Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times 2020s


On Drugs: War on drugs one of America's greatest mistakes

One of America's greatest mistakes over the last century was the war on drugs, so it's thrilling to see voters in red and blue states alike moving to unwind it. The most important step is coming in Oregon, where voters easily passed a referendum that will decriminalize possession of even hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, while helping users get treatment for addiction. The idea is to address drug use as a public health crisis more than as a criminal justice issue.
Source: The New York Times on 2022 Oregon Gubernatorial race Nov 7, 2020

On Drugs: Decriminalize to steer addicted people into treatment

Under the new Oregon measure, manufacturing or selling drugs will still be crimes, but possession of small amounts would be equivalent to a traffic ticket. The aim is to steer people into treatment so that they can get help with their addictions. That focus on treatment is critical. Seattle has in effect decriminalized possession of hard drugs, by exercising prosecutorial discretion, but it never adequately funded social services for people wrestling with substance abuse.
Source: The New York Times on 2022 Oregon Gubernatorial race Nov 7, 2020

On Gun Control: No strong evidence that assault weapons ban saved lives

I'm not sure it's possible to get any gun legislation through Congress right now, and certainly not a ban on assault weapons. It's also true that while liberals loved the assault weapons ban for the 10 years it was in effect, there is no strong evidence that it saved lives--but it did turn the AR-15 into a conservative icon, so that today there appear to be more AR and AK rifles in private hands than in the United States military. And most crime and deaths involve handguns, not rifles.
Source: The New York Times on 2022 Oregon Gubernatorial race Apr 3, 2021

On Gun Control: Use executive action to crack down on ghost guns

President Biden can use executive action to crack down on "ghost guns," which avoid regulation and serial numbers because they are sold unfinished or as kits. We also need universal background checks, red flag laws, curbs on people with violent misdemeanor records acquiring weapons, and more. But given the difficulty of pushing meaningful gun safety legislation through Congress, I understand why Biden is focusing on infrastructure rather than firearms legislation.
Source: The New York Times on 2022 Oregon Gubernatorial race Apr 3, 2021

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2019-2022.
Click here for other excerpts from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2019-2022.
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