Insights
Essays · Page 2
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Drug Legalization Series Part 36: What Success Looks Like at 5, 10, and 20 Years - Drug Policy Reform Outcomes That Matter
Part 36 explains what winning actually looks like through drug policy reform outcomes such as a stronger overdose prevention policy, better addiction treatment outcomes, real treatment on demand, and a durable public health drug policy.
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Truth in Sentencing and Losing Street Time in Wisconsin
Under Wisconsin Truth in Sentencing, years on extended supervision do not shrink the prison time you can be sent back for. How revocation math works.
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Drug Legalization Series Part 35: International Drug Treaties - Constraints, Flexibility, and the Legal Workarounds Countries Actually Use
Part 35 explains how international drug treaties shape reform, where cannabis treaty obligations get binding, how the UN drug conventions leave room for drug treaty reform, and why the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs does not make every reform path impossible.
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Wisconsin Justice System Definitions
Plain definitions for Wisconsin justice terms people mix up: charge and conviction, jail and prison, probation and extended supervision, and revocation.
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Drug Legalization Series Part 34: Cannabis Product Liability and Risk Management - Who Is Liable in a Regulated System
Part 34 explains why cannabis product liability, cannabis recall, cannabis labeling requirements, cannabis packaging requirements, and cannabis business insurance are features of a serious regulated market, not flaws.
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Immortality or an Avatar of Ourselves?
If we recorded a whole human life and loaded it into a body we grew, would that be immortality, a soul carried across, an avatar, or something else?
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Drug Legalization Series Part 33: The One-Page Case for Drug Regulation - The Executive Summary Policymakers Actually Read
Part 33 gives the case for drug regulation in one practical brief, showing why a public health drug policy, risk-based drug regulation, treatment on demand, and a real overdose prevention policy are more credible than the status quo.
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When the Internet Is in Our Brains
How silent biological interfaces turn internet search into instinct, and what happens when machine intelligence feels identical to personal memory.
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Drug Legalization Series Part 32: How to Talk About Drug Policy Without Losing the Public
Part 32 explains how drug policy messaging works when it uses addiction stigma language carefully, relies on person first language addiction principles, strengthens harm reduction messaging, and meets the public where public opinion on drug legalization actually is.
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How DAI Scores You Into Max, Medium, and Minimum
Wisconsin DAI classifies people with a point-based custody instrument. Age, a ten-year record, and the current felony add up before a job ever gets a chance to knock one off.
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Fear and Faith Cannot Live in the Same Place
From MSDF to Corrections Today, Milwaukee groups, and Better Moose. The money is tight. Fear and faith cannot live in the same place.
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Flock, Axon, and Motorola Are Still the Same Industry
Swapping Flock cameras for Axon or Motorola does not end networked license-plate surveillance. The industry is the product. Ask lawmakers to take a position.
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How the Machines Actually Take the Work: Robotics, AI, and Building the Post-Work World
Software in data centers was only the first half of automation. From robotic surgery and driverless freight to humanoid construction, embodied AI is taking over physical toil. Here is how we govern it and how the next generation can build the future.
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Drug Legalization Series Part 31: Federal, State, and Local Pathways - How Reform Actually Moves Under Existing Law
Part 31 explains how the marijuana rescheduling process, Medicaid 1115 waiver authority, local cannabis control, buprenorphine prescribing rules, and treatment on demand show that reform can already move under existing law.
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What I Mean When I Talk About Adopting a New Identity
Why abandoning an old self without building a destination leaves you wandering aimlessly, how to challenge internal labels, and the three questions that create a new life.
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Flock Cameras in Wisconsin: Who Votes, Who Pays, and What's Coming Next
Flock Safety cameras are spreading across Wisconsin towns while councils, sheriffs, and residents fight over who approves them, what they record, and where AI search goes next.
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Moral Injury vs PTSD: A Framework Map for Peer Leaders
Plain-language map of moral injury vs PTSD for peer-led groups (including veterans circles): definitions, overlap, facilitator boundaries, and when to refer to VA or clinical care.
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What to Say When a Loved One Relapses
Plain language for families after a relapse: words that keep dignity and accountability, what to avoid, boundaries you can keep, and how to point toward help.
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Who Gets Rich When AI Does the Work?
If AI and robots do more of the work, the people who own the computers, the power plants, and the robot fleets get the money. A monthly check alone is not the same thing as owning a share.
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Drug Legalization Series Part 30: Measuring Outcomes Without Surveillance - Public Health Data Privacy Without a Punitive State
Part 30 explains how public health data privacy can coexist with strong overdose surveillance, 42 CFR Part 2, de-identified health data, and substance use disorder confidentiality in a non-punitive system.