Category Archives: Politics

Mother of woman killed by ‘high’ driver: Brown must stop marijuana banking to save others

Corinne LaMarc-Gasper, Guest columnist  

This column appeared in the Columbus Dispatch last week.

I received the worst news a parent can get nine years ago: my 22-year-old daughter had been killed in a car crash.

Even more heartbreaking was the fact that my daughter’s death could have been avoided if the other driver hadn’t been high on marijuana.

With stories like mine becoming tragically more common, we must reassess and slow the rapid expansion of the marijuana industry.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to include the deceptively named SAFE Banking Act in the National Defense Authorization Act. Continue reading Mother of woman killed by ‘high’ driver: Brown must stop marijuana banking to save others

Libertarians were wrong about marijuana legalization

By Aron Ravin  This article appeared in the National Review on August 14, 2021.

At the outset, I’d like to lay my cards out on the table: I despise weed.  I think that I reeks, that it’s a waste of money and time.  I dislike cheap euphoria, and I think getting high promotes escapism.  Forever a nudnik, I do not, and do not plan to, partake in the devil’s lettuce.

Nevertheless, many people whom I respect and consider my friends are more open to Miss Mary Jane than I. So I take their arguments seriously when we discuss the issue of legalization. Some of the most common ones, which I’ll discuss at more length below, appear tenable on the surface, if not particularly convincing. Others that have tended to exist on the periphery of the debate — e.g., concerns about a nanny state and the problems of disproportionate sentencing — are much more compelling. Continue reading Libertarians were wrong about marijuana legalization

Opinion: Let’s face up to marijuana’s toll on kids before it’s too late

An opinion from Colorado

By Robin Noble

It was prom night 2018, but my teenager wouldn’t be putting on a tuxedo. He had been throwing up since dawn. 

His low back was aching, a sign of kidney distress. He needed to go to the ER. It would be our 11th trip in just over nine months. I found myself hesitating because, at about $8,000 a visit, even with insurance the costs were severe.

My son was suffering from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). Once rare, the condition is being seen increasingly in Colorado and other states that have legalized marijuana. It includes intractable vomiting and, strangely, compulsive hot water bathing. Continue reading Opinion: Let’s face up to marijuana’s toll on kids before it’s too late

Kim Foxx’s Solution is Worse than the Problem

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx  works on finding ways not to hold people in Chicago accountable for egregious mistakes. Her administration makes it legally acceptable to commit some crimes, including shoplifting and theft of less than $1000. Making drug crimes ok is her latest campaign. Continue reading Kim Foxx’s Solution is Worse than the Problem