If I floated the idea that we should decriminalize the possession of even the hardest street drugs — including fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and meth — would you think it is too wild to consider? One province in Canada just launched such an effort to see if it can reduce drug arrests and get more people into drug treatment. One U.S. state is also trying the experiment with, so far, mixed results. Another country is having some success with the decriminalization of hard drugs. It is a controversial and unproven idea, but maybe you should look at the reasoning before you judge. I will lay it all out for you today.

How weird is it that we see these stories about thousands of workers being laid off at the biggest tech companies and then we get new Labor Department figures showing unemployment is at near-historic lows? How can both be true? I will help you explore where people are hiring, even begging for workers, while tens of thousands of others are losing their jobs. It is a complicated post-pandemic labor picture.

I also want to show you some interesting recent data on how many people are quitting their jobs. It is not as high as December 2021, but it is way more people than historically jump ship to another job. Higher pay is the main motivator, and the Fed is worried that will force employers to pay more to keep you, which will fuel inflation. Nothing is easy right now.

We seem to have a theme of “you might think this but here is what you didn’t expect” in today’s column. To keep it going, let me tell you about Canada’s record-high number of new immigrants who arrived last year and now are permanent residents. Canada says it would love to see more people come in and fill jobs. A new poll says Canada is the No. 2 choice for people who would love to move from where they are now. The No. 1 choice is the United States.