Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #421
-- 2/3/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FEATURE:
AFGHAN
OPIUM
CONUNDRUM
--
FOUR
YEARS
ON,
THE
WEST
SEARCHES
FOR
ANSWERS
Four
years
after
the
United
States
invaded
and
overthrew
the
Taliban,
neither
the
West
nor
the
Afghan
government
of
President
Hamid
Karzai
has
figured
out
what
to
do
about
the
country's
burgeoning
opium
economy.
- FEATURE:
SSDP
SUES
DEPARTMENT
OF
EDUCATION
IN
FREEDOM
OF
INFORMATION
ACT
DISPUTE
The
organization
Students
for
Sensible
Drug
Policy
announced
last
week
it
has
filed
a
lawsuit
over
a
hefty
fee
the
Department
of
Education
wants
to
release
state-by-state
data
on
the
number
of
students
affected
by
the
Higher
Education
Act
drug
provision.
- FEATURE:
DRUG
POLICY
ALLIANCE
ISSUES
FIRST
CONGRESSIONAL
DRUG
POLICY
VOTER
GUIDE
A
new
Congressional
voter
guide
identifies
"heroes,"
"villains"
and
"champions"
of
drug
policy
reform.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
This
week,
systemic
corruption
in
the
Topeka
drug
squad
continues
to
roil
local
law
enforcement,
and
a
civilian
sheriff's
office
employee
in
Oakland
has
more
on
her
mind
that
filing
reports.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
STEVE
KUBBY
JAILED
AND
SUFFERING
IN
CALIFORNIA
His
four-year
odyssey
as
a
medical
marijuana
refugee
over
since
last
week,
Steve
Kubby
has
asked
a
court
for
house
arrest
or
to
be
allowed
to
use
medicinal
marijuana
while
jailed.
No
correctional
facility
in
the
state
allows
prisoners
access
to
this
particular
medicine
despite
state
law
making
it
legal.
- HEA
REFORM:
CONGRESS
PASSES
PARTIAL
REFORM
TO
LAW
BARRING
FINANCIAL
AID
TO
STUDENTS
WITH
DRUG
CONVICTIONS
With
the
passage
of
a
controversial
budget
bill,
Congress
has
scaled
back
the
Higher
Education
Act
drug
provision
to
apply
only
to
those
in
school
at
the
time
of
their
offenses.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
NEW
MEXICO
BILL
CLEARS
SENATE,
HEADS
FOR
HOUSE
AS
CLOCK
TICKS
The
New
Mexico
medical
marijuana
bill
blessed
repeatedly
by
Gov.
Bill
Richardson
passed
the
Senate
overwhelmingly
and
now
heads
to
the
House,
where
legislators
have
a
week
to
act.
- MARIJUANA:
ALASKA
GOVERNOR'S
BID
TO
RECRIMINALIZE
MARIJUANA
BACKFIRES
AS
HOUSE
REJECTS
COMBINED
"METHIJUANA"
BILL
Alaska
Gov.
Frank
Murkowski
and
his
allies
hoped
that
tying
their
bill
to
recriminalize
marijuana
possession
to
a
methamphetamine
bill
would
help
them
steamroll
the
legislation
into
law,
but
it
didn't
work
out
that
way
this
week.
- EUROPE:
ITALY
POISED
FOR
GIANT
STEP
BACKWARD
ON
DRUG
POLICY
Possession
of
personal
use
quantities
of
drugs
has
been
decriminalized
in
Italy
for
more
than
a
decade,
but
a
tough
new
law
being
pushed
through
parliament
could
change
that.
- LATIN
AMERICA:
MEXICO'S
DRUG
WAR
ERUPTS
BLOODILY
IN
ACAPULCO
In
an
unintended
consequence
of
Mexican
drug
law
enforcement,
the
sunny
tourist
destination
Acapulco
has
found
itself
wracked
by
dramatic
and
murderous
violence
as
rival
cartels
--
perhaps
aided
by
corrupted
police
allies
--
fight
for
control
of
the
trade.
- WEB
SCAN
Richard
Paey
on
Sixty
Minutes,
Canadian
HIV/AIDS
Legal
Network
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITIES
Drug
Policy
Alliance,
Full-Time
Legislative
Assistant
and
Part-Time
Office
Manager
- JOB
OPPORTUNITY
Publications
Coordinator
for
Students
for
Sensible
Drug
Policy
and
DanceSafe
- WEEKLY:
THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
listings
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
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