Drug War Chronicle #501 - September 14, 2007

Drug taxes, loss of aid, mandatory minimums, pain prosecutions, no-knock drug raids, fumigation, forfeiture, death penalties -- If anything goes in the drug war, then where does it end?

Oregon's medical marijuana program is 10 years old and rolling along, but it looks like it will be contested terrain next year, with one initiative already filed to repeal it and others to expand it.

United Nations Afghan drug demand reduction specialist David Macdonald's "Drugs in Afghanistan: Opium, Outlaws, and Scorpion Tales" is probably the most profound and nuanced look at the role of drugs in Afghanistan ever published.

Massive increases to our web site traffic, particularly during the last three months, have forced us to upgrade our web server -- not once, but twice -- and have increased our costs. We need your help to pay for it.

"Wrong Door Drug Raid Disrupts Family Dinner," "Rising Cocaine Prices Don't Mean We're Winning the Drug War," "Bad Cop Caught on Camera," "More Fun With Numbers at ONDCP," DEA Agent Admits The Drug War Funds Terrorism," "DEA Agent Admits Medical Marijuana Laws Work," Bryan Epis, "Take this drug tax and...", more...

Apply for an internship at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!

Another week's worth of law enforcement officers done in by the temptations created by drug prohibition, including a sheriff headed for prison for turning a blind eye, a prosecutor whose coke habit got him in trouble, a greedy Boston cop, and a pair of pill-peddling policemen.

Georgia's Fulton County (Atlanta) district attorney has some odd ideas about how asset forfeiture funds should be spent, an audit of his books has found.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has thrown out the state's illicit drug tax. The state will appeal, and plans to continue assessing the tax in the meanwhile.

A high-level DEA official has again linked the illegal drug trade to the funding of terrorist organizations, but failed to note the role of drug prohibition.

The Women's Christian Temperance Union lives -- barely -- and is meeting this week in Indianapolis to continue the battle against demon run and its contemporary counterparts.

The Colombian government has offered its strongest criticism yet of US-backed aerial spraying of coca crops, saying it has been a failure.

The resort to the death penalty for drug offenders continues in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with two executed in Iran last week and six sentenced to death in Vietnam.

Maher asks Chris Dodd about marijuana legalization, Retirement Living on medical marijuana, Balko on federalism, Cannabinoid Chronicles, Canadian Medical Association Journal on medical marijuana dosages, Australian National Council on Drugs, DrugTruth Network.

Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

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