer of the 420 Games asked me to attend his golf event in San Jose last month I immediately tried my best to politely turn him down. On the surface playing golf represented a surrender of my ideals, a public declaration that I was willing to join the moneyed elite of society, and…
The NYPD, The SBA, And The Crime Of Being Poor
Last week the blogosphere justifiably jumped down the throat of the NYPD’s SBA (Sergeant’s Benevolent Association) for their inexplicable decision to post pictures of apparently homeless people on their Flickr page. And while reprehensible behavior by the police isn’t a novel concept in 2015, this PR campaign still managed to surprise people (and not just…
On Trolling
In the summer of 2012 I had just completed my second year of law school, and I had landed a coveted internship at the local public defenders’ office. However, within a few weeks of working there, it became painfully obvious that there was not a whole lot for me to do. So out of a…
OIG Report Confirms What We Already Knew: The DEA Is A Hot Garbage Mess
It isn’t exactly controversial to say that the Drug Enforcement Agency is a bit of a mess. In the past few years the DEA has been plagued by systemic incompetence, lost their chief, and seen its entire purpose subverted by the rise of well-funded cannabis reform legislation at the state level. But until this week…
And The Award For The Stupidest Use Of RICO Goes To…
As we approach the three year anniversary of Colorado and Washington’s grand experiment of legalizing recreational cannabis, the emerging consensus recognizing the failure of the war on drugs has never been more apparent. Record tax harvests and a massive reduction in dollars spent on drug enforcement has pleased fiscal hawks, and public health advocates in states…
Protecting Medical Weed After 2016
As the year of weed progresses and the idea of “adult use” (the focus group politically accepted means-tested term for “recreational”) cannabis becomes a mainstream policy goal in many states across the country, there is certainly cause to celebrate. Fewer people facing the devastating the effect of criminal penalties are a net benefit for society, and…
Five Things At The Six-Month Mark
At the beginning of this year I decided (mostly because I had really no other choice) to open my own firm. This was frightening to say the least, especially for someone who’d always enjoyed the anonymity and dependability of existing as a cog in the machine of our nation’s glorious governmental bureaucracy. But now that…
Hey Ohio, It’s Time To Be Both Responsible And Bold About Weed
A few days ago radio hosts Bryan Quimby and Brett Pain of the infamous Street Fight Podcast discussed the “Responsible Ohio” initiative, a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow adult use cannabis in the Buckeye state. Like many denizens of glorious Ohio, Brett and Brian are obviously happy about possibly having legal access to weed.…
Some Real Talk About That Terrible Colorado Pot Decision
Since it became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, Colorado has been portrayed as the regulatory model for policy makers in other states who are interested creating a legal marketplace for cannabis users. Ostensibly this is because Colorado, unlike California (the first state to legalize medical marijuana), has a tightly controlled “seed to stem”…