February 2019
End North Carolina’s archaic monopoly on liquor sales
When it comes to alcohol policy, North Carolina is more an outlier than exemplar. Though ours is among 17 states with an alcohol control system, where the state retains monopoly control of part of the alcohol trade, it stands out as one of the most restrictive. Private liquor stores are banned, prices are fixed, and…
Dental therapists are no free market solution to dental woes
The current state of dental care in Florida is a mess. Florida lawmakers are right to address it. However, the proposed solution of midlevel providers called dental therapists in SB 1498 misses the mark and is anything but a market solution. Dental therapists require less training and education than dentists and can perform a fraction of…
Kickl seeks detention of ‘dangerous’ refugees
In a press conference Monday afternoon, Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) outlined his plans for “Sicherungshaft,” a legal change that would allow preventative detention for refugees deemed to pose a danger to Austrian society by the government. The measure comes in the wake of a knife attack in the Vorarlberg city of Dornbirn, in which a Turkish…
Cannabis stocks climb ahead of congressional hearing on bank access
Yaël Ossowski, deputy director at the cannabis advocacy group Consumer Choice Center, urged lawmakers to push for banking reform, outlining the risks facing companies forced to operate as cash-only businesses. “Higher risk means cannabis companies face additional costs,” Ossowski said in a statement. “They have to hire security guards for transporting cash and paying local…
Legal Cannabis Is Here to Stay, and Consumers and Entrepreneurs Deserve Safe Banking Options
For hundreds of millions of Americans across the country, cannabis is no longer the “reefer madness” street drug it once was. Much like alcohol before it, the cannabis plant has evolved from a narcotic trafficked across borders and sold on the black market into one of the most sought-after products in legitimate commerce, bought by consumers who…
Green New Deal, a future without consumer choice
Democratic lawmakers in Congress have unveiled the outline of a number of policies they’ve dubbed as the “Green New Deal”. The Green New Deal is a series of legislative proposals that will focus on massively transforming society in hopes of achieving a future with “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.” The Green New Deal offers Americans a frightening future where…