Drug War Chronicle #558 - October 31, 2008

With the elections a few days from now, we reprint our review from four weeks ago of drug policy and sentencing reform initiatives going to the ballot in several different states.

"Prince of Pot: The US v. Marc Emery" is a new documentary on Canada's most famous marijuana activist. We review it this week.

It's back to the drawing board for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act. Initiative organizers have suspended signature-gathering in the face of weak support in initial polling.

StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) is seeking volunteers in the DC area to help with our membership drive; and from anywhere to help with a writing-based project starting next month.

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

One cop offers bribes, one cop takes bribes, two cops take drugs and money. Just another week in the drug war.

Montana courts cannot bar medical marijuana patients from taking their medicine while on probation or parole, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

"Dying to Get High," by sociologists Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb, is a groundbreaking work that provides an in-depth portrait of one of the country's most well-known medical marijuana collectives.

Flooded with marijuana users from more repressive neighboring countries, some Dutch border town mayors are shutting down all their cannabis coffee shops. Other mayors are looking for a better solution.

Did Afghan opium production drop 6% this year or 31%? The US and the UN disagree, but it may be a moot point with the Taliban sitting on a huge stash that can be easily converted into a war chest.

The head of the legislative assembly in Mexico's federal district (Mexico City) has introduced legislation that would decriminalize small-time marijuana possession and allow for the establishment of businesses to sell small amounts.

Drug czar John Walters supports Mexico's drug decriminalization plan?!?! That's what he said last Friday, but there may be less to this than meets the eye.

Washington and Bogotá have both been talking up improvements in Colombia's human rights situation. But there is still plenty to be deeply concerned about, Amnesty International said in a report this week.

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

"Flex Your Rights Protests Random Searches in DC," "Telemarketers Refuse to Make 'Soft on Crime' Attacks Against Obama," "The Drug Czar Can't Stop Panicking About Medical Marijuana," "The Perfect Argument for Medical Marijuana in Michigan," "Corruption at the Top Levels of the Mexican Drug War," "Rumors of NYPD Sexually Assaulting a Marijuana Suspect," "Random Searches in Our Nation's Capital," "$5 Million to Catch One Drug Trafficker?," "Will Mexico's Drug War Violence Come to the US?," "'Economically, our Criminal Justice Policies are Cutting Our Throats'."

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