Politifact validates Gary Johnson's claims on student drug use

I always tell my students that there is a simple methodology to determine if a politician is distorting history or statistics in support of his agenda.

Watch to see if his lips are moving.

It's therefore important to know when politicians are actually telling the truth, and Politifact validates former New Mexico Governor (and presumptive Libertarian Party presidential nominee) Gary Johnson:

Gary Johnson intends to make
marijuan legalization a corner-
stone of his presidential bid.

"Fifty percent of the graduating class of the year 2012 will have smoked marijuana or have done illegal drugs."

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson during a Feb. 25th, 2012 candidate forum.

We wondered if Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson was blowing smoke when he made a claim about teenage marijuana use during a candidate forum in Georgia.

"Fifty percent of the [high school] graduating class of the year 2012 will have smoked marijuana or have done some illegal drugs," said Johnson, a former two-term governor of New Mexico.

For the record, Johnson doesn’t believe teenagers should have access to marijuana. Johnson does believe marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and thinks the money the federal government spends on marijuana enforcement could be better spent "against the individuals committing real crimes against society."

According to 2009 data from the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 46 percent of 12th-graders had smoked marijuana at least once. Nearly 8 percent had used cocaine; 2.5 percent had tried heroin; about 4 percent used methamphetamines; 8 percent had tried Ecstacy; slightly more than 3 percent had used steroids.

Data from the federal National Institutes of Health found that in 2011, 50 percent of high school seniors reported having tried an illicit drug at some time.

We couldn't find data about the percentage of high school seniors graduating this year who've smoked marijuana or have done any kind of illicit drug, but the data line up with Johnson's claim. Johnson's statement rates a Mostly True.

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba

Search This Blog