An entrepreneurship major and graduate of Belmont University, Wes believes that small business, innovation, and creative thinking are required to solve problems and improve our world.
What do British rock star Sting, Hungarian billionaire George Soros, and American television personality Montel Williams all have in common? They all believe that the War on Drugs is really a War on People, and that America's record incarceration rates are proof. In a video recently posted to
It's called LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. With a growing army of law enforcement and criminal justice personnel who actually support legalizing drugs like marijuana, this public policy initiative is starting to gain traction. On its website, LEAP describes itself as "current and former members of the
A leaked government report indicates that nearly 23,000 people have died in Mexico's violent drug wars in the last three years alone. But it doesn't have to be this way. Any economist armed with basic microeconomic theory could explain how U.S. drug policies create
Begging your indulgence for a very delicate question about a very serious and sensitive issue. Who do you picture when you hear the words "rape victim?" How old is the person? What is their gender? Do you imagine a twenty-something, female, college student? One of the most commonly-used
You read that right. Legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults has more widespread support than President Obama's administration. Pot legalization is also more popular than the recent health care bill that passed in Congress and has higher approval ratings than our handling of the Global War on
As Californians work together to reform a prison system with costs spiraling out of control, it is simply not enough to mouth tired old talking points and bromides. What we need is a very serious- almost philosophical- discussion about the role prisons should play in a society. Part of the
It's April 20th (or 4/20) and already the search term "4/20" has shot up Google's trends along with "4/20 meaning." With so many myths surrounding "National Weed Day," or "Marijuana Appreciation Day," as it'
John Gardner- who shocked the nation this March when he was arrested for the rape and murder of 17 year old Chelsea King- pleaded guilty Friday for the murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois. Chelsea was a "Straight A" high school student and avid jogger. While out
ABC News reports that the upcoming November ballot initiative to legalize the cultivation, possession, and recreational use of marijuana (the Tax Cannabis Act) is getting support from some unexpected allies. While the fifty-two percent of Americans nationwide who oppose the legalization of marijuana consists mostly of "older Americans, conservatives,
The Reason Foundation is a libertarian, non-profit, public policy organization that was established "to advance free minds and free markets." This month, they published a report by David Osborne, a policy analyst and former Clinton Administration official, who says he has a solution to California's budget
California's new early release program, authorized by Senate Bill 18, will result in the early release of over 6,000 prison inmates classified as "low-risk" offenders. Proponents argue that the new program will save the state hundreds of millions, but it still raises the perennial question
To better assess many of California's problems and some possible solutions, the following is from an interview I conducted this week with former New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson. When he ran for Governor of New Mexico as a Republican in the early 1990s, Gary Johnson was a long-shot,