Catching Up With MLP&R

It's been a crazy week, and I'm behind on noting a lot of stuff.  First, links to some good posts from Doug Berman at Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform, together with my thoughts:

US Surgeon General essentially states marijuana should not be a Schedule I drug.  This is long overdue.  Maybe the new attorney general, though she doesn't think pot should be legalized, could think about using her authority at least to move marijuana into the same category as, say, heroin.

Was Jeb Bush a significant marijuana dealer in high school?  I'm not sure I agree that the fact that Bush "sold" some stuff to a classmate who asked him for it means much.  At least when I was that age, the number of people -- even good friends -- who would give you stuff for free was pretty limited.  Maybe it was different at Andover.

Other than Senator Rand Paul, are any GOP leaders likely to become supportive of marijuana reform? I doubt it, not because there's not a good economic libertarian/states rights case, but because the issue is still way down the list of stuff that's important to voters, especially those in the center and right.  After all, we haven't seen Hillary Clinton spending much time talking about it.  If she does, the GOP will respond.  If Secretary Clinton, President Obama, and General Holder haven't felt any need to start pushing legalization to appeal to younger voters, I doubt any Republican candidates will do much about it.

Will vigorous opponents of marijuana reform back vigorous efforts to raise the legal age for tobacco?   I don't see much of a connection.  If you're mature enough to join the Army and maybe get killed, or agree to borrow $150,000 in nondischargeable student loans you'll be paying on for 20 years, or to get death by lethal injection for killing somebody, I don't see why you're not mature enough to decide if you should buy a pack of cigarettes.  Age 21 for marijuana is there because we already have age 21 for alcohol.  There's at least some justification for a higher age for booze and pot, because (unlike cigarettes) these things mess with your mind and can lead to very hazardous behaviors like drunk/stoned driving.

"Medical or Recreational Marijuana and Drugged Driving.  I'll second the recommendation for the article previewed, by Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation.   Mr. Larkin points out something I hadn't fully appreciated -- the potential unreliability of current blood-alcohol standards when those who are drinking are also using marijuana.  Check it out.

"DeWine: Marijuana legalization a 'stupid idea'"  The Ohio attorney general doesn't think much of the legalization proposal being pushed in the Buckeye State.  While I disagree with him on legalization, I do agree that Ohio's proposal -- a state-granted monopoly to the rich and politically connected, with all the potential for crony capitalism that entails -- is a bad way to do it.  I understand that other groups on the ground in Ohio are working on a better alternative, although the monopoly measure is the one that probably will have most of the money behind it.