The Humble Libertarian original

1. Liberty - Well a good place to start is so that we can live out our own American values of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness by respecting every individual's liberty to make their own choices about their own body, their own time, and their own money. 2. Conservatism - Conservatives have been complaining about "the nanny state" and "big government run amok" for decades now, so here's a chance to curtail the excesses of government overreach, something very well in line with purported conservative values. 3. Liberalism - Liberals have been vocal supporters of each individual's right to make their own choices about their own bodies for decades now as well, so this is a chance to bring reality in line with rhetoric and let people be responsible for their own bodies. 4. Libertarianism - If you don't like marijuana, just don't use it. That's a lot more simple of a solution than waging an entire war on it. 5. Consistency - ...

Anyone else think now might be a good time to get a bargain on U.S. Marijuana Index stocks and maybe make a little money while supporting a new industry with a lot of bold entrepreneurs in it? WaPo "Marijuana stocks tumble after Jeff Sessions announces pot crackdown" I'll still bet on the marijuana industry.

In light of the recent memo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding prosecution of the un-American and tyrannical 40+ years old, failed, federal war on drugs.

A study of FBI crime statistics released last month has found that marijuana legalization is decreasing violent homicides related to the illegal drug trade in U.S. border states. In this article I talk some about the study and link to an article I wrote in 2010 in which I predicted this would be the outcome of legalizing marijuana by thinking about the problem of drug related violent crime economically. When we think economically about tough social problems, it can reveal truths that are counter to intuition.

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington’s annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a little provision was tucked away in the budget bill that addressed medical marijuana in the now 29 states where it’s legal, with West Virginia the most recent to legalize just last month... Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

While marijuana legalization is making massive strides forward throughout the country, with a whopping eight states voting to legalize marijuana use for medical or recreational purposes in November's election, the movement to "legalize it" is facing resistance in Tennessee. The Tennessee House of Representatives just approved a bill Thursday to repeal local ordinances approved by city councils in Nashville and Memphis last year that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, a seemingly promising foothold for marijuana legalization in a very politically and culturally conservative state. Read the rest of my latest article at The Independent Voter Network .

This week, Forbes shocked readers with the observation that legal marijuana sales in the United States for 2016 were larger — and growing at a faster pace — than the dot-com boom of the early 2000s. The news is based on findings by Arcview Market Research, the leading industry data researcher for the burgeoning regulated marijuana market in the United States. Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

In a watershed electoral victory for drug policy liberalization in the United States, an astounding eight states voted to legalize marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes Tuesday. That’s an especially resounding win for marijuana legalization considering that nine states had marijuana on the ballot, putting marijuana reform at an 88% success rate on election day. In four states—Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Montana—voters passed medical marijuana initiatives, and voters in four others—Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, and California—passed initiatives to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and older. Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

Doing the research for this article was really encouraging. Read and you'll see why marijuana legalization seems inevitable and not very far away: The Five States Most Likely to Legalize Marijuana Next

However bad marijuana might be for your brain, it couldn't be worse than watching cable news:

No, not the victims, the rapists. Let's back up a second: "We're going to get familiar with your womanly parts." That's what Brandy Hamilton says Nathaniel Turner, a male police officer told her last year during a traffic stop when she and her friend were driving home from the beach. The officer found a small amount of marijuana in their car after stopping them for speeding and made them wait on the side of the road in their bikinis, without allowing them to put on their clothes, so Jennie Bui, a female officer could show up and perform a roadside cavity search. The traffic stop and the vaginal search were caught on the police cruiser's cameras. "She pretty much forced my legs open because I wouldn't even open my legs," Hamilton said. Her friend, Alexandria Ramble told her local news station, KXAN, "We were just assaulted in the worst way possible. We weren't asked could we be touched. It was just done to us. I'm just emba...

Two Brazoria County, TX women were pulled over for speeding. The cop did not give the women, who were in bikinis, a chance to put some clothes on before making them wait on the side of the highway for a female cop to show up and give them a body cavity search in the police cruiser on the side of the highway- because a small amount of marijuana was found in the car. Warning - graphic rape footage:

With a title like that, how could I resist watching this lecture by Professor James Mills at Gresham College? And Mills did not disappoint! Curiously enough, it would seem that the public campaign against marijuana and its eventual prohibition in Britain closely mirror the perverse incentives and series of events that led to the plant's prohibition in America. Overview: "In 1800 cannabis preparations were almost entirely unknown in Britain as only the medical men of the period had any interest in them and few had access to samples of the plant. However, by the 1840s cannabis was being touted as one of the wonder-drugs of the age, as doctors out in the Empire reported excitedly that it was a ‘powerful and valuable remedy in hydrophobia, tetanus, cholera and many convulsive disorders’. The Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal seized on these reports and devoted its front-page to the new medicine, and in subsequent decades the plant was used to treat everything from tetanu...

Oh yeah. You read that headline right. Bet you never thought you'd read a headline like that. Judge tells the police to give a man his weed back: Joseph L. Robertson's Marijuana Will Be Returned By Cops Who Seized It, Judge Orders TACOMA, Wash. -- Police in Tacoma could soon be in real trouble over pot. The department could be found in contempt if they continue to refuse to return a small amount of marijuana seized from a man after a traffic stop. Municipal Court Judge Jack Emery repeated an order to police Thursday to return the drug to Joseph L. Robertson within seven days or they could be found in contempt. "Appeal or comply," Emery told assistant city attorney John Walker. "Or next week, show up, and I would advise you to bring counsel." The judge first ordered police to return the drug on Feb. 28, but they have refused, The News Tribune reported Friday (http://bit.ly/10hwiD9). It was seized in May of last year when an officer pulled over...

Every time Ron Paul "sings" in this auto-tuned comedy video, I can't help myself but laugh. This is so funny: ...and so awesome. The War on Drugs IS a failure. If you disagree, you're unaware of or uninterested in facts. Ron Paul did say in an interview once, btw, that his real dream had always been to be a singer. Well, it's not quite the same, but I hope someone's shared this video with the good doctor from Texas. (It's right at the end of the interview below.) Lyrics, The War on Drugs is a Failure We need to repeal the whole war on drugs It isn't working We don't have to have more courts and more prisons This has to change This has to change Prohibition didn't work Prohibition on drugs doesn't work We have spent over 400 billion dollars It's a waste of money We need to come to our senses Let's put down the guns and unclench the fists We need to come to our senses Yeah, we don't treat alcoholics l...

Milton Friedman talking common sense about drug policy before it was cool. When he mentions that he was a teenager during alcohol prohibition, I can't decide how old that makes him seem, or how recent that makes alcohol prohibition seem. Lessons forgotten so quickly...

Marijuana Policy Project Press Release: MONTPELIER – The Vermont House of Representatives approved a bill 98-44 Friday that would decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana. The bill is scheduled for another House vote next week before moving forward to the Senate. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn testified in favor of the bill, and Gov. Peter Shumlin has also expressed support for such a proposal. "Vermont is another step closer to adopting a more sensible approach to marijuana policy," said Matt Simon, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. "The support demonstrated by members of the House reflects that of the state's top law enforcement officials and the voters." H. 200, introduced by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington) with a tripartisan group of 38 co-sponsors, would remove criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace ...

Weekly Standard reported yesterday that a loooong list of rappers, celebrities, and community leaders have penned an open letter to President Obama asking for drug and prison policy reform. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Rand Paul is getting applause breaks at a mostly-Democratic historically black college for supporting just such reforms. Real question is, how are Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg not on this list? Who rocks harder? Drug policy open letter signatory P. Diddy? Or two men with a serious stake in libertized drug policy?

Pictured Above: Official prescription tablet for medicinal alcohol, 1933. Credit: The Rose Melnick Medical Museum I put a lot of time into this article last night. It's rich in facts and source material and cites reliable sources, law enforcement, and medical authorities. This is an idea whose time has come. Please help me push it past the tipping point by sharing information and educating voters about marijuana. Read my entire article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

But now there can be no doubting where Pat Robertson stands on drug policy in the United States after he made another televised call for the legalization of marijuana earlier this month. Except for the part where he bizarrely blames liberals for stiff sentencing laws, the following excerpt from his program could have been something written by Glenn Greenwald: Read my entire article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page