Update on Draft 2.6

Well, I had hoped that today would bring an update on Draft 3.1, but that was not to be. Thank you very much for the extension, however.

Last week's talk was related to the Five Drafts project, and while I think it went OK, the larger project was not much advanced, I am afraid. My goal of posting Draft Three is now reconfigured for this week, while the draft itself is reconfigured by reversing the previous order of licensing-to-exclusion, and by separating mandatory and voluntary exclusion regulations. Then there is the seemingly never-ending project of reading three project-related books,

(1) The Saloon Problem and Social Reform, by John Marshall Barker, 1905;

(2) Last Call, by Daniel Okrent, 2010; and,

(3) All or Nothing, by Jessica Warner, 2008.

Here's where things now stand, in terms of pages read: Barker, 64 out of 212, unchanged for two weeks now (hmmm); Okrent, 46 out of 469 (up from 30), with the skip-ahead portion extended by six pages to pages 310 to 386; Warner, which I had hoped to complete already, is now at 166 out of 230, up from 122 last week. The main text, however, finishes at page 168, with the rest consisting of notes, which I have been almost keeping up with as I go along. So I am about 15 minutes of reading away, I think, from completing Warner!

The Warner book has lots of wonderful information about, among other luminaries, Frances Willard and Sylvester Graham. I now want to visit the Willard house/museum in Evanston.

I am disappointed in the conclusion of the Warner book (from pages 156-157), that, roughly speaking, is that drug problems are no better met with regulations than with prohibition. Perhaps it is true that addiction rates can end up being similar under these two scenarios, but I find the other dimensions of social harm, such as the violent black markets, to be markedly worse under prohibition than they are in a reasonable regulatory regime.

Two more books have left the library to join the Five Drafts queue. They are:

(4) Addiction: A Disorder of Choice, by Gene M. Heyman, 2009; and,

(5) Carrots and Sticks, by Ian Ayres, 2010. Soon I hope to chronicle my unprogress through these books, too.