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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration published state-level data from it's National Survey on Drug Use and Health this month. The data examines marijuana use in each state from the last two years. In a state-by-state comparison of marijuana use, Rhode Island topped the chart with 14.8 percent of residents age 12 and older consuming the substance monthly. A number of states that have recently passed legislation to legalize the drug for adults over 21 were also near the t

This year did not give voters much in terms of transcending partisanship at the Congressional level. However, breakthroughs of candidates and politicians who have publicly challenged the fiction that politics is a choice between Republican or Democratic ideas should not go unnoticed. Included in this list are politicians whose actions cannot be defined as simply left or right. Instead they represent a diverse set of principles and ideas that span the political spectrum. Here are the most indep

As expected of every election season, political gaffes were bound to happen. Gaffes have been associated with campaign exhaustion, an unsuccessful attempt at humor, or a lack of emotional discipline. Aside from acting as fodder for jokes or fuel for opponents, flubs made by political leaders and candidates alike can create a personal insight that their political image would not allow. Scott Walker Even after a successful 2014 reelection bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) still managed to la

2008 was a historic year for young voters. After a steady increase in youth turnout between the 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential elections, the 2008 election was said to have one of the highest youth voter turnout rates in the history of the United States -- thereby ending a historical trend of persistently low youth turnout with the first majority turnout by youth voters since 1964. An estimated 22 million Americans under the age of 30 voted in the 2008 presidential election. With a 51 perce

The announcement this week that the officer who killed Eric Garner would not be tried for homicide has further fueled public debate as to the appropriate level of force police officers use while in perceived danger. In 2014 alone, over 496 individuals have died in incidents with law enforcement officers, some of whom did not posses a weapon. As the year comes to a close, instances of possible excessive force on the part of law enforcement officers have shocked the country one after the other. V

Alaska's 2014 gubernatorial race was neck and neck as polls closed on Tuesday, November 4. Incumbent Republican Governor Sean Parnell trailed independent Bill Walker 46.42 percent to 47.83 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. At the end of election night, nearly 38,000 early, absentee, and late ballots still had to be counted. After nearly two weeks of no one calling the race one way or another, on Saturday, November 15, CNN projected Walker the winner with 48 percent of the vote.R

Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts held on to his seat against independent Greg Orman on Tuesday, November 4. Exit poll demographics showed that Orman clearly won the independent and liberal votes, and equally lost the conservative vote. Orman won the younger vote, while Roberts won the 44 and older vote. Orman was slightly more popular with women than Roberts. This race came down to the urban/rural divide in Kansas. Orman performed well in the urban counties, while Roberts swept the mostly

In Kansas, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts has focused the message of his campaign not on issues or his record, but on his opponent, independent Greg Orman. Specifically, his campaign has been defined by a continuous stream of negative ads characterizing Orman as a Harry Reid Democrat hiding as an independent.CNN and others continue to ask, "which party will Orman caucus with?" -- demonstrating once again that the media itself is part of the partisan problem. Truth is Orman doesn't have to caucus with

The second-term midterm is notorious for causing trouble for the party in the White House. As election coverage continues on Election Day, the term “within the margin of error” is being heard more in reference to last minute polls. Congressional elections may determine the future balance of power for lawmakers, but gubernatorial races may prove to be more competitive. Some battleground states with competitive Senate races also share tight elections for state executives. It is not surprising tha

On Tuesday, November 4, all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 36 U.S. Senate seats, 36 governorships, and several state and local offices will be up for election. Many of these races were long decided during the primary election season, making the general election just a formality. Midterm elections never have a very high voter turnout -- consistently remaining under 42 percent over the last 20 years. A key factor in this is a lack of competitive elections, something the Republican and Democratic pa