Pictured above: Diane Williams, coordinator of Planting Justice's volunteer and Holistic Re-Entry Program. Photo credit: Planting Justice. America comprises 4% of the total world population. Yet the U.S. has more than 20% of the world's total incarcerated population, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. That means that American incarcerates one out of every five … [Read more...] about Planting Justice: Helping End the Cycle of Incarceration Through Agriculture
A Conversation With a Former Cop on Drug and Police-Reform
Terry Blevins, former officer and current advocate for police reform. Photo provided by Blevins. Many Americans believe that members of law enforcement oppose drug reform. That’s not true for Terry Blevins, a former officer in Maricopa County, Arizona and international security specialist with the U.S. government. Blevins is one of the more than 15,000 members of … [Read more...] about A Conversation With a Former Cop on Drug and Police-Reform
Natural or Synthetic Drugs: an Arbitrary Preference?
Is the preference for natural over synthetic drugs ubiquitous? Photo credit: Envato. There is a common error in reasoning called the naturalistic fallacy. It occurs when one conflates what is natural with what is good. The issue is that oftentimes, the one deploying this argument determines exactly what natural means. One bigoted example is the homophobic argument … [Read more...] about Natural or Synthetic Drugs: an Arbitrary Preference?
Book Review: Drug use for Grown-ups
Drug use for Grown-ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear by Dr. Carl Hart. Photo credit: Penguin Random House. According to the world-renowned intellectual Dr. Carl Hart, using drugs is a healthy part of some adult’s lives, and they are happier because of them. Hart is a neuroscientist, tenured psychology professor at Columbia University, author, and drug-reform … [Read more...] about Book Review: Drug use for Grown-ups
50 Years of Misery and Unjust Incarceration: The Semicentennial Anniversary of the War on Drugs
Historical Lineage of the War on Drugs: The CSA Fifty years ago, on May 1st 1971, the U.S. enacted the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The CSA consolidated over 200 drug laws and effectively categorized all regulated substances on a scale of legality from one to five. Schedule I substances have no officially recognized medical value and a high-likelihood for abuse. … [Read more...] about 50 Years of Misery and Unjust Incarceration: The Semicentennial Anniversary of the War on Drugs
