Drug War Chronicle #628 - April 16, 2010

The drug czar was in the hot seat at a Wednesday congressional hearing, and activists and academics got a chance to weigh in on the flaws of US drug policy as well.

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy has spent years trudging through the poppy fields of Asia on his way to becoming one of the world's leading experts on the opium trade. With the publication of "Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy," the fruits of his labors are now available in English, and we should be thankful for that.

StoptheDrugWar.org is pleased to be the first drug policy organization to offer this important new video to our members -- your donations will support our work of building the movement and fueling public debate, too.

It's a veritable potpourri of prohibition-related police misconduct this week, from small town departments to the Big Apple to the ATF.

An initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona is poised to make the November ballot. If it does, and if it is approved, it will mean medical marijuana is the law of the land from the Pacific Coast to the Texas border.

One of the side-effects of prohibition is contamination of unregulated illicit drug supplies, putting users at risk. Two now familiar, but disturbing, contaminants are in the news this week: anthrax in European heroin and levamisole in North American cocaine.

Legal needle exchanges may be coming to Colorado -- if a bill before the state Senate passes. But injection drug users in Boulder already benefit from an exemption allowing exchanges, and drug users in Denver can take advantage of an underground exchange.

There will be no marijuana decriminalization in the Granite State -- at least not this year. A veto-wielding governor managed to scare off the state Senate after the House passed it overwhelmingly, but activists aren't giving up. Instead, they are vowing to return until the legislature gets it right.

In the violent and volatile world of Mexican drug cartels, no alliance is forever. Now, the Zetas have grown too threatening, and the other cartels are joining forces against them. Meanwhile, Chapo Guzman and his Sinaloa cartel have taken Ciudad Juarez.

Drink up -- it's Coca Colla time! Yes, it's a coca-based soft drink, but you'll have to go to Bolivia to try it. And this isn't some de-cocainized soft drink; it's the real thing.

Bermuda has long taken a hard-line on marijuana possession, but now members of the ruling party are suggesting it's time for a change.

Millions of people have viewed -- and benefited from -- the film "Busted: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." The new Flex Your Rights film, "10 Rules for Dealing with Police," has taken things to the next level, in more ways than one.

Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to funders. We need donations too.

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

"Michelle Obama's Awesome Plan for Winning the Drug War," "Drug Cartel Assassins Caught on Camera," "The Government is Still Trying (and Failing) to Prove That Marijuana is Dangerous," "The Best Argument Ever for Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana," "Teachers for Marijuana Legalization," "Dr. Drew Endorses Planting Evidence on Drug Users to Get Them Locked Up," "Mike Huckabee Compares Using Drugs to Committing Incest," "Eating Your Stash Won't Keep You Out of Jail."

Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!

CannBe, a medical cannabis consulting firm based in Oakland, CA, and comprised of many leaders in the medical cannabis industry and movement, is hiring high-achieving professionals for several open positions including Business and Organizational Development Specialist, Junior Government Relations Specialist, Operations Development Administrator, Office Administrator, and Partner Support Administrator.