Baker Institute Viewpoints

Viewpoints is a Baker Institute Blog feature that provides an array of expert views on a single issue. Each installment runs daily for up to a week as institute fellows, scholars and guest writers offer informed perspectives on the selected topic.

Click through to the posts below to catch up on the Baker Institute Viewpoints series to date. For further analysis of these issues, watch our Baker Institute Viewpoints video series.

December 2014: “Is the current emphasis on treatment in drug policy a short-term trend or is it here to stay?”

• "The future of treatment in drug policy: Stigma remains a serious problem" by Claire D. Clark, Ph.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral fellow at the John P. McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• "Drug war fatigue, a sympathetic user population and shifting public attitudes drive current drug treatment trends" by Katharine A. Neill, Ph.D., Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy at the Baker Institute
• "Spending on treatment to save on incarceration" by Hadar Aviram, Ph.D., M.A., professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of Law
• "Increased funding and health care reform are key to drug treatment accessibility" by Scott R. Maggard, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University
• "Increased treatment: Popular, beneficial, limited" by William Martin, Ph.D., Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute and director of the institute’s Drug Policy Program

November 2014: "What does the future hold for the cannabis industry?"

• "The cannabis industry: Growing pains for now, but success will come" by Katharine A. Neill, Ph.D., Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy at the Baker Institute
• "The cannabis industry: Challenges in Texas" by guest writer Patrick Moran, CEO and managing partner of AquiFlow
• "The cannabis industry: Critical tasks on the road to legalization" by guest writer Dr. Elias Jackson, co-founder and president of Vyripharm Biopharmaceuticals
• "The cannabis industry: Enforcing contracts" by guest writer Rehman Bhalesha, student at South Texas College of Law
• "The cannabis industry: What does the future hold?" by guest writer Leslie Grady McAhren, executive director and director of research at CG Corrigan Inc., a nonprofit, licensed medical provider of cannabis based in Albuquerque, New Mexico

June 2014: "When will Texas legalize marijuana?"

• "Texas will legalize marijuana in 2019" by guest writer Rob Kampia, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
• "Texas will legalize medical marijuana in 2015 and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol in 2017" by guest writer Steve Nolin, executive director of the Houston chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
• "Marijuana won’t be legal in Texas anytime soon" by Mark Jones, Baker Institute fellow in political science
• "When will marijuana be legal in Texas? Maybe not till 2023" by guest writer Jerry Epstein, co-founder and president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas
• "Texas voters will push for marijuana legalization by 2019" by guest writer Zoe Russell, assistant executive director of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition

February 2014: "What does jury nullification of marijuana cases in Texas indicate about the possibility of marijuana legalization?"

• "Can jurors hasten the legalization of cannabis?" by guest writer Clay S. Conrad, attorney and author of "Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine"
• "Jury nullification: Local option" by William Martin, Ph.D., the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute, the Chavanne Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Rice University and the director of the institute’s Drug Policy Program
• "Ceasefire in the war on marijuana in Texas? Trial by jury and jury nullification" by guest writer Gilbert G. Garcia, board certified criminal lawyer and a member of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
• "Prioritizing public safety over applying outdated drug policy" by guest writer Rehman Bhalesha, law student and research assistant at South Texas College of Law

October 2013: Has drug violence in Mexico declined?

• "In Mexico, security is in the eye of the beholder" by guest writer Sylvia Longmire, former Air Force officer and special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations
• "Perception and intent define the reality, but criminal violence in Mexico has metastasized" by guest writer Robert Bunker, senior fellow with Small Wars Journal — El Centro
• "Measuring mayhem: The challenge of assessing violence and insecurity in Mexico" by guest writer John Sullivan, lieutenant in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
• "Mexico’s national crime statistics show no significant decline in homicides and disappearances" by guest writer Molly Molloy, research librarian and border specialist at the New Mexico State University Library
• "Mexico must address violence and profitability" by Nathan Jones, postdoctoral drug policy fellow

July/August 2013: What are the implications of expanding U.S.-Mexico border security?

• "Border security and (mis-)management" by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• "U.S. border security spending: Too much, too late?" by guest writer Robert Bunker, senior fellow with Small Wars Journal — El Centro
• "The broader implications of enhancing border surveillance capabilities" by guest writer Geoffrey Corn, professor at the South Texas College of Law
• "Achieving border security: A matter of money or competency?" by guest writer Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, assistant professor and chair of the government department of the University of Texas at Brownsville
• "Securing the 'hyperborder': U.S.-Mexico border security investments" by guest writer John Sullivan, lieutenant in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and senior fellow with Small Wars Journal — El Centro
• "Less fence, more task force" by Nathan Jones, postdoctoral fellow in drug policy

June 2013: Is the military the answer to Mexico's drug wars?

• "A never-ending mission: Soldiers as police in Mexico" by guest writer Adam Isacson, senior associate for regional security police for the Washington Office on Latin America
• "Mexico’s military plays a necessary role in internal security" by guest writer John Sullivan, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant
• "Can Mexico be in an ‘armed conflict’ with criminal gangs?" by guest writer Geoffrey S. Corn, professor at the South Texas College of Law
• "Why Mexico’s military is fighting the country’s drug war" by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• "Mexico’s use of the military in the drug war: Why no alternative?" by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy

May 2013: Will legalizing marijuana improve civil liberties?

• "Will legalizing marijuana improve civil liberties?" by guest writer Geoffrey S. Corn, professor at the South Texas College of Law
• "How the war on drugs has infringed upon U.S. civil liberties" by guest writer Gilbert G. Garcia, a board-certified criminal lawyer in Conroe, Texas
• "Restoring civil liberties through sensible marijuana policies" by guest writer Rehman Bhalesha, student at the South Texas College of Law
• "Civil liberties erode when drug use widens" by guest writer Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, College of Medicine

January 2013: What are some possible regulatory frameworks for legalized marijuana?

• A bold new path: Moving beyond prohibition in Colorado and Washington" by guest writer Tom Heddleston, Ph.D., whose dissertation examined the formation and development of the medical marijuana movement in California
• "What is the best regulatory framework for legalized marijuana?" by Gary Hale, nonresident drug policy fellow
• "Optimal marijuana regulation" by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy

December 2012: What does the prescription drug abuse epidemic mean for the "war on drugs"?

• "What does rising prescription drug abuse mean for the war on drugs?" by Gary Hale, nonresident drug policy fellow
• "Treating addiction as a public health issue, not a crime" by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• "U.S. pill abuse may not make cartels completely irrelevant" by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy

October 2012: Baker Institute experts weigh in on the effectiveness of Mexico's strategy to target drug kingpins:

• "Targeting criminals, not crimes: The kingpin strategy works" by Gary Hale, nonresident fellow in drug policy.
• "Strategy to target drug kingpins a tactic, not a solution" by Chris Bronk, fellow in information technology policy.
•  "Eliminate root causes of violence to 'manage' drug cartels" by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy.
• "The kingpin strategy: A piece of a much larger puzzle" by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• "Obama’s precarious drone affair" by Andrew Bowen, visiting scholar for the Middle East

October 2012: Despite taboos and lost legitimacy, armed groups around the world engage in extreme acts of violence, symbolic and otherwise. What is their motivation and how do they justify their acts?

• “The use of symbolic violence in Mexico’s drug war” by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy.
• “The extreme violence of Uganda’s militant LRA” by Michael Hampson, a University of California, Irvine, political science doctoral candidate writing his thesis on the Lord’s Resistance Army.
• “Extreme narco violence in Mexico” by guest writer John Sullivan, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant writing his dissertation on criminal insurgency.

September 2012: Should marijuana be legalized in the United States?

• “Marijuana: A case for legalization” by William Martin, director of the Baker Institute Drug Policy Program.
• “In a contest with alcohol and tobacco, marijuana wins” by guest writer Sylvia Longmire, an author and expert on Mexico’s drug wars
• “Legalization of marijuana: When, not if” by Baker Institute nonresident drug fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence in the Houston Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration
• “Regulations work: Lessons from California’s experience with medical marijuana” by guest writer Tom Heddleston, Ph.D., whose dissertation examined the formation and development of the medical marijuana movement in California
• “Marijuana won’t be legalized anytime soon” by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• “Why legalizing marijuana is a bad idea” by Joan Neuhaus Schaan, fellow in homeland security and terrorism at the Baker Institute
• Marijuana: A case against legalization" by guest writer Kevin A. Sabet, director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, College of Medicine

August 2012: Recent shootings at a movie theater in Colorado, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and the Empire State Building, as well as the Operation Fast and Furious controversy, have revived debate about the role of guns in our society. Baker Institute experts discussed gun control, Texas gun running, and why the political conversation about guns is unlikely to change anytime soon.

• “Corruption: A lethal weapon, too” by Baker Institute nonresident drug policy fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence for the Houston field division of the Drug Enforcement
• “Gun-related violence: A broken link” by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• “Why the ATF should be bigger” by Nathan Jones, the Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy
• "Is a proposed arms trade treaty a threat to the 2nd amendment?" by Joan Neuhaus Schaan, fellow in homeland security and terrorism

July 2012: Baker Institute experts debated the prospect of a paramilitary force to fight drug cartels, as Mexico’s President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto has proposed:

• “A strategy shift in Mexico’s drug war?” by nonresident drug policy fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence for the Houston field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration
• “Not your father’s National Guard” by information technology fellow Chris Bronk, a former state department diplomat whose postings included Mexico
• “Recycling a failed idea in Mexico” by Tony Payan, fellow in Mexico studies and director of the Mexico Center
• “Mexico, drugs and a possible way forward” by Nathan Jones, Alfred C. Glassell III Postdoctoral Fellow in Drug Policy