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The last two presidents and two of the current candidates have either used illegal substances or have had substance abuse problems. Does this show that winners don’t always refuse to use drugs?

Would you want a president who's under the influence?

Imagine this:

It's 3 a.m., and a phone rings in the vice president's quarters. A Secret Service agent answers the phone, listens, and then rushes into the VP's bedroom with the phone in hand and wakes him up.

Agent (placing his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone): Mr. Vice President, the president of Xyzistan has threatened to launch a nuclear strike in 15 minutes. You must respond.

Vice president: Where is the heck is the president? Why isn't he taking the lead on this issue?

Agent: Sir, he's coming down from his heroin high. We tried to wake him up, sir, but he's out of it.

Vice president: Give me the darn phone.

I seriously have no clue what his point is. Of course no one wants the president nodding out on dope during a nuclear crisis. Where the hell did that come from? Is he saying that if we listen to Jacob Sullum, we'll be risking nuclear war?

Not surprisingly at all, a google search reveals that Charles Stimson has a history of saying crazy shit. He was forced to resign from the Department of Defense last year following controversial remarks about the lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees. He literally got in trouble with the Bush Administration for taking things too far in the national security debate, which is quite an achievement. Fortunately for us, this trainwreck of a drug war debate will continue for two more days if LA Times doesn't invoke the slaughter rule and declare Sullum the winner today.

A Concord, New Hampshire principal tricked a student into delivering two small bags of marijuana to a police ambush behind Bishop Brady High School. Principal Jean Barker took it upon herself to set up seventeen year old Concord High School senior John Huckins.

After Confiscating another student's cellphone it received a message from Huckins asking "Yo, you need a bag." Presuming that Huckins was referring to marijuana she immediately attempted to get Huckins to come sell two bags of marijuana in the school parking lot. Huckins was immediately skeptical of the deal, nevertheless Barker was able to coax him into delivering the bags.

Huckins arrived at school and was apprehended by the police. A quarter-ounce of marijuana was confiscated from Huckins person. Later he told the police that he used the drug to deal with anxiety issues according to the police report.

Barker attempted to defend her actions claiming that Huckin's willingness to bring marijuana to the school placed her school at risk.

Many other questions however remain unanswered. Immediately one must ask what gave the principal the right to use the student's cell phone to entrap Huckins? While texting illegal drug sales is never a good idea, what could give Barker the right to look at someone's personal message. This whole case stems back to a major invasion of privacy. If you open someone's mail it is a federal crime. I can't seem to understand why Barker's actions in opening the message wouldn't be?

Huckins attorney Mark Howard makes an even more valid point,

"It is a crime in the state of New Hampshire to elicit a drug offense if you are not either a police officer or working under the direction of a police officer,"

Des Moines Police Sgt. Vince Valdez said the shooting involved the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Fugitive Task Force and a warrant team of the Fifth Judicial District of the Iowa Department of Correctional Services.