Decriminalization reduces drug problems

Mexico has decriminalized possession of small amounts of formerly illicit drugs. In this column I wrote for the Register's Sunday Commentary section, I explain that it's a logical and constructive step. It is little known -- though becoming better-known since Glenn Greenwald did a paper for Cato -- that Portugal decriminalized possession, use and acquisition of all the "illicit" drugs amounting to about a 10 days supply. The results have been dramatic, but in the opposite direction of what most people predicted. Portugal, which had among the highest levels of drug use and ancillary problems -- transmission of AIDS and other diseases, deaths -- in Europe in 1999, now has some of the lowest levels. The levels of all the European countries are dramatically lower than the United States, which has among the strictest laws and the most punitive approach in the relatively developed world (Iran still has the death penalty and still has a growing problem). Decriminalization is likely to make an unmanageable drug problem somewhat manageable. Of course I'd still prefer full legalization, giving marijuana the same legal status as parsley, but any liberalization would be welcome.

Daschle: incomparably sleazy

It's not just "forgetting" that he had to report the use of a limousine and driver as income, or even finding out about his "obligation" in June and not doing anything about until he had the HHS nomination. Tom Daschle, as this post from the invaluable Glenn Greenwald points out, is a first-class money-grubbing opportunist and sleazebag -- one of many who went to Washington to "do good" and ended up doing very well indeed, for himself. Since being defeated for his senate seat in 2004 he has been working in the lobbying and "legal" vineyards and raking in the bucks. It's not clear just how much money he has made -- $5 million over five years, $4 million last year alone; the stories aren't specific. But he's been paid plenty by the healthcare industry he's supposed to "reform." Now that he's got the bucks he wants power again.

Furthermore, while he was in the senate his wife worked as a lobbyist for the airline industry. Somehow people who had business or issues before the senate were eager to hire her (and help paty his mortgage. You won't hear much about it because plenty of "power couples" in Washington, from both parties, play the same sleazy games.

Glenn Greenwald defends Ron Paul

You can tel a lot about some people in the political world by how they respond to Ron Paul's remarkable fundraising and grassroots/netroots organizing efforts. Some want to smear him or distrort his views to make him look marginal or kooky. Among the most impressive reponses has been that of Glenn Greenwald, over at Salon.com. He's not exactly a conservative or Republican, as his excellent book on the Bush presidency, "A Tragic Legacy," should make clear to anybody who reads it. But he tries to be fair-minded, even when he's criticizing somebody, and he isn't fond of intellectually sloppy smears. His post of about a week ago is a pretty good model of fair-minded discussion. He obviously doesn't agree with Ron Paul on every issues, or even on most issues beyond the stupidity of the Iraq war. But he can recognize somebody who's the real deal, and he dissects some of the smears directed at Ron.