Brian Blake is a writer who contributed to The Weekly Standard between 2014 and 2016, covering domestic policy issues including drug policy, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and congressional politics. His articles often examined the real-world consequences of federal and state policy initiatives.
In the midst of a raging heroin epidemic, Americans just got more bad news: Colombian cocaine production jumped from 250 metric tons (MT) in 2014 to 420 MT in 2015—a 68 percent increase in one year for the nation supplying 95 percent of the cocaine in the United States.
A video of New Jersey governor and Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie movingly addressing a New Hampshire town hall gathering on the subject of drug addiction has garnered a lot of attention this week, with many surprisingly pleased with his remarks. Christie has set a goal of holding…
Congressional lawmakers and presidential candidates are currently debating criminal justice reform, offering to lessen the legal consequences for “non-violent drug offenders.” For most, the underlying motive is compassion for drug offenders, giving them the chance to avoid a criminal record. Yet…
In their review of House Budget Committee chairman Tom Price’s newly released Obamacare alternative, Bloomberg’s editors strain to make a virtue out of Obamacare’s maddening complexity. Whereas no one knows until tax time the following year what, if anything, they will be getting in subsidies under…
As Republican euphoria over the November 4 election begins to subside and more practical considerations emerge, a looming question is whether the various factions within the Republican party will be able to work together. One recent but little-noted change in Senate leadership may have increased…