Drug War Chronicle #587 - May 29, 2009

Safe injection facilities for drug users have proven effective in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Now, harm reductionists and public health advocates are beginning a campaign to bring one to New York City.

Canadian courts have repeatedly told Health Canada that not allowing medical marijuana providers to grow for more than one patient was unjustifiable, so the agency now says providers can grow for two people. That's not what advocates wanted to hear.

Another jail guard goes down, a California cop takes the bait, an NYPD officer gets slapped, a Massachusetts cop gets busted, a Massachusetts trooper cops a plea, and a Houston drug test watcher gets greedy. Just another week in the drug war.

The killing of Tarika Wilson, an unarmed mother holding her child, and the maiming of that child, is an inevitable consequences of the overuse of SWAT teams and the growing paramilitarization of the drug war.

A federal law that makes it a felony to use a communication device to sell drugs cannot be used against personal use drug buyers, the US Supreme Court ruled this week.

The Illinois Senate has passed a medical marijuana bill. It now heads to the House, which could act this week, or defer action to the fall.

With Republicans in the minority, this might be the year New York passes a medical marijuana law. It's one committee vote closer today, but the clock is ticking.

A new Rasmussen poll shows support for marijuana legalization at 41% nationwide. That's in line with some recent polls, and suggests that while we're not quite over the hump yet, we're getting there.

As part of an urban renewal and anti-crime plan for central Amsterdam, authorities there want to cut down the number of cannabis coffee shops in the city's famed Red Light district.

Pusher Street may be history, but the residents of Copenhagen's Christiania are still fighting for their right to remain. They lost a court battle this week, but the end is not here yet for the countercultural enclave.

Mexico's Social Democratic Party advocates drug legalization -- and somebody doesn't want to hear it. At least four of the party's candidates have been attacked ahead of July's elections, and the party suspects the drug cartels.

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

Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!

"New Drug Czar Doesn't Care About Medical Marijuana," "If Pure THC Pills are FDA-Approved, What's the Big Deal About Marijuana Potency?," "Research Proves Marijuana is Not a 'Gateway Drug'," "Drunk Reporter Debates Marijuana Legalization In a Bar," "Christian Science Monitor Advocates Teaching Kids to Support the Drug War," "The Worst Argument Against Medical Marijuana," "Cool 'History of Weed' Video from Showtime 'Weeds' Program."

Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research, is seeking a National Field Coordinator to work from its office in Oakland, CA.