Paul Armentano

The Free Market 17, no. 9 (September 1999) America’s “War on Drugs” has become primarily a war on marijuana smokers. Federal data released this year reveals almost half of all drug arrests are for...

Presidential election years usually are not recessionary but next year will be an exception. Several economic factors are colliding in an almost perfect storm to markedly slow the general economy and...

Faced with mounting public criticism over the Justice Department’s decision to shutter several locally authorized California medical marijuana dispensaries, Drug Czar John Walters recently traveled to Northern California to oversee police efforts to eradicate clandestine marijuana crops growing on public lands, and to label California’s pot farmers as “terrorists.” According to a published report, writes Paul Armentano, the Czar proclaimed, “[T]he people who plant and tend [these marijuana] gardens are terrorists who wouldn’t hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties.” While Walters’s hyperbolic statement was no doubt meant to piggyback on recent terrorism fears fueled by US Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, the allegation nonetheless reeks of desperation and dishonesty.