The Atlantic: on Drugs


John Hickenlooper: Failed War on Drugs paved way for pot legalization

[On marijuana legalization]: "Let's face it, the War on Drugs was a disaster. It may be well intentioned but it sent millions of kids to prison, gave them felonies often times when they had no violent crimes. I was against this, but I can see why so many people supported it."
Source: The Atlantic, "Legalization," on 2020 presidential hopefuls Jul 1, 2014

Michael Bennet: Let states experiment with marijuana; address racial issues

What we're having right now is a tremendous experiment in federalism, and that's what we should continue to do. The states should look at this and ultimately we should decide as a country what we want to do, but I don't know that we're there yet. I think the sentencing disparities suggest important issues that have to be addressed.
Source: The Atlantic, "Immigration," on 2020 Democratic primary Jan 24, 2018

JD Vance: Prescription "hillbilly heroin" was invited, not invaded

[One day] in the small Ohio town where I grew up, four people overdosed on heroin. A local police lieutenant coolly summarized the banality of it all: "It's not all that unusual for a 24-hour period here."

Folks back home speak of heroin like an apocalyptic invader, something that assailed the town mysteriously and without warning. Yet the truth is that heroin crept slowly into Middletown's families and communities--not by invasion but by invitation.

Very few Americans are strangers to addiction. Shortly before I graduated from law school, I learned that my own mother lay comatose in a hospital, the consequence of an apparent heroin overdose. Yet heroin was only her latest drug of choice. Prescription opioids--"hillbilly heroin" some call it, to highlight its special appeal among white working-class folks like us--had already landed Mom in the hospital. In our community, there has long been a large appetite to dull the pain; heroin is just the newest vehicle.

Source: The Atlantic on 2024 Vice-Presidential hopefuls: Vance OpEd Jul 4, 2016

  • The above quotations are from Columns and news articles in The Atlantic.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Drugs:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Jul 21, 2024