Families

One of the fun things about being a drug warrior is that you can always propose crazy new drug laws, even when they overlap with existing legislation. The temptation to single out and stigmatize perpetrators of every remote subcategory of drug activity has been known to keep drug-obsessed legislators off the golf course.

This week, Nevada State Sen. Joe Heck (R-Las Vegas) is championing unnecessary marijuana laws in a state where 44% of voters want to legalize the stuff. From the Reno Gazette-Journal:

Nevada parents who grow a single marijuana plant in their home where children live could be subject to a prison term of up to 15 years, according to a bill that was debated Monday at the Nevada Legislature.

Senate Bill 5, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Heck, R-Las Vegas, would subject parents who grow or sell marijuana in the presence of children to the same penalties as adults who operate methamphetamine labs in front of children.

Of course meth labs frequently explode and spew toxic chemicals, eventually producing methamphetamine. Marijuana plants just sit around smelling nice and getting larger, and eventually you get marijuana. Different drugs, different process, different people, same draconian punishment?

"The very behavior of small children puts them at risk around these materials, including marijuana," Heck said. "As any parent knows, the first place a toddler places anything they find is in their mouth. What if this object is a marijuana plant?"

I'm skeptical. A lot of kids won’t eat vegetables unless you withhold dessert. And unheated marijuana is basically non-psychoactive. I'm not saying people should grow marijuana with kids around, but the bill's proponents have cited no evidence of small children being injured by live marijuana plants. I doubt they'll find any.

At best, a 15-year mandatory minimum for small-time marijuana cultivation is an imprecise reaction to the general concern that children put random things in their mouths. At worst, one might call it shameless drug war posturing, hastily drafted without evidence of any particular urgency, to the detriment of a thousand better ways to spend money on Nevada's children.

Actually, that's exactly what it is.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is the latest to propose giving drug dealers free advertising. From the Las Cruces Sun-News:

The proposed drug-dealer registry would be modeled after a national bill that has been introduced by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce.

Pearce said he held 39 town hall meetings throughout New Mexico dealing with methamphetamine usage, and heard the same story everywhere he went.

"It is a catastrophe that is already happening, and we're not responding," Pearce said. "I think if the neighbors knew there was someone dealing drugs in their neighborhood, then parents would be able to say to their kids, 'stay away from that house.'"

This argument assumes that the registry will be a useful indicator of where drugs are being sold. If so, the registry will have tremendous potential to facilitate criminal liaisons. Mightn't some people turn to the list if they can't find the drugs they want? It's impressive that Pearce has managed to get so excited about the idea without worrying about this.

Of course, the smarter drug dealers won't operate at the address listed on the Internet. Ultimately, the registry would provide a false sense of security in that avoiding the grey house down the street isn't really the key to keeping your kids off drugs.

Still, I agree with Pearce that it would be ideal if concerned parents knew exactly where the drugs were being sold. Legalization is the only way to achieve this.

Next time you get "amped out" on "sextasy" and wind up in a "k-hole" don't tell your mom. Forbes.com has published a new drug-slang quiz for parents that totally lets the "cat" out of the "bag".

If you're a parent, you might want to brush up on your drug slang to stay alert to possible drug use by your children, suggest addiction experts at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Slang terms for drugs constantly change and evolve, the researchers said. For example, while marijuana is still called weed or pot by some, it's also referred to by newer terms such as chronic or schwagg.

Are they serious? Dr. Dre’s marijuana-themed album "The Chronic" came out in 1992. And "schwag" of course is a derogatory term for really bad marijuana that’s been in use forever as far as I know.

When the paranoid family values fanatics at Focus on the Family write news stories based on quotes from John Walters, you know what you’re gonna get: