Words & Numbers

Episode 153: Prohibition and Constitutional Constraints


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The 18th Amendment was ratified a century ago, beginning the United States’ fourteen-year experiment with prohibition. An Amendment was needed because the Constitution did not give the federal government the power to ban alcohol. Yet, today, the federal government bans recreational drugs and puts medicinal drugs under the control of the FDA. But, the Constitution also doesn’t give the government the power to regulate drugs. Either the 18th Amendment wasn’t necessary a century ago, or federal drug controls are unconstitutional today.

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Quick hits

The optimal GPA

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/study-says-there-is-optimal-failure-for-learning-more-efficiently/

Too many 4.0s

https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-graduated-cum-laude-so-did-everyone-else-1530523801

Weed in Atlanta

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/apd-disbands-drug-unit-fight-real-crime/

Foolishness of the week

Bernie Sanders worked for his money

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/aaronfreedman/bernie-sanders-is-rich-but-hes-a-worker

Topic of the week

Legal status of marijuana by state

https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state

Bootleggers and Baptists

https://www.amazon.com/Bootleggers-Baptists-Economic-Persuasion-Regulatory/dp/1939709369

18th Amendment

https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xviii

21st Amendment

https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xxi

Wickard v. Filburn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickard_v._Filburn

You used to be able to buy heroin at Sears

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/sears-roebuck-bayer-heroin/580441/

What can Colorado teach us about legalizing weed?

https://fee.org/articles/four-years-on-what-can-colorado-teach-us-about-legalizing-weed/

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