A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues is out. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Listen to the new episode here:
Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.
Starting in five four three two one.
Hello, I am Adam Dick, a Ron Paul Institute senior fellow.
Let’s start.
Issue one.
Daina Beth Solomon reported Thursday at Reuters that Mexico Secretary of Tourism Enrique de la Madrid says he urges the Mexican states of Baja California and Quintana Roo to move ahead with legalizing marijuana. Such action would be in line with developments to the north where legalization has been approved in nine American states (Vermont this week being the latest) plus DC, and where a countrywide legalization plan is moving forward in Canada.
Issue two.
Speaking this week with host Neil Cavuto at Fox Business, Andrew Napolitano laid out some legal matters concerning the tension between so-called sanctuary cities and the United States government’s effort to crack down on illegal immigration.
Napolitano, who is the Fox News senior judicial analyst as well as a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member, explains that the US government cannot compel local police and local governments to help the US government enforce US immigration laws. At the same time, says Napolitano, local police and local governments can commit crimes by actively frustrating US law enforcement.
Napolitano, though, predicts that local governments would start cooperating if the US government in the future makes such cooperation a condition for receiving money from the US government. Indeed, the tactic has long been a favorite means to smother state and local government efforts to go their own way.
Issue three.
A new poll by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal suggests that 60 percent of surveyed individuals support marijuana legalization in their states. This result is not surprising. As I mentioned in the October 28 episode of Five Minutes Five Issues, a Gallup poll showed legalization support at a similar 64 percent in October.
What may surprise many people is the response to the new poll’s query of which substance is the most harmful to a person’s overall health — tobacco, alcohol, sugar, or marijuana. Marijuana was selected as the most harmful by the smallest group of people — nine percent. Sugar was deemed most harmful by 21 percent of surveyed individuals. Alcohol and tobacco were chosen, respectively, as the most harmful by 24 and 41 percent.
These new polling results provide yet more indication of the powerful force public opinion will be in support of further rolling back marijuana prohibition in America.
Issue four.
Andrew Bacevich wrote Wednesday at The American Conservative regarding the US government’s new National Defense Strategy document that he calls “in essence a brief for increasing the size of the U.S. military budget.”
In his article, Bacevich makes a very interesting observation about a declaration in the National Defense Strategy that “The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one.” Bacevich writes:
That claim is not without merit. Yet preparedness to fight is not the only way to prevent war, is certainly not the cheapest, and may not be the most effective.
One alternative worth exploring is to use non-violent approaches to reducing threats to America’s security and well-being: instead of more expensive weapons, try more creative diplomacy. Yet that approach would entail actually formulating a strategy. This is what Nixon did in the 1970s with his opening to China, and Reagan did the following decade when he found common ground with Gorbachev. Both initiatives were not without risk, but the risks paid off.
Issue five.
Jean-Marc Manach reports at The Intercept that the National Security Agency (NSA) altered the presentation of its “Core Values” on its website this month. Among the changes, the agency that is largely responsible for carrying out the US government’s mass surveillance program no longer includes “Honesty” as a core value. An article at Reason further examining this development has the perfect headline:
Transcripts of Five Minutes Five Issues episodes, including links to related information, are at the Ron Paul Institute blog.
