Hits and Misses
A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh and released earlier this week has found marijuana is almost certainly not a “gateway drug” and legalizing it could help stem opioid addiction. It looked at 2017 data from four states that legalized marijuana for recreational use, and found that opioid use decreased by 7.6% in those states. It could be that marijuana functioned as a pain reliever for some users and prevented them from turning to vastly more dangerous drugs like fentanyl or heroin. At the very least, it suggests that using cannabis does not push anyone toward the use of harder drugs. Pennsylvania lawmakers need to take this data into consideration as calls to legalize marijuana for recreational use gather steam.
As widely expected, the board of the State System of Higher Education unanimously voted last week to merge California University of Pennsylvania with Edinboro and Clarion universities. It also supported the consolidation of Lock Haven, Bloomsburg and Mansfield universities in the eastern part of the commonwealth. From the moment the proposal was made to combine the faculties and administrative functions of the schools it has been controversial. But, as board member Samuel Smith put it, “I believe this is the best thing we can do.” He’s probably right. Enrollment has decreased by more than 20% at state system schools over the last decade, while the cost of attending those schools has kept increasing. Were there any better options given the demographic and financial realities? It doesn’t look like it.
Nicholas Kristof has been an able reporter and columnist for The New York Times for many years, and has a solid grasp of domestic and international affairs. But would that necessarily make him a skilled politician? We might soon find out, since Kristof is reportedly thinking about running for governor of his native Oregon. Having a resume packed with political experience is, of course, no guarantee of success – look at Pennsylvania’s James Buchanan, who was deeply prepared to be the nation’s chief executive when he was elected in 1856, and is now considered by historians to have been the nation’s worst president. But even if there are no guarantees, at least some experience in a lower level office would offer voters some indication of how well someone would fare as governor or president. If Kristof wants to be governor of Oregon, maybe he should run for a seat in Oregon’s legislature first.
Farley Toothman “engaged in misconduct so extreme that brought the judicial office into disrepute.” That was the verdict of the state Court of Judicial Discipline Monday. The nine-judge panel found that Greene County’s former president judge violated several judicial rules when he retaliated against a courthouse custodian by posting a union grievance that contained personal information on a public bulletin board, and interfered in a 2017 retail theft investigation targeting his law clerk. To make matters worse, he apparently ordered the woman who accused the law clerk of shoplifting to serve a 25-day term in the Greene County jail over an unpaid fine, a decision the judges deemed “inexcusable.” Toothman will eventually be punished by the board, though there is no indication when that will be. Nevertheless, it’s clear that Toothman’s reputation is now irreparably tarnished.