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Boston program transforms gang members into college students

In Boston city and community leaders are engaged in a bold experiment: To use higher education to transform the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. The program "Boston Uncornered" recruits gang members to drop their guns and enroll in college by paying them to do so. Supporters say it costs less than the ongoing cycle of enforcement, incarceration and recidivism, and is also an investment in the community. Dana Jacobson reports.

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Celebrity pot entrepreneurs

From fashion to fragrance, celebrity sells. And with marijuana sales expected to reach $8-10 billion by the end of this year – and projected to double to $20 billion by 2022 – more celebs are investing money and lending their names to get a foothold in this growing market. Ben Tracy talks with Tommy Chong (who helped invent the stoner comedy genre), who's put his name to Chong's Choice marijuana, on sale in six states; and with Melissa Etheridge, whose experience with marijuana to relieve the effects of cancer chemotherapy has inspired her to build a farm for medical marijuana products.

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Basic universal income: Testing a weapon against economic insecurity

Even if your job isn't being replaced by a robot, there is plenty of economic insecurity today, with many people just one paycheck away from disaster. To fight economic hardship, the City of Stockton, Calif., is launching a pilot program to test the benefits of a basic universal income (BUI) - giving $500 a month to impoverished residents, no strings attached. Lee Cowan hears from Mayor Michael Tubbs about his effort, funded by the Economic Security Project, and talks with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and University of California, Berkeley professor Laura Tyson about the costs and benefits of "free" money. (This story originally aired on April 15, 2018)

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Secret Santa's homeless elf

During this holiday season in Phoenix, a homeless man, Moses Elder, took on the role of a Secret Santa helper, giving away money to some unsuspecting and grateful passers-by. The anonymous, wealthy businessman who goes around the country every year handing out Benjamins to random people has now recruited his most unlikely elf. Secret Santa also gave Moses some money to keep for himself, but he says that reward pales to the joy he's received from helping others. Steve Hartman reports.

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The bondage of bail

It's estimated that at least 60% of Americans in jail today – nearly a half-million – haven't been convicted of anything but are merely being held in pre-trial detention because they can't afford to make bail. What's worse, even people who are acquitted of charges may face years paying back their bail bond fees. Now, some states, like California, are moving to end their cash bail systems. Lee Cowan looks at the $2 billion-a-year private bail bond industry, and talks with the founder of the Bail Project, a non-profit that gives those in need bail without added fees, as well as the executive director of Equal Justice Under Law, dedicated to scrapping the cash bail system entirely.

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