I’m trying to put together a freedom scorecard for the Obama administration—stuff to watch out for over the next 4 to 8 years. Here’s what I’ve got so far.
Discrete things Obama can do to make us more free:
- Stop the federal government from raiding medical marijuana users and suppliers
- End warrentless wiretapping
- Allow needle exchange
- Fire U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan
Discrete things Obama can do to make us less free:
- Reinstitute any version of the Fairness Doctrine
- Ban assault weapons
- Prohibit gay marriage
I’m also looking for things I can use to track some general trends. For example, the population-adjusted size of the prison population is a negative indicator. I’d like to find indicators or discrete events I can use to track some other subdivisions of our national freedom:
- Government transparency
- Free trade
- Immigration
- Right to keep and bear arms
- Property rights v.s. civil forfeiture
- Property rights v.s. eminent domain
- Access to elected office
Any ideas?
End DEA persecution of chronic pain patients and the physicians who treat them. Anyone who believes that a right to privacy in the doctor-patient relationship undergirds the right to an abortion should reject DEA harassment of physicians who prescribe FDA-approved controlled substances. Effective treatment for severe chronic pain has become all but unavailable for hundreds of thousands of patients in the US. I’ve seen some of these people in my own practice. The DEA policies that consign them to lifetimes of misery is morally reprehensible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20537-2004Nov29.html
Just to clarify, I’m referring to FDA approved narcotic medications and their derivatives.
Good suggestion, thanks, although I’m not sure how to draw a bright line distinction since such prosecutions are always justified as cracking down on diversion of the drugs into the recreational market…
I should probably add ending the Cuban embargo to the list, although Obama has already said he won’t do that.
I’ll add increased drug war funding in general and increased Byrne grants in particular to the “less free” list.