This November, California voters will consider a ballot initiative, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. Scientific research is clear that marijuana is addictive and that its use significantly impairs bodily and mental functions. Even where decriminalized, marijuana trafficking remains a source of violence, crime, and social disintegration. Furthermore, studies have shown that legalized marijuana will provide nowhere near the economic windfall proclaimed by some proponents. The RCTCA addresses neither the practical problems of implementation nor the fact that federal law prohibits marijuana production, distribution, and possession. There is strong evidence to suggest that legalizing marijuana would serve little purpose other than to worsen the state's drug problems—addiction, violence, disorder, and death. While long on rhetoric, the legalization movement, by contrast, is short on facts.
Legalization of marijuana is bad public policy because the drug is addictive and significantly impairs bodily and mental functions.
Consumption of marijuana impairs the immune system and short-term memory, elevates the risk of heart attack, and causes respiratory and brain damage.
There is strong evidence to suggest that legalizing marijuana would serve little purpose other than to worsen the state's drug problems.
The scientific literature is clear that marijuana is addictive and that its use significantly impairs bodily and mental functions. Marijuana use is associated with memory loss, cancer, immune system deficiencies, heart disease, and birth defects, among other conditions. Even where decriminalized, marijuana trafficking remains a source of violence, crime, and social disintegration.
Nonetheless, this November, California voters will consider a ballot initiative, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 (RCTCA), that would legalize most marijuana distribution and use under state law. (These activities would remain federal crimes.) This vote is the culmination of an organized campaign by pro-marijuana activists stretching back decades.
As this paper details, all five claims are demonstrably false or, based on the best evidence, highly dubious.
How would the state law fit into a federal regime that prohibits marijuana production, distribution, and possession?
Would decriminalization, especially if combined with taxation, expand market opportunities for the gangs and cartels that currently dominate drug distribution?
Would existing zoning laws prohibit marijuana cultivation in residential neighborhoods, and if not, what measures would growers have to undertake to keep children from the plants?
Would transportation providers be prohibited from firing bus drivers because they smoke marijuana?
No one knows the specifics of how marijuana decriminalization would work in practice or what measures would be necessary to prevent children, teenagers, criminals, and addicts from obtaining the drug.
The federal government shares these concerns. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), recently stated, "Marijuana legalization, for any purpose, is a non-starter in the Obama Administration." The Administration—widely viewed as more liberal than any other in recent memory and, for a time, as embodying the hopes of pro-legalization activists—has weighed the costs and benefits and concluded that marijuana legalization would compromise public health and safety.
California's voters, if they take a fair-minded look at the evidence and the practical problems of legalization, should reach the same conclusion: Marijuana is a dangerous substance that should remain illegal under state law.
The RCTCA's purpose, as defined by advocates of legalization, is to regulate marijuana just as the government regulates alcohol. The law would allow anyone 21 years of age or older to possess, process, share, or transport up to one full ounce of marijuana "for personal consumption." Individuals could possess an unlimited number of living and harvested marijuana plants on the premises where they were grown. Individual landowners or lawful occupants of private property could cultivate marijuana plants "for personal consumption" in an area of not more than 25 square feet per private residence or parcel.
The RCTCA would legalize drug-related paraphernalia and tools and would license establishments for on-site smoking and other consumption of marijuana. Supporters have included some alcohol-like restrictions against, for example, smoking marijuana while operating a vehicle. Finally, the act authorizes the imposition and collection of taxes and fees associated with legalization of marijuana.
Marijuana advocates have had some success peddling the notion that marijuana is a "soft" drug, similar to alcohol, and fundamentally different from "hard" drugs like cocaine or heroin. It is true that marijuana is not the most dangerous of the commonly abused drugs, but that is not to say that it is safe. Indeed, marijuana shares more in common with the "hard" drugs than it does with alcohol.
Americans understood the problems associated with alcohol abuse, but they also understood the problems associated with Prohibition, which included violence, organized crime, official corruption, the erosion of civil liberties, disrespect for the law, and injuries and deaths caused by tainted black-market booze. They decided that these unintended side effects far outweighed whatever harms Prohibition prevented by discouraging drinking. The same sort of analysis today would show that the harm caused by drug prohibition far outweighs the harm it prevents, even without taking into account the value to each individual of being sovereign over his own body and mind.
At first blush, this argument is appealing, especially to those wary of over-regulation by government. But it overlooks the enormous difference between alcohol and marijuana.
Legalization advocates claim that marijuana and alcohol are mild intoxicants and so should be regulated similarly; but as the experience of nearly every culture, over the thousands of years of human history, demonstrates, alcohol is different. Nearly every culture has its own alcoholic preparations, and nearly all have successfully regulated alcohol consumption through cultural norms. The same cannot be said of marijuana. There are several possible explanations for alcohol's unique status: For most people, it is not addictive; it is rarely consumed to the point of intoxication; low-level consumption is consistent with most manual and intellectual tasks; it has several positive health benefits; and it is formed by the fermentation of many common substances and easily metabolized by the body.
To be sure, there are costs associated with alcohol abuse, such as drunk driving and disease associated with excessive consumption. A few cultures—and this nation for a short while during Prohibition—have concluded that the benefits of alcohol consumption are not worth the costs. But they are the exception; most cultures have concluded that it is acceptable in moderation. No other intoxicant shares that status.
Alcohol differs from marijuana in several crucial respects. First, marijuana is far more likely to cause addiction. Second, it is usually consumed to the point of intoxication. Third, it has no known general healthful properties, though it may have some palliative effects. Fourth, it is toxic and deleterious to health. Thus, while it is true that both alcohol and marijuana are less intoxicating than other mood-altering drugs, that is not to say that marijuana is especially similar to alcohol or that its use is healthy or even safe.
In fact, compared to alcohol, marijuana is not safe. Long-term, moderate consumption of alcohol carries few health risks and even offers some significant benefits. For example, a glass of wine (or other alcoholic drink) with dinner actually improves health. Dozens of peer-reviewed medical studies suggest that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol reduces the risk of heart disease, strokes, gallstones, diabetes, and death from a heart attack. According to the Mayo Clinic, among many others, moderate use of alcohol (defined as two drinks a day) "seems to offer some health benefits, particularly for the heart." Countless articles in medical journals and other scientific literature confirm the positive health effects of moderate alcohol consumption.
The effects of regular marijuana consumption are quite different. For example, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (a division of the National Institutes of Health) has released studies showing that use of marijuana has wide-ranging negative health effects. Long-term marijuana consumption "impairs the ability of T-cells in the lungs' immune system to fight off some infections." These studies have also found that marijuana consumption impairs short-term memory, making it difficult to learn and retain information or perform complex tasks; slows reaction time and impairs motor coordination; increases heart rate by 20 percent to 100 percent, thus elevating the risk of heart attack; and alters moods, resulting in artificial euphoria, calmness, or (in high doses) anxiety or paranoia. And it gets worse: Marijuana has toxic properties that can result in birth defects, pain, respiratory system damage, brain damage, and stroke.
Marijuana's effects on the body are profound. According to the British Lung Foundation, "smoking three or four marijuana joints is as bad for your lungs as smoking twenty tobacco cigarettes." Researchers in Canada found that marijuana smoke contains significantly higher levels of numerous toxic compounds, like ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, than regular tobacco smoke. In fact, the study determined that ammonia was found in marijuana smoke at levels of up to 20 times the levels found in tobacco. Similarly, hydrogen cyanide was found in marijuana smoke at concentrations three to five times greater than those found in tobacco smoke.
Marijuana, like tobacco, is addictive. One study found that more than 30 percent of adults who used marijuana in the course of a year were dependent on the drug. These individuals often show signs of withdrawal and compulsive behavior. Marijuana dependence is also responsible for a large proportion of calls to drug abuse help lines and treatment centers.
To equate marijuana use with alcohol consumption is, at best, uninformed and, at worst, actively misleading. Only in the most superficial ways are the two substances alike, and they differ in every way that counts: addictiveness, toxicity, health effects, and risk of intoxication.
Today, marijuana trafficking is linked to a variety of crimes, from assault and murder to money laundering and smuggling. Legalization of marijuana would increase demand for the drug and almost certainly exacerbate drug-related crime, as well as cause a myriad of unintended but predictable consequences.
To begin with, an astonishingly high percentage of criminals are marijuana users. According to a study by the RAND Corporation, approximately 60 percent of arrestees test positive for marijuana use in the United States, England, and Australia. Further, marijuana metabolites are found in arrestees' urine more frequently than those of any other drug.
Although some studies have shown marijuana to inhibit aggressive behavior and violence, the National Research Council concluded that the "long-term use of marijuana may alter the nervous system in ways that do promote violence." No place serves as a better example than Amsterdam.
Amsterdam's experience is already being duplicated in California under the current medical marijuana statute. In Los Angeles, police report that areas surrounding cannabis clubs have experienced a 200 percent increase in robberies, a 52.2 percent increase in burglaries, a 57.1 percent increase in aggravated assault, and a 130.8 percent increase in burglaries from automobiles. Current law requires a doctor's prescription to procure marijuana; full legalization would likely spark an even more acute increase in crime.
Legalization of marijuana would also inflict a series of negative consequences on neighborhoods and communities. The nuisance caused by the powerful odor of mature marijuana plants is already striking California municipalities. The City Council of Chico, California, has released a report detailing the situation and describing how citizens living near marijuana cultivators are disturbed by the incredible stink emanating from the plants.
Perhaps worse than the smell, crime near growers is increasing, associated with "the theft of marijuana from yards where it is being grown." As a result, housing prices near growers are sinking.
Theoretical arguments in favor of marijuana legalization usually overlook the practical matter of how the drug would be regulated and sold. It is the details of implementation, of course, that will determine the effect of legalization on families, schools, and communities. Most basically, how and where would marijuana be sold?
Would neighborhoods become neon red-light districts like Amsterdam's, accompanied by the same crime and social disorder?
If so, who decides what neighborhoods will be so afflicted—residents and landowners or far-off government officials?
Or would marijuana sales be so widespread that users could add it to their grocery lists?
If so, how would stores sell it, how would they store it, and how would they prevent it from being diverted into the gray market?
Would stores dealing in marijuana have to fortify their facilities to reduce the risk of theft and assault?
The most likely result is that the drug will not be sold in legitimate stores at all, because while the federal government is currently tolerating medical marijuana dispensaries, it will not tolerate wide-scale sales under general legalizational statutes. So marijuana will continue to be sold on the gray or black market.
The act does not answer these or other practical questions regarding implementation. Rather, it leaves those issues to localities. No doubt, those entities will pass a variety of laws in an attempt to deal with the many problems caused by legalization, unless the local laws are struck down by California courts as inconsistent with the underlying initiative, which would be even worse. At best, that patchwork of laws, differing from one locality to another, will be yet another unintended and predictable problem arising from legalization as envisioned under this act.
Citizens also should not overlook what may be the greatest harms of marijuana legalization: increased addiction to and use of harder drugs. In addition to marijuana's harmful effects on the body and relationship to criminal conduct, it is a gateway drug that can lead users to more dangerous drugs. Prosecutors, judges, police officers, detectives, parole or probation officers, and even defense attorneys know that the vast majority of defendants arrested for violent crimes test positive for illegal drugs, including marijuana. They also know that marijuana is the starter drug of choice for most criminals. Whereas millions of Americans consume moderate amounts of alcohol without ever "moving on" to dangerous drugs, marijuana use and cocaine use are strongly correlated.
While correlation does not necessarily reflect causation, and while the science is admittedly mixed as to whether it is the drug itself or the people the new user associates with who cause the move on to cocaine, heroin, LSD, or other drugs, the RAND Corporation reports that marijuana prices and cocaine use are directly linked, suggesting a substitution effect between the two drugs. Moreover, according to RAND, legalization will cause marijuana prices to fall as much as 80 percent. That can lead to significant consequences because "a 10-percent decrease in the price of marijuana would increase the prevalence of cocaine use by 4.4 to 4.9 percent." As cheap marijuana floods the market both in and outside of California, use of many different types of drugs will increase, as will marijuana use.
It is impossible to predict the precise consequences of legalization, but the experiences of places that have eased restrictions on marijuana are not positive. Already, California is suffering crime, dislocation, and increased drug use under its current regulatory scheme. Further liberalizing the law will only make matters worse.
Another area of great uncertainty is how a state law legalizing marijuana would fit in with federal law to the contrary. Congress has enacted a comprehensive regulatory scheme for restricting access to illicit drugs and other controlled substances. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, and possession of all substances deemed to be Schedule I drugs—drugs like heroin, PCP, and cocaine. Because marijuana has no "currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States," it is a Schedule I drug that cannot be bought, sold, possessed, or used without violating federal law.
Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States, the Controlled Substances Act is the supreme law of the land and cannot be superseded by state laws that purport to contradict or abrogate its terms. The RCTCA proposes to "reform California's cannabis laws in a way that will benefit our state" and "[r]egulate cannabis like we do alcohol." But the act does not even purport to address the fundamental constitutional infirmity that it would be in direct conflict with federal law. If enacted and unchallenged by the federal government, it would call into question the government's ability to regulate all controlled substances, including drugs such as Oxycontin, methamphetamine, heroin, and powder and crack cocaine. More likely, however, the feds would challenge the law in court, and the courts would have no choice but to strike it down.
Congress has the power to change the Controlled Substances Act and remove marijuana from Schedule I. Yet after decades of lobbying, it has not, largely because of the paucity of scientific evidence in support of a delisting.
California, in fact, is already in direct violation of federal law. Today, its laws allow the use of marijuana as a treatment for a range of vaguely defined conditions, including chronic pain, nausea, and lack of appetite, depression, anxiety, and glaucoma. "Marijuana doctors" are listed in the classified advertising sections of newspapers, and many are conveniently located adjacent to "dispensaries." At least one "doctor" writes prescriptions from a tiny hut beside the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The lack of FDA approval means that marijuana may come from unknown sources, may be adulterated with foreign substances, or may not even be marijuana at all. Pot buyers have no way to know what they are getting, and there is no regulatory authority with the ability to go after bogus manufacturers and dealers. Even if one overlooks its inherently harmful properties, marijuana that is commonly sold is likely to be far less safe than that studied in the lab or elsewhere.
Marijuana advocates claim that federal enforcement of drug laws, particularly in jurisdictions that allow the use of medical marijuana, violates states' rights. The Supreme Court, however, has held otherwise. In 2002, California resident Angel Raich produced and consumed marijuana, purportedly for medical purposes. Her actions, while in accordance with California's "medical marijuana" law, clearly violated the Controlled Substances Act, and the local sheriff's department destroyed Raich's plants. Raich claimed that she needed to use marijuana, prescribed by her doctor, for medical purposes. She sued the federal government, asking the court to stop the government from interfering with her right to produce and use marijuana.
In 2006, the Supreme Court held in Gonzales vs. Raich that the Commerce Clause confers on Congress the authority to ban the use of marijuana, even when a state approves it for "medical purposes" and it is produced in small quantities for personal consumption. Many legal scholars criticize the Court's extremely broad reading of the Commerce Clause as inconsistent with its original meaning, but the Court's decision nonetheless stands.
If the RCTCA were enacted, it would conflict with the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act and invite extensive litigation that would almost certainly result in its being struck down. Until that happened, state law enforcement officers would be forced into a position of uncertainty regarding their conflicting obligations under federal and state law and cooperation with federal authorities.
An innovation of the campaign in support of RCTCA is its touting of the potential benefit of legalization to the government, in terms of additional revenues from taxing marijuana and savings from backing down in the "war on drugs." The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), for example, claims that legalization "could yield California taxpayers over $1.2 billion per year" in tax benefits. According to a California NORML Report updated in October 2009, an excise tax of $50 per ounce would raise about $770 million to $900 million per year and save over $200 million in law enforcement costs per year. It is worth noting that $900 million equates to 18 million ounces—enough marijuana for Californians to smoke one billion marijuana cigarettes each year.
But these projections are highly speculative and riddled with unfounded assumptions. Dr. Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, an expert with the RAND Corporation who has studied the economics of drug policy for over 15 years, has explained that the California "Board of Equalization's estimate of $1.4 billion [in] potential revenue for the state is based on a series of assumptions that are in some instances subject to tremendous uncertainty and in other cases not validated." She urged the California Committee on Public Safety to conduct an honest and thorough cost-benefit analysis of the potential revenues and costs associated with legalizing marijuana. To date, no such realistic cost-benefit analysis has been done.
In her testimony before the committee, Dr. Pacula stated that prohibition raises the cost of production by at least 400 percent and that legalizing marijuana would cause the price of marijuana to fall considerably—much more than the 50 percent price reduction incorporated into the state's revenue model. Furthermore, she noted that a $50-per-ounce marijuana tax was not realistic, because it would represent a 100 percent tax on the cost of the product.
The RCTCA, in fact, allows for so much individual production of marijuana that even the Board of Equalization's $1.4 billion per year revenue estimate seems unlikely. Under the law, any resident could grow marijuana for "personal use" in a plot at home up to 25 square feet in size. One ounce of marijuana is enough for 60 to 120 marijuana cigarettes. One plant produces one to five pounds, or 16 to 80 ounces, of marijuana each year, and 25 square feet of land can sustain about 25 plants. Therefore, an individual will be able to produce 24,000 to 240,000 joints legally each year.
Not only is this more than any individual could possibly consume; it is also enough to encourage individuals to grow and sell pot under the individual allowance. Who would buy marijuana from a state-regulated store and pay the $50 tax per ounce in addition to the sale price when they can either grow it themselves or buy it at a much lower price from a friend or neighbor? In this way, the RCTCA undermines its supporters' lavish revenue claims.
In addition to its direct effects on individual health, even moderate marijuana use imposes significant long-term costs through the ways that it affects individual users. Marijuana use is associated with cognitive difficulties and influences attention, concentration, and short-term memory. This damage affects drug users' ability to work and can put others at risk. Even if critical workers—for example, police officers, airline pilots, and machine operators—used marijuana recreationally but remained sober on the job, the long-term cognitive deficiency that remained from regular drug use would sap productivity and place countless people in danger. Increased use would also send health care costs skyrocketing—costs borne not just by individual users, but also by the entire society.
For that reason, among others, the Obama Administration also rejects supporters' economic arguments. In his speech, Kerlikowske explained that tax revenue from cigarettes is far outweighed by their social costs: "Tobacco also does not carry its economic weight when we tax it; each year we spend more than $200 billion and collect only about $25 billion in taxes." If the heavy taxation of cigarettes is unable even to come close to making up for the health and other costs associated with their use, it seems doubtful at best that marijuana taxes would be sufficient to cover the costs of legalized marijuana—especially considering that, in addition to the other dangers of smoking marijuana, the physical health effects of just three to four joints are equivalent to those of an entire pack of cigarettes.
Further, even if the RCTCA were to pass, marijuana would remain illegal in the entire United States under federal law while taxed only in California, a situation that would strengthen both California's gray market and the nationwide black market in illegal drugs. Fueled by generous growing allowances and an enormous supply in California, criminal sales operations would flourish as excess California marijuana was sold outside the state and, at the same time, out-of-state growers attempted to access the more permissive market inside the state.
In sum, legalization would put additional strain on an already faltering economy. In 2008, marijuana alone was involved in 375,000 emergency room visits. Drug overdoses already outnumber gunshot deaths in America and are approaching motor vehicle crashes as the nation's leading cause of accidental death. It is true that taxing marijuana sales would generate some tax revenue, but the cost of handling the influx of problems resulting from increased use would far outweigh any gain made by marijuana's taxation. Legalizing marijuana would serve only to compound the problems already associated with drug use.
The final two arguments of those favoring legalization are intertwined. According to advocates of legalization, the government's efforts to combat the illegal drug trade have been an expensive failure. Consequently, they argue, focusing on substance abuse and treatment would be a more effective means of combating drug abuse while reducing the violence and social ills stemming from anti-drug enforcement efforts.
There is no doubt that if marijuana were legalized, more people, including juveniles, would consume it. Consider cigarettes: While their purchase by people under 18 is illegal, 20 percent of high school students admit to having smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days. Marijuana's illegal status "keeps potential drug users from using" marijuana in a way that no legalization scheme can replicate "by virtue of the fear of arrest and the embarrassment of being caught." With increased use comes increased abuse, as the fear of arrest and embarrassment will decrease.
Legalization advocates attempt to create in the minds of the public an image of a typical "responsible" user of marijuana: a person who is reasonable and accountable even when under the influence of marijuana. And for those few that don't fit that image? Society will treat them and restore them to full health. The facts, however, are much uglier.
The RAND Corporation projects a 50 percent increase in marijuana-related traffic fatalities under the RCTCA. That alone should weigh heavily on California voters this fall. In a 2008 national survey, approximately 3 million Americans 12 years old or older started using illicit drugs in the past year— almost 8,000 new users per day. The most commonly used illicit drug is marijuana, especially among the 20 million Americans over 12 who were users in 2008. In California, 62 percent of all marijuana treatment cases are already individuals under 21. Legalization will increase the number of underage users.
Keeping marijuana illegal will undoubtedly keep many young people from using it. Eliminate that criminal sanction (and moral disapprobation), and more youth will use the drug, harming their potential and ratcheting up treatment costs.
The chemical effect of marijuana is to take away ambition. The social effect is to provide an escape from challenges and responsibilities with a like-minded group of teenagers who are doing the same thing. Using marijuana creates losers. At a time when we're concerned about our lack of academic achievement relative to other countries, legalizing marijuana will be disastrous.
Additionally, making marijuana legal in California will fuel drug cartels and violence, particularly because the drug will still be illegal at the national level. The local demand will increase in California, but reputable growers, manufacturers, and retailers will still be unwilling—as they should be—to produce and distribute marijuana. Even without the federal prohibition, most reputable producers would not survive the tort liability from such a dangerous product. Thus, the vacuum will be filled by illegal drug cartels.
Legalize marijuana, and the demand for marijuana goes up substantially as the deterrence effect of law enforcement disappears. Yet not many suppliers will operate legally, refusing to subject themselves to the established state regulatory scheme— not to mention taxation—while still risking federal prosecution, conviction, and prison time. So who will fill the void?
Violent, brutal, and ruthless, Mexican DTOs will work to maintain their black-market profits at the expense of American citizens' safety. Every week, there are news articles cataloguing the murders, kidnappings, robberies, and other thuggish brutality employed by Mexican drug gangs along the border. It is nonsensical to argue that these gangs will simply give up producing marijuana when it is legalized; indeed, their profits might soar, depending on the actual tax in California and the economics of the interstate trade. While such profits might not be possible if marijuana was legalized at the national level and these gangs were undercut by mass production, that is unlikely ever to happen. Nor does anyone really believe that the gangs will subject themselves to state and local regulation, including taxation. And since the California ballot does nothing to eliminate the black market for marijuana—quite the opposite, in fact—legalizing marijuana will only incentivize Mexican DTOs to grow more marijuana to feed the demand and exploit the black market.
It is not uncommon for drugs with large illegal markets to be controlled by cartels despite attempts to roll them into the normal medical control scheme. For instance, cocaine has a medical purpose and can be prescribed by doctors as Erythroxylum coca, yet its true production and distribution are controlled by drug cartels and organized crime. As competition from growers and dispensaries authorized by the RCTCA cuts further into the Mexican DTOs' business, Californians will face a real possibility of bloodshed on their own soil as the cartels' profit-protection measures turn from defensive to offensive.
Thus, marijuana legalization will increase crime, drug use, and social dislocation across the state of California—the exact opposite of what pro-legalization advocates promise.
Pro-marijuana advocates promoting the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 invite Californians to imagine a hypothetical and idyllic "pot market," but America's national approach to drug use, addiction, and crime must be serious, based on sound policy and solid evidence.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan adopted a national drug strategy that took a comprehensive approach consisting of five components: international cooperation, research, strengthened law enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, and prevention and education. It was remarkably successful: Illegal drug use by young adults dropped more than 50 percent.
Reagan was right to make drug control a major issue of his presidency. Illegal drugs such as marijuana are responsible for a disproportionate share of violence and social decline in America. Accordingly, federal law, representing the considered judgment of medical science and the nation's two political branches of government, takes the unequivocal position that marijuana is dangerous and has no significant beneficial uses.
California cannot repeal that law or somehow allow its citizens to contravene it. Thus, it has two options. By far the best option is to commit itself seriously to the federal approach and pursue a strategy that attempts to prevent illegal drug use in the first place and reduce the number of drug users. This may require changes in drug policy, and perhaps in sentencing guidelines for marijuana users charged with simple possession, but simply legalizing a harmful drug—that is, giving up—is not a responsible option.
The other option is to follow the above path in the short term while conducting further research and possibly working with other states in Congress to consider changes in federal law. Although those who oppose the legalization of marijuana have every reason to believe that further, legitimate scientific research will confirm the dangers of its use, no side should try to thwart the sober judgment of the national legislature and sister states.
In short, no state will likely be allowed to legalize marijuana on its own, with such serious, negative cross-state spillover effects. Yet even if California could act as if it were an island, the legalization route would still end very badly for the Golden State. There is strong evidence to suggest that legalizing marijuana would serve little purpose other than to worsen the state's drug problems— addiction, violence, disorder, and death. While long on rhetoric, the legalization movement, by contrast, is short on facts.
—Charles D. "Cully" Stimson is a Senior Legal Fellow in the Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Before joining The Heritage Foundation, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; as a local, state, federal, and military prosecutor; and as a defense attorney and law professor. Special thanks to Heritage Intern Anthony Napolitano for his invaluable efforts in the researching, writing, and editing of this report.
Stuart M. Butler, The Marijuana Epidemic, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 140 (May 4, 1981), available athttp://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/1981/05/The-Marijuana-Epidemic.
Letter from Attorney James Wheaton, to Neil Amos, Initiative Coordinator, Office of the Attorney General (July 27, 2009), available athttp://ag.ca.gov/cmsattachments/initiatives/pdfs/i821initiative09-0024amdt1-s.pdf.
For a preview of all potential arguments that the pro-legalization movement will make, one need go no further than the Web site of the Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug Policy Alliance: Alternatives to Marijuana Prohibition and the Drug War, http://www.drugpolicy.org (last visited August 31, 2010). The Web site contains a section titled "Myths and Facts About Marijuana." The Drug Policy Alliance: Myths and Facts About Marijuana, http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/ (last visited August 31, 2010). According to their Web site, the Drug Policy Alliance Network is the "nation's leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights." George Soros is on the Board of the Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug Policy Alliance: Board of Directors, Drug Policy Alliance, http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/keystaff/boardofdirec/ (last visited August 31, 2010).
R. Gil Kerlikowske, ONDCP Director, Remarks to the California Police Chiefs Conference: Why Marijuana Legalization Would Compromise Public Health and Public Safety (March 4, 2010), available athttp://www.ondcp.gov/news/speech10/030410_Chief.pdf.
On October 19, 2009, the Justice Department issued a memorandum to selected United States Attorneys regarding investigations and prosecutions in states authorizing the medical use of marijuana. See Memorandum from David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General, to Selected United States Attorneys (October 19, 2009), available at http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192.
The act prohibits unlicensed possession for sale; consumption in public, including consumption by an operator of any vehicle, boat, or aircraft; and smoking in any space while minors are present. The act provides for state regulations, local ordinances, and other official acts to control, license, regulate, permit, or otherwise authorize cultivation, retail sale, consumption, and transportation of marijuana. To read the entire act, see California Secretary of State, California General Election, Tuesday, November 2, 2010: Voter Information Guide 92 (August 10, 2010), available athttp://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/pdf/english/text-proposed-laws.pdf.
Jacob Sullum, Prohibition Didn't Work Then; It Isn't Working Now , L.A. Times, April 21, 2008, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-sullum-stimson21apr21,0,7060990.story.
K. J. Mukamal et al., Roles of Drinking Pattern and Type of Alcohol Consumed in Coronary Heart Disease in Men, 348 New Eng. J. Med. 109–18 (2003).
(last visited August 27, 2010).
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana: Facts Every Parents Needs to Know, http://www.drugabuse.gov/MarijBroch/parentpg13-14N.html (last visited August 27, 2010).
National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana, http://www.drugabuse.gov/tib/marijuana.html (last visited August 27, 2010).
 See M. T. Lynskey & W. D. Hall, The Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Educational Attainment: A Review, Addiction, 95(11) 1621–1630 (2000).
Harrison G. Pope and Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, The Residual Cognitive Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use in College Students, 275 jama 521–27 (1996).
 Marijuana: Facts for Teens, Mar. 2008, at 7, available at http://www.drugabuse.gov/PDF/TEENS_Marijuana_brochure.pdf.
Robin Room et al., Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate (2009).
Office of National Drug Control Policy, What Americans Need to Know About Marijuana 3, available athttp://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/pdf/mj_rev.pdf.
David Moir et al., A Comparison of Mainstream and Sidestream Marijuana and Tobacco Cigarette Smoke Produced Under Two Machine Smoking Conditions, Chem. Res. Toxicol. 21 (2) 494–502 (2008) available athttp://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/tx700275p.
W. M. Compton et al., Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States: 1991–1992 and 2001–2002, 291 jama 2114–2121 (2004).
A. J. Budney & J. R. Hughes, The Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome, 19 Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 233–238 (2004); A. J. Budney et al., Review of the Validity and Significance of Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome, 161 American Journal of Psychiatry, 1967–1977 (2004). See also R. Gil Kerlikowske, supra note 4.
Rosalie Liccardo Pacula and Beau Kilmer, Marijuana and Crime: Is There a Connection Beyond Prohibition? (RAND Corporation Health Working Paper WR-125, Prepared for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, January 2004) available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/2004/RAND_WR125.pdf.
David Moir et al., supra note 19.
Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Government to Scale Down Coffee Shops (Sept. 11, 2009), http://english.minvws.nl/en/nieuwsberichten/vgp/2009/government-to-scale-down-coffee-shops.asp.
Memorandum from Lori J. Barker, City Attorney, to Chico City Council (Oct. 6, 2009), available at http://www.chico.ca.us/government/minutes_agendas/documents/SKMBT60010011114120.pdf.
California police provide evidence that attempts to burglarize dispensaries are already a problem. See Summit on the Impact of California's Medical Marijuana Laws: Dispensary Related Crime (April 23, 2009), available at http://www.californiapolicechiefs.org/nav_files/marijuana_files/files/DispensarySummitPresentation.ppt.
Beau Kilmer et al., Altered State? Assessing How Marijuana Legalization in California Could Influence Marijuana Consumption and Public Budgets(2010), available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2010/RAND_OP315.pdf.
 See California Secretary of State, supra note 6.
Press Release, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine (Apr. 20, 2006), available athttp://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2006/ucm108643.htm.
Gardiner Harris, F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit from Marijuana, N.Y. Times, April 21, 2006, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/health/21marijuana.html.
In 1996, California passed the Compassionate Use Act, which legalized marijuana for medical use. The law conflicted with the Controlled Substances Act, which classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance and makes no exception for medical necessity.
Dale Gieringer, Ph.D., Benefits of Marijuana Legalization in California, http://www.canorml.org/background/CA_legalization2.html (last visited Aug. 30, 2010).
Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Legalizing Marijuana: Issues to Consider Before Reforming California State Law, Testimony Before the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee (Oct. 28, 2009), available athttp://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2009/RAND_CT334.pdf.
W. M. Compton et al., supra note 22.
The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 § 2B5.
 See California Secretary of State, supra note 6 at 20.
Drug Abuse Warning Network, http://dawninfo.samhsa.gov/default.asp (last visited August 31, 2010).
 See Letter from Attorney James Wheaton, to Neil Amos, supra note 2.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Faststats—Smoking, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/smoking.htm (last visited August 31, 2010).
David G. Evans, In Support of the United Nations Drug Conventions, 10 (2d ed., 2009).
California Secretary of State, supra note 6 at 41.
California Secretary of State, supra note 6 at 36.
David G. Evans, supra note 48 at 10.
Telephone interview with Father Dunnan, A.B. (Harvard University), A.M. (Harvard University), M.A. (Oxford University), D.Phil. (Oxford University) (June 9, 2010).
 U.S. Department of Justice, Marijuana Availability—National Drug Threat Assessment 2010, available at http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs38/38661/marijuana.htm#Marijuana.
While this paper does not express any position on the issue, it is interesting to note that, as one unintended consequence of these illegal marijuana farms, the legal owners of the plots of land occupied by cartel members could lose the land to the drug lords at some future date under California's adverse possession laws.
Aaron Swarts, "Pot 'Cartels' a Reality in Rural Alameda County" (Feb. 19, 2009), available at www.californiapolicechiefs.org/nav_files/marijuana_files/files/AaronSwarts.pdf.
Department of Justice, National Drug Threat Assessment 2009, 1, available at http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/18862/ndic_2009.pdf.


I just started making my own homemade blackened seasoning mix and it is so good! Perfect for fish and chicken and additive free. It also takes very little time to whip up a batch of this mix to store in your pantry.
One very popular recipe on the blog is for a homemade rotisserie chicken seasoning mix. That mix is great for homemade rotisserie chicken of course, but it's also delicious in chicken noodle soup and a lot of other recipes.
Since the other spice mix recipes are so popular, I decided it's high time I shared another homemade seasoning mix, so here's a delicious way to make your own blackened seasoning mix. This mix is great for fish and chicken. We love to use it on blackened salmon tacos! Nom Nom! As with most things I make, I like to double or quadruple this recipe so it's ready to go when I need a quick meal. I encourage you to make up a big batch of this and store it in a air-tight container!
Why Make Your Own Spice Mixes?
That's a good question! I like to make my own spice mixes so I can control ingredients. Often MSG is hiding in the pre-made mixes you buy at the store, so make sure to check ingredient list before buying. It's also a way to save money! I'm all about saving money especially on groceries which seem to be getting more and more expensive. And honestly, it just doesn't take that much time to do.
By the way, if you don't already use flat measuring spoons that fit inside spice jars, GET SOME! They will revolutionize your LIFE! I got mine at World Market, but haven't seen them there since. I did find these Spring Chef Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Metal Measuring Spoons for Dry or Liquid, Fits in Spice Jar, Set of 6 on Amazon though, and they look just as amazing as mine!
Homemade spice mixes are so easy to make. It takes longer to pull the spices out of the cabinet than it does to actually make the mix. Just make sure you have an airtight container to store your homemade seasoning mixes to keep them fresh! When you're ready to use this mix, measure out 2-4 TBS per pound of meat.
Here's the printable recipe for homemade blackened seasoning mix, perfect for fish and chicken.
Simply combine all spices in an airtight container. Shake to combine. When you're ready to cook, use 2-4 TBS per pound of meat, depending on how spicy you want your food!


You can make healthy choices and still enjoy wonderful food over the festive season, as dietitian Ann Gregory explains.
Christmas and the summer holidays are the time for catching up with family/whānau and friends. In all cultures, food is a way of showing hospitality, respect and love for our guests. It can also be a time when all the positive healthy lifestyle changes we have made during the year are put to the test. Here are some ideas for a happy and healthy Christmas.
Plan in advance. The best way to avoid over-indulging this Christmas is to do a bit of clever preparation. Plan the meals for the holiday period, make a shopping list and only buy what you need. Then the leftover nibbles and treats will not be there to tempt you after Christmas.
Do not over cater. Plan the serving sizes. For example you only need 120-160g of meat per person and 90-120g of potato, or other starchy food per person. It will save you money too.
To decrease the temptation to pick at them every time you open the fridge, freeze leftovers straight away.
Have healthy snacks on hand. Have raw vegetable crudités, such as sticks of carrot, celery, pepper, gherkins with flavoured cottage cheese or dips made with low fat yoghurt or low fat sour cream instead of nuts and chippies. Try rice crackers in place of chippies.
Try to limit the number of nibbles you have. They can be calorie dense and very moreish. Do not sit next to the dish of nuts or chippies – pass it on to someone else and reduce the temptation!
Try these ideas for Xmas. Use less bread in stuffing, increase the amount of onions and fruit. Make sure you skim off as much fat as possible when making gravy.
Don't roast potatoes in lots of fat, roll them in vegetable oil, season and roast. Have one small potato per serving with some plain boiled potato.
Use low fat mayonnaise or salad dressing, or try oil and vinegar dressing with salads. Keep to a tablespoon serving.
When cooking, measure the oil don't just glug – this helps to manage the kilojoules.
Remember the healthy plate model and have lots of veggies to help fill you up.
Limit sweet treats. Treats you would not normally eat are part of Christmas and we look forward to them but aim for one treat a day, not three! If you overdo it one day don't give up. Reduce the number of treats you eat the following day.
Don't ice the Christmas cake – decorate it with nuts and dried fruit instead.
Make filo pastry cases and fill with fruit mince – it makes a delicious lower fat alternative to mince pies.
Use low fat milk to make custard for the trifle or have it with your Christmas pudding. Mix equal amounts of low fat yoghurt with whipped cream and add vanilla essence – it makes a great 'cream' with Christmas or any other pudding.
Remember alcohol. It is easy to over indulge in the drinking department at Christmas.
Remember not to drink on an empty stomach (especially if you are on insulin). Alcohol will also stimulate your appetite making you eat more calories. Try limiting yourself to a glass of wine with your meal or make a spritzer (white wine topped up with soda water) for a pre-dinner drink. Use sugar-free mixers with spirits. Better still have soda water with a splash of lime as a refreshing pre-meal drink.


Surat: At a recent auction, a 62 year-old diamond merchant, Laljibhai Patel, had bought the suit which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wore during his meeting with US President Barack Obama. Patel has subsequently been favored under a scheme by Surat Municipal Corporation. Speculations are now being raised about the land given to Laljibhai Patel by the Municipal Corporation.
According to a news portal, land worth 54 crores was given to him as a goodwill gesture. Patel had bought the suit for 4.31 crores and had made three bids – Rs. 2.08 crore, Rs. 2.51 crore and Rs. 4.31 crore.
Other bidders participated in the process with great enthusiasm, though were left with mixed feelings after Patel claimed the suit whose base price was 11 lakhs. Some of the people present there were happy that at least the money is being used for a good cause while the others who could not enter the gates to witness the auction were left disappointed.


The Democracy Alliance is a network of donors and movement leaders that is helping to build the foundation of a sustainable progressive infrastructure. Since its inception in 2005, the DA has developed a mechanism for collaborative funding that provides organizations much needed multi-year, general operating support. Together, DA members are helping strengthen the progressive movement through integrated planning and strategic execution.
The platform created by the DA provides a premier opportunity for individuals to leverage the impact of their progressive philanthropy. It connects the individual efforts of donors with those of other individual and institutional donors, as well high-impact organizations and leaders.


text:
Lightfoot Names Jared Levinthal Houston Office Managing Partner
Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC has appointed partner Jared Levinthal to lead the litigation firm's Houston office. The firm named Levinthal to the role as it continues to expand its reach in Texas.
"Not only is Jared a respected trial lawyer, but he founded his own litigation boutique prior to joining forces with Lightfoot in 2020, so he's no stranger to managing and inspiring a team," said Lightfoot managing partner Melody Eagan. "In this new role, Jared will collaborate with the Executive Committee on strategic planning and management of the Houston office. We're grateful for his willingness to step into this critical position and are confident he will lead our Houston team to new heights."
Lightfoot has more than 60 trial lawyers, 14 of whom are licensed to practice in Texas. The firm opened its Houston office in 2017 in an effort to meet demand from existing Texas clients and expand on opportunities in the region. Lightfoot continued that expansion when it joined with Texas-based trial boutique Levinthal Wilkins PLLC in 2020, adding Levinthal, Robert Wilkins, Kaitlyn Faucett and their staff to its ranks.
Levinthal represents plaintiffs and defendants in all types of litigation, including complex commercial cases with millions of dollars — and often the company itself — at stake. He has practiced since 1997 and handles disputes involving commercial and business issues, product liability, professional malpractice, intellectual property, insurance coverage and bad faith, serious personal injury and wrongful death. Since 2013, Levinthal has routinely been named a "Super Lawyer" in the Texas Monthly list of top attorneys in the state, and he was named one of the top 100 lawyers in Houston by Super Lawyers in 2019.
Jared I. Levinthal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Mayor Mike Duggan visits Detroit's Boston Edison neighborhood for a May 2014 house auction. Reuters/Joshua Lott
A Conversation With Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Detroit's first white mayor in 40 years talks abandoned housing, streetlights, and gentrification.
"Every neighborhood has a future" was Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's campaign slogan when he ran for office in 2013. Now, just a few months into his tenure, it's clear that his message—one that spat in the face of Detroit's bankruptcy, its curtailed social services, and its high crime rate—will be a difficult one to implement.
A little about Duggan: He was born in Detroit in 1958, where he lived until he left to attend the University of Michigan. He received a Bachelor's degree from the school in 1980, and a law degree three years later. He served as an elected official beginning in 1986, and more recently, as the president and CEO of the Detroit Medical Center. Now, Duggan is the first white mayor of majority-black Detroit since the mid-1970s.
I've long been interested in Detroit's economic transformation, the comeback of its urban core, and the problems and divides it faces. I sat down Mayor Duggan earlier this month to talk about it.
Richard Florida: Let's start with the basics. What is your vision for the city?
Mayor Duggan: The first thing we're trying to do is deliver quality city services, what in other cities might be taken for granted. We've got 18,000 streetlights installed since my first day here. We're taking down vacant houses—knocking down 250 of them a week. When you take down the run-down houses, the beautiful houses that are left there have significant value.
What we've started doing is filing lawsuits on every abandoned house in a good neighborhood at once. We give the owners two choices: They can sign a court order to have it fixed up and occupied in six months or they can give it to us and we'll sell it on the Internet. About a week from now, those are all going to hit the Internet pipeline, which means you're taking the whole neighborhood at once. The beauty of this is, for every house that we sell, two people sign a consent agreement to fix up their own house. Because I, as mayor, don't want the house: I want it fixed up.
We're at a point that I've never seen in this city's history, where the young people want to be in an urban area. People are moving back. The jobs are moving back.
Mayor Duggan visits a home auctioned off in May 2014 as part of the city of Detroit and the Detroit Land Bank's effort to fill abandoned neighborhoods. Most homes have a $1,000 opening bid. (Reuters/Joshua Lott)
We hear a lot about how Detroit has to shrink. But you ran for mayor on the idea of protecting the neighborhoods in the city. Tell us about that.
I don't see the size as a liability at all. I see the geographic size of the city as an enormous asset, if we think through carefully how to use the land. If you take the quality neighborhoods that are there and you save those, and then you take the commercial corridors near the quality neighborhoods and invest in those, that land becomes an asset to your overall vision and not some liability. I never use the word "shrinking." Shrinking doesn't occur to me. I see that land as a very valuable part of a long-term vision for the city.
Traditionally, urban revitalization has been led by government. But in Detroit, a great deal of it is coming from the private sector. What do you think about that?
There is something about the spirit of this city that motivates people to want to help rebuild. And then when you look at how undervalued our assets are, you see there's enormous opportunity here. A lot of private investors are doing it from a profit standpoint. And a number of the foundations are doing it because they see return on investment in their own way. They believe the quality of life in the city is going to improve. Everybody sees the potential to have a significant impact in a short period of time.
So do you think a lot of the investment is motivated by the opportunity or a sense of community betterment?
I think it's both. No well-run foundation is going to throw money at me. They're going to invest where they think they're going to have the most impact on the mission. I hope the fact that the delivery of services has improved noticeably in the last seven or eight months is causing people to be even more willing to invest.
What do you see as the key areas and investments in that services area?
Everything starts with quality of life. If you live on a block and you have two burned down houses on your block, you have no ability to sell your house for anywhere near what it's worth. You are trapped there and your children are walking past those houses every day.
We have to improve the quality of life in those neighborhoods and we're working aggressively on it. If you can take out the abandoned houses and you relight the streets, that has an impact on crime. We've cut the response time during emergencies. You're seeing the fewest murders in 20 years. Our EMS response times are now the lowest they've been in five years: we're down from 18 minutes to 12 minutes. By the end of the year, my goal is to be down to seven to eight minutes.
If you go into any neighborhood in this city right now and say, "How are things?" people will say to you, "I got this problem with this or that. But it's getting better." I think you'll hear that throughout the city.
Detroit firefighters respond to a blaze at an abandoned home. (Sam Beebe/Flickr)
How much do schools matter in this?
The heart of the problem is that you have 40 different entities that are authorized in schools in the state of Michigan right now. In the city of Detroit we have not been well-served by the multiple authorizing authorities. I don't care whether it's the Detroit Public School's education achievement authority or the charters'. Their performance standards are almost identical, and they are not succeeding. We've got to get to an authorizing entity that can ensure we get quality schools in the city.
I've said a big part of Detroit's crisis is the wealthy suburbs not coming to the table. What do you think about this idea of the suburbs pitching in their fair share and working more closely with the city?
You can't go to the suburbs and say, "I want you to make a deal that's bad for the suburbs and work for the city." They will not do that, nor should their elected officials do that. But can you find partnerships that are good for the suburbs in the city at the same time? I think you can.
We're going to have one shortly on the regional water system that will hopefully benefit both the suburbs and the city at the same time. You'll be able to judge for yourself whether it had any impact or not.
What about the State of Michigan. Do you think the state could do more?
I never go asking for money. What I try to do is put together partnerships that work for everybody, whether it's the governor, whether it's the president, whether it's the suburbs. I try to find things that work for all of us.
Mayor Duggan delivers his first State of the City address in February 2014. (Reuters/Joshua Lott)
So what you're saying is that the private sector and foundations are more your focus than going to the state or at other political entities and looking for funding.
They're all pieces of a strategy. I need demolition money to be able to have the other houses succeed. That's a government function. But once I clear out the burned out houses and I want to sell the beautiful vacant houses, I need somebody to write a mortgage for that buyer. That's the private sector.
My wife, who grew up in greater Detroit, says it always felt like a big company town: You go to school, you get good grades, and you go get a job. Is there this entrepreneurial ecosystem now that's happening? What are its key features and supports?
The entrepreneurs are showing up on their own. We need to build the ecosystem to extend it.
Go to Craft Work. The waiter has got a Brooklyn accent. What are you doing here? "My girlfriend and I couldn't afford to start an organic food business in Brooklyn. I'm waiting in this restaurant during the wait. We're opening the organic market down the street. We bought a house in the neighborhood. We're fixing up." You see these old houses starting to get fixed up and it feeds on itself.
The loans to start the businesses in the commercial district feed the neighborhoods and as the houses fill up, the neighborhoods fill up, and the commercial district comes back.
They're also filling up my administration. There are 20- and 30-somethings coming back from New York and D.C. into jobs in the administration that have an impact. It is remarkable.
Some people say Detroit is a tale of two cities: a gentrified core for businesses and newcomers and limited opportunity and failing neighborhoods for the longtime residents. How are you addressing that?
Come hang out with me in any neighborhood in this city right now and you can see it being addressed very aggressively. But when half of the lights in the city don't work, it seems to be a hopeless situation. So we are putting 1,000 lights a week in neighborhoods. Everybody in the city gets that. The number of people who have called me and said, "We've decided not to sell our house"—we never thought we'd see it in our lifetime.
There is a feeling of hope in the neighborhoods. We have a long way to go. But people in this city believe that the quality of life in their neighborhoods is being addressed.
Detroit's Earthworks Urban Farm, which is associated with the the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. (Jessica "The Hun" Reeder/Flickr)
But there are those who will say that improving quality of life mainly benefits the more affluent. When you make the quality of life better, isn't the result gentrification?
I've got three city council district meetings for which 200-300 people from the neighborhoods are going to show up over the next few weeks. Come sit at one of them and see. You will absolutely have people complaining about individual issues, but the underlying tone of is one of hope. Nobody says it's downtown and midtown versus the neighborhoods. People in the neighborhoods today believe that we have an administration that is all about the quality of life of the neighborhoods.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.


Heading to The Lizard and looking for something to do or a place to visit nearby. Coast Radar is not just a list of beaches but we bring you the whole The Lizard coast including castles, lighthouses, piers, museums, beautiful gardens, seaside towns, National Trust and other heritage properties.
When on an information page you can also use our tools to search for nearby The Lizard seaside towns, and the surrounding coast for the best beaches and places to stay and eat.
Finding the best things to see and do on a The Lizard day out with your family or friends is easy – simply explore the links below, to find the closest hit the jump to my location compass or use the search bar to plan where your next The Lizard activity could be.
Lizard Lighthouse is a landfall and coastal mark giving a guide to vessels in passage along the English Channel and warning of the hazardous waters off Lizard Point. Many stories are told of the activities of wreckers around our coasts, most of which are grossly exaggerated, but small communities occasionally and sometimes officially benefited from the spoils of shipwrecks, and petitions for lighthouses were, in certain cases, rejected on the strength of local opinion; this was particularly true in the South West of England. The distinctive twin towers of the Lizard Lighthouse mark the most southerly point of mainland Britain. The coastline is particularly hazardous, and from early times the need for a beacon was obvious. Lighthouse has a visitor centre although opening times are restricted.
Lizard Point in Cornwall has spectacular cliffs, coves and views and is at the southern tip of the Lizard Peninsula and is the most southerly point on mainland Great Britain. With the exception of parts of the Isles of Scilly it is the southernmost part of England.


text:
Q: Short story about a collector alien that relentlessly chases man stuck on an island I am trying to identify the book or the writer that wrote a story that is an anthology of sci-fi short stories from the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s. The anthology was as a hardback.
An army man is dropped via helicopter on an uninhabited island, for training I believe. Upon exploration, he is discovers all the sizable animals on the island have had something done to them so that they are in suspended animation, not dead but immobilized and not moving. They are arranged in an exhibition like state. He sees upon an alien (I always imagined it as a big Dalek like thing) that makes a straight line for him and he realizes it is responsible for what happened to the animals. The alien is completely impervious to all his attacks and keeps coming at him, I think with a needle out to collect him.
The man panicks and runs off setting traps to crush, stop or block the alien (including a rockfall) but to no avail, he is increasingly panicking and is on the run for 2 to 3 days on the island without sleep trying to stay ahead of the lumbering but relentless alien.
We get a cut-shot perspective of the alien which was a robot that an alien race used and released it to collect animal specimen samples of a specific weight range and they left without switching it off.
The alien collector has been steadily gaining on the man little by little and finally on the 3rd day, it catches up with the man and just before it attacks, it stops, pauses then it turns and moves on away from him, leaving him alone.
The man's helicopter ride comes in and picks him up and the crew is shocked at how bad he looks and they exclaim how it looks like he has dropped 10 pounds of weight in 3 days!
He also realizes that the only way to get away from the alien is if you can fly away from the island.
Anyone know which story this is?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Do you have atrial fibrillation (AF) or know someone who does? Do you worry you are at risk of an AF-related stroke? Would you like to learn more about AF and how to improve living with AF?
If you have answered YES to any or all of these questions, then join us and hundreds of other patients at the AF Association Patients Day 2019.
World renowned medical experts will be sharing their knowledge and talking about up to date research. Learn more about AF, how you can better manage it and what treatment options are available to you. Patients Day gives you the opportunity to ask questions and discuss your concerns with doctors and to meet other patients in a similar situation to you in a relaxed, comfortable environment.
This year, we have added new topics and invited new speakers, so even if you have attended Patients Day in the past, you will still learn something new.
If you or someone close to you has AF, we are confident you will experience a profound sense of relief when you attend this year's AF Association Patients Day.
Registration is £35 per person. Based on your feedback and to hold last year's price, tea and coffee will be available throughout the day for you to purchase. Complimentary lunch which will include water will be provided. Water will also be provided in all meeting rooms.
"This was our first visit and my husband found it very reassuring having been diagnosed with combined SVT and AF last year. Extremely informative."
"Even though we've come for a number of years, I always learn something new so thank you."
11.15 I am in permanent AF - what now?
12.10 Heart failure - what does it mean?
Debate: AF Management - who is responsible? GP or EP?
16.15 Why is anticoagulation so important?


The Constitution Revision Commission is holding public hearings throughout the State about the proposals it is considering. Florida residents may attend these hearings and testify about the proposals. We hope you will sign this letter and attend a hearing to stand up for religious freedom by voicing your opposition to Proposals 4 and 45.


Ghana plans to be the first developed African nation as part of its 2020 vision. This plan will need to address the claims that Ghana has lost up to 50 billion cedis (approx $11bn USD) in corruption. In the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 Ghana ranked 70 out of 176 countries with a score of 43 (0=highly corrupt and 100=very clean) – a drop of 4 percentage points from 2015. Undoubtedly, this ranking needs to improve, rather than decrease, to realize the 2020 vision.
As an expert for the EU Funded Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (ARAP) I facilitated Prosecution Workshops, with the aim of promoting proactive investigations and the development of early interaction between law enforcement officers and prosecutors on corruption cases. The jointly organised workshops with the Public Prosecutions Division of the Attorney General's Department, were an opportunity to hear about the reality of investigating and prosecuting corruption in Ghana – from State Attorneys, Police Prosecutors, Economic and Organised Crime Office Investigators, the National Communications Authority and Police Officers.
Corruption in Ghana ranges from "payment" to immigration officers upon arrival – to the embezzlement of state funds – but the workshops opened my eyes to the issue of illegal mining in Ghana. Those who purge the environment in the pursuit of gold – without the requisite license – are another example of corruption.
Children will toil away in the search for gold for up to 14 hours a day exposing themselves to long-term respiratory conditions and high levels of mercury that attacks the central nervous system and can cause lifelong disability, including brain damage, and even death.
Pursuant to section 12 of the Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560) of Ghana, no person shall subject a child to exploitative labour – defined as depriving a child of their health, education or development. The punishment for those that contravene this part of the Children's Act is a fine of 10 million cedis ($2.25m USD) or 2 years imprisonment – surely convictions could disrupt illegal mining? Yet I'm unaware of any investigations or prosecutions targeting those who use children to mine for gold. With the promotion of joint working the time is opportune to tackle this pervasive issue.


Stories abound about when he was in charge.
Most of her poems abound in imagery.
There are no shop in the area, but street hawkers abound. They sell everything from fruit and vegetables to bicycle tyres. Most of these hawkers live in the area.
But the dwindling of the insurgency does not mean that peaceful opportunities abound.
Maternal mortality in America is particularly high in New York City, where extremes of wealth and poverty abound, says Deborah Kaplan, who oversees the Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health for New York City's health department.
Abound Solar expects to sell about 30 megawatts worth of solar panels this year.
Large enterprises have started becoming social businesses in earnest, and good case studies now abound.
And the 2010-11 season was perhaps the most engrossing of all as story lines abound.


No need to bother about joint pain …!
If the bones are fractured due to accident or if the bones develop hairline fractures for some reason, the fractured area was treated with a bandage called 'Maavukattu' in those days. If the bandage is very tight, then, there's the risk of the bones bending. And, the patient was required to remain immobile until the time the fractured bones were set right. But today, modern treatment methods are in practice. Constructive surgery, surgery for hands, soles, joints, back etc. are available. Those who undergo the surgery is not required to stay in the bed continuously, they can have their normal routine to some extent. And, they are discharged in just two or three days after the surgery. Though it will take three months for the fracture to heal, the patient can return to his normal life very soon.
So, joint wear-out is not a big problem today. Transplantation of the joints is being done very commonly and the patient will be free from the problem till end after the surgery. Key-hole surgery method is adopted in the case of broken bones. A hole is made at the joint and sutures are made through this hole at the site of the damaged tissues. Hairline fractures are also treated very easily. Wearing out of the backbone is also becoming a common problem nowadays. If a person feels pain due to some problem in the bone, he should consult the doctor immediately. If there's problem at the tail end of the spinal cord, the person will feel pain whenever he tries to sit. This problem can also be rectified by surgery.
The incidence of this problem is very high in our country because of genetic factor. But as solutions are available for all types of bone problems today, there's no need to panic. "Do exercise regularly and eat good nutritious food, you can bid goodbye to joint pain!" says Dr. Vijay C. Bose.
When we get pain at the joints, we massage eucalyptus oil on the area and get temporary relief. But today, medicine has advanced to a great extent and drugs have been discovered to deal with this problem on a permanent basis. Regular exercise and nutritious food would prevent wearing out of the bones to a great extent. Calcium rich foods like green vegetables and milk should be included in our diet without fail. Growing children and women should take two cups of milk daily.


Toshiba showed off two new items at CES.
The SD WiFi card – called FlashAir – is a 2-way Wifi card. Since some cameras edit photos and video internally, you can now bring files in wirelessly from other cameras or a computer to make the final creation. The card will do 802.1 b/g/n and come in 8GB.
The TransMemory-EX series starts at $100 and the FlashAir is rumored to be $70 when released in February.
Thanks for viewing the CES article Toshiba: Debut FlashAir SD WiFi Cards, TransMemory-EX 64 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive – CES 2012 at Geekazine!


Since their introduction during the late '90s, the DJ-Kicks albums released by !K7 records have steadily increased in both prestige and pulling power and the latest release in the series is no exception.
For the 68th iteration !K7 have called upon Berlin-based producer Laurel Halo, AKA Ina Cube, to provide a mix which makes use of her penchant for the acoustic and electronic and in which she can explore the differences therein. What results is one of the more enthralling collections in the series, packed with exclusives and explosive floor fillers in equal measure.
This is clear even from the outset with the first of Halo's new compositions, "Public Art". Beginning the mix on an understated note, the track features a winding piano loop which incrementally unfurls and coils back over itself haphazardly in a way that is both instantaneously intriguing and poignantly fleeting. This ornate introduction gives way to "Always Hate" by Stallone the Reducer, a piece replete with fizzing production, whirring percussion and a consistent and oppressive bass drum, it is the very antithesis of the down-tempo song which precedes it.
And in a nutshell, this is what makes Cube's mix so enthralling, it deftly and palpably explores the battle between the organic and synthetic, a battle in which Halo ultimately offers up no clear victor but keeps the listener in a constant state of negative capability. For every moment of blissful peace, Halo skilfully balances it on the counterpoint of some malicious industrial arrangement, she has amassed an incredibly disparate and nuanced collection of music but due to her confidence and artistic control it simply works.
Additionally, Halo is also bolstered by an excellent collection of exclusives which directly support this dialogue between sublime and subversion. Rrose's "Cricoid Pressure" for example, is a song based in a cleaner sonic space with the synthetic clicking and synthesised loop fluctuating briefly into a small jazz piano interlude from Machinewoman's "Just Made Some Jazz Music" before bursting forth out onto the raw bass arena of Ana's "WCC". Again, its handled flawlessly and the ebb and flow between these moments and genres is impressive.
The thematic consistency across the 29-track release is by far its most impressive aspect and it seems just as fitting that the set begins as it ends, with an organic piece which slowly pulls us out of the frenzy and musical landscape that Halo has effortlessly hauled us through. Ending on "Ntu" by the Whitefield Brothers the ending of Cube's DJ-Kicks hints at a producer whose tastes are as eclectic as they are incongruent, the staccato percussive taps in the song are just as haphazard as Halo's "Public Art" but prove just as essential.
Through this combination of the ethereal and the eccentric, Halo has curated a mix that twists neatly around her musical influences whilst lending an intimate sense of her own direction as a producer and DJ. It is a seamless collection rooted firmly in the contemporary which hints at a musician in complete artistic control.


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Spain, officially known as the Kingdom of Spain, is located in south-west Europe and is bordered by France and Portugal. The country has the 13th largest national economy in the world and generated $1.36 trillion in 2013.
Spain has one of the most stable financial banking systems in Western Europe as it follows strict banking codes, which promote security and stability. The industrial sector accounts for a quarter of the GDP, with specific industrial zones that are mainly used to manufacture goods such as textiles, footwear, chemicals, automobiles and machinery. In 2009 Spain exported $215.7 billion worth of goods, which were shipped to France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
With its diverse landscape, it is unsurprising that Spain has a thriving tourism industry, which helps generate an average of $80 billion every year. It's currently ranked as the 4th most visited country in the world, with an average of 55 million visitors each year.
Spain has a modern and technologically advanced transportation infrastructure, which spans the entire country, partially thanks to a $22.8 billion investment from the European Union. This was used to modernise and develop airports, train routes and communication systems throughout the country.
With travellers frequently visiting Spain on business, the serviced apartment industry has given corporate travellers the perfect accommodation option. Each apartment differs, but they all generally offer more space, flexibility and comfort than an ordinary hotel room. At affordable rates, serviced accommodation also offers business traveller an ideal, long term, solution.
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Pukekohe High School has a Ministry of Education approved enrolment scheme. Under this scheme, students will be enrolled if they live within the home zone.
Pukekohe High School has a home zone as shown on the attached map. All students who live within the home zone shall be entitled to enrol at the school.
The Pukekohe High School Board of Trustees has determined that out of zone enrolments will be accepted from siblings of current students and that there will be no limit on the number of such enrolments.
new evidence has come to light which suggests that the student is not, in fact, the sibling of a current or former student.


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Debbie Allsop
Lecturer in Fashion, Department of Fashion and Textiles
EmailD.Allsop@hud.ac.uk
Debbie trained in fashion design and predominantly focuses on technical garment construction. She joined the school of Art Design and Architecture as a lecturer in fashion 2012 and currently teaches on the sample development and textiles for fashion modules; which involve pattern cutting and garment construction and fabric embellishment and manipulation. Debbie graduated from The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in 2005 with a degree in Fashion Design, and also completed a Post Graduate Certificate of Education gained from Nottingham Trent University in 2009. She is currently working towards the completion of an MRes qualification (2015).
Before lecturing at the University of Huddersfield, Debbie was a technical demonstrator in fashion 2009-2012. Her demonstration focused on garment construction, tailoring, textiles manipulation and embellishment techniques including computerised embroidery across the Fashion Design courses. Prior to her employment at the University of Huddersfield, Debbie lectured at West Nottinghamshire FE College between 2007-2009. She taught on the Fashion and Textiles and Visual Communication units, including teaching pattern cutting and garment construction, textiles, life-drawing and visual studies on several BTEC National Diploma Courses. She also worked as a technician demonstrating in all areas of fashion and textiles at West Nottinghamshire College between 2006-2009, whilst studying for her teaching qualification.
Debbie has also worked for a number of years at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre as a wardrobe assistant and maker; and as a costume assistant for the Birmingham based company, Costumia from 2004-2006. Enthusiasm for practical garment making inspired through fashion and costume influenced Debbie's ambition to create womenswear garments and accessories, pursing successful, independent work in designing and manufacturing clothing and bags for a boutique based in Nottinghamshire during 2006-2009.
http://debbieall.tumblr.com
Practical elements of fashion;
Garment construction and fabric manipulation
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics where Debbie Allsop is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
expertise Social Sciences
Students Engineering & Materials Science
resources Social Sciences
industry Social Sciences
Industry Engineering & Materials Science
personnel Social Sciences
confidence Social Sciences
Revitalising and enhancing sewing skills and expertise
Allsop, D. & Cassidy, T., 2 Jan 2019, In : International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education. 12, 1, p. 65-75 11 p.
The Development of a Resource Tool for the Revitalisation and Enhancement of Sewing Skills and Expertise
Debbie Allsop (Speaker), Tracy Cassidy (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Contact Debbie Allsop


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University offers 30-week program to promote 'racial justice'
Toni Airaksinen | Former Education News Contributor, PJ Media
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 7:20 AM
Grand Valley State University now offers a 30-week program for students looking to "advance the work of racial justice, advocacy, and inclusion" on campus.
The school's Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) office is currently seeking applicants for its OMA ambassador program to "work towards social justice" while advocating for "social change."
[RELATED: University paying students to be 'social justice advocates']
Successful applicants must commit to the position for an entire academic year, a total of 30-weeks, with nine weeks of "leadership development" focusing on "advocating towards social change," while participating in "activities that will enhance their experience and knowledge on racial and social justice issues."
After successful completion of their training, OMA ambassadors will be dispatched to conduct "racial justice outreach" across campus, including facilitating workshops for peers and tabling to raise awareness for the OMA.
The program, piloted last year, will require ambassadors to help lead a dialogue series called "Conversations of Color," which has previously featured discussions on topics like why "cultural appropriation" is "disrespectful" and "rude," "black stereotypes in TV," and "the fear of Muslim terrorism."
[RELATED: UCLA pays profs $1000 each to teach anti-Trump workshops]
Similarly, OMA ambassadors were asked to help run a religious "Solidarity Dinner" in an effort to promote "ethnoracial equality" in the "wake of President Trump's Muslim ban."
Other universities, such as Bowling Green State University, Lehigh College, and Tulane University, have all started similar programs.
Campus Reform reached out to GVSU for additional information on the program, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen
Toni Airaksinen
Former Education News Contributor, PJ Media
Toni Airaksinen is a freelance Title IX and law reporter. Her reporting has been cited by numerous media including PBS Newshour, The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, The Drudge Report, Fox News, The New York Post, The Daily Wire, REASON, and more. Toni was previously a New Jersey Campus Correspondent, reporting on liberal bias and abuse for Campus Reform with a focus on Title IX, the OCR, and the First Amendment. She graduated ...