Drug War Chronicle #518 - January 11, 2008

Some 32 countries have laws on their books allowing for the death penalty for drug offenses. A new report details the situation and lays the groundwork for a campaign to stop it.

We review "Drugs and Justice: Seeking a Consistent, Coherent, and Comprehensive View" and find it a valuable, thoughtful, and more accessible than you might think contribution to the literature.

An Ohio SWAT shot and killed a young black mother and wounded the toddler she was holding in her arms during a routine drug raid last Friday. An angry community wants some answers and some accountability.

The new year has brought more drug war violence to the Mexican border, as drug gunmen battled cops and soldiers in a bloody confrontation in Rio Bravo, across the river from McAllen, Texas.

The arrest and prosecution of a Kansas pain management physician and his nurse wife have prompted a leading pain advocacy group to file a lawsuit challenging the application of the Controlled Substance Act when it comes to doctors and patients.

There's some funny accounting in some Mississippi anti-drug task forces, there's a bunch of dope missing from the Boston police evidence room, and crooked cops are headed for prison in Chicago, Nashville, and New Haven.

An outline of DRCNet's plans and recent accomplishments and an appeal for your support to make it all happen.

"The Truth About Driving When You're High on Marijuana," "The Drug War is a Training Camp for Corrupt Cops," "Police Who Steal From Drug Suspects Are Charged With Theft of "Government" Property," "Ecstasy Laced With Meth is Bad, But it's Not My Fault," "SWAT Team Shoots Baby, Kills Mom in Drug Raid Gone Wrong," "Traffickers Are Hiring Flat-chested Women to Smuggle Drugs in Their Bras," "Alert: A SWAT Team Shot a Mother and Child Last Week -- Take Action Now to Stop the Madness!," "A Column That Deserves a Mention -- AJC's Cynthia Tucker Compares the Drug War with Prohibition," "Barack Obama's Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Record," "Good Guys, Bad Guys: Bills Filed to Improve or Worsen Crack Cocaine Sentencing."

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

The Nebraska attorney general and at least one legislator want to protect Cornhusker youth from salvia divinorum by sending them to prison for five years if they get caught with it.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas says he is willing to discuss marijuana decriminalization. He is responding to a proposal from a key Democratic legislator, and he's taking a much softer stance than he did just a couple of months ago.

The Dallas police department will now hire applicants who admit to past hard drug use -- but only if it was more than 10 years, the applicant was under 21, he didn't shoot up, and he only did it once.

Thanks to the budget bill passed by Congress last month, DEA will be able to end a hiring freeze and sign up 200 more Special Agents.

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

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