Drug War Chronicle #512 - November 30, 2007

Last week, Canada's Conservative government introduced legislation to create mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses, including marijuana cultivation. Now, opposition is emerging, but will it be able to block Canada's lurch toward a US-style drug war?

Going home from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally should have been a pleasant ride for Nebraskan Eric Sage. It didn't turn out that way--for him or his friends.

Law enforcement agencies which cannot seem to grasp that medical marijuana is legal in their states got their hands slapped by courts in Colorado and California this week. In both states, judges ruled that police must return medical marijuana unlawfully seized from legal patients or providers.

"Ron Paul on Medical Marijuana," "Hillary Clinton Pledges Support for Needle Exchange," "John Edwards Criticizes the War on Drugs," "Does Marijuana Make You Better at Sports?," "John McCain's Awful Response to a Cop Who Wants to End the Drug War," "Update on Pain Physician Dr. William Mangino," "Needle Exchange Action May Be Imminent," "California Sent 1,000 Drug Offenders to Fight the Forest Fire," "Republicans Try Marijuana at Higher Rate Than Democrats."

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

Bad cops cost cases in one Georgia county, a bad cop gets popped in another Georgia county, a bad cop gets several breaks from his colleagues in Michigan, and a bad cop goes to prison in Texas.

New Jersey's first legal needle exchange opened for business Tuesday. The move comes nearly a year after the legislature finally approved a pilot program for up to six cities. Look for more exchanges to come in Camden, Newark, and Paterson.

A federal district judge in Bismarck has dismissed a lawsuit by two would-be North Dakota hemp farmers who sought to get the DEA out of their way. Congress should address the issue, the judge said.

A high police official in Edinburgh has broached the notion of not arresting small-time drug offenders in the city center, but the idea has attracted a lot of heat, and now the police are backpedaling.

Facing strong opposition from the Afghan government, European allies, and even elements of the US government, the State Department announced Wednesday it had given up on an aerial spraying program designed to eradicate Afghan opium poppies -- at least for now.

Investigatory panels looking into 2,500 drug war killings in Thailand in the spring of 2003 have determined that more than half of those killed had nothing to do with drugs. Meanwhile, at least one Thai politician wants to return to the tough drug policies that led to those mass killings.

The use of the death penalty against drug offenders continues apace in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Iran executes six, Vietnam upholds one death sentence, and Vietnamese prosecutors seek 11 more.

Libby Davies, Pew Center, Judge Jerry Paradis, Dean Becker CNN/YouTube submission.

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

Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is hiring a Field Director for its Denver-based office.

ASA has two internship opportunities available for the spring semester, one in their Washington, DC office and one in their Oakland, CA office.

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