Breaking News:Dangerous Delays: What Washington State (Re)Teaches Us About Cash and Cannabis Store Robberies [REPORT]

Drug War Chronicle #474 - February 23, 2007

1. Chronicle on the Scene Feature: Bolivia's "Coca, Yes, Cocaine No" Policy is Beginning to Work

Just a little over a year into his term, Bolivian President Evo Morales is engineering a "coca, yes; cocaine, no" policy that is reducing tension there and leading to cooperative eradication efforts with farmers. Will the US government go along with it?

2. Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy," by Matthew Robinson and Renee Scherlen (2007, State University of New York Press, 268 pp., $27)

At one time or another, all of us have sputtered into our coffee cops over some outrageous claim made by the drug czar's office. Now, a pair of academics have systematically deconstructed those claims, and the results are highly illuminating.

3. Marijuana: Colorado Pot Advocate Ken Gorman Killed Saturday, Days After Local News Station Did "Exposé" On Him

Prominent Colorado marijuana advocate Ken Gorman was gunned down in his home Saturday night. It appears he was targeted by robbers who may have watched a local news exposé on his medical marijuana garden.

4. Newsbrief: Colorado Town Backs Away from Tougher Marijuana Penalties

City councilmen in Lafayette, Colorado, have backed away from an ordinance that would have increased penalties for marijuana possession after a judge resigned in protest and a strong grassroots efforts by Colorado activists scorched them.

5. Bad Bills: Nevada Legislation Could Send Parents to Prison for 15 Years for a Single Plant

A Nevada state senator wants to make people who grow even a single marijuana plant in a home where children are present subject to a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

6. Medical Marijuana: Supporters File Federal Lawsuit Against HHS, FDA

After enduring two years of stonewalling by the FDA and its mother agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, medical marijuana supporters are taking the agencies to federal court over their continuing claims that marijuana has no medicinal benefits.

7. Southwest Asia: Afghan Opium Eradication Effort Sparks New Violence

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attempting to appease his Western backers by eradicating the country's opium crop, but violence is flaring as a result.

8. Europe: British Top Cop Calls for Prescription Heroin for Addicts

The head of Britain's association of police chiefs is calling for prescription heroin to be made available to hard-core addicts in a bid to reduce street crime.

9. Web Scan

Canada action, Kunstler Rocky ads, Drug Truth Network, economist Levitt on the drug selling profession, Pew Trust on prison spending, CA prison guards.

10. Weekly: This Week in History

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

11. Job Opportunities: Marijuana Policy Project, Nevada and DC

MPP is hiring for two positions.

12. Job Opportunity: Syringe Exchange Program Specialist, CA

The Harm Reduction Coalition is hiring a Syringe Exchange Program Specialist for work in California.

13. Announcement: DRCNet Content Syndication Feeds Now Available for YOUR Web Site!

Support the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!

14. Announcement: DRCNet RSS Feeds Now Available

A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War Chronicle and more -- is now available.

15. Errata

Hemp Bill Number Correction

16. Announcement: New Format for the Reformer's Calendar

Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to the events coming up the soonest, and more.
Permission to Reprint: This issue of Drug War Chronicle is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

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