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Drug War Chronicle #612 - December 11, 2009

Phillip S. Smith, Editor - David Borden, Executive Director

Congress: Budget Deal Includes Series of Drug Reform Victories

Congressional budget negotiators have approved a conference committee bill that ends the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs, ends the ban on the District of Columbia funding of needle exchange programs, and ends the ban on the District enacting a medical marijuana law approved by voters a decade ago. Oh, and it also slashes funding for the drug czar's ineffective youth anti-drug media campaign.

Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update

Amnesty International accuses the Mexican military of human rights violations in the drug war -- a problem for US funding. Meanwhile, this year's south of the border prohibition-related death toll passed 7,000 this week.

Prosecution: No More Crack Pipe Felonies for Houston

Finally, some sanity in Houston! The Harris County District Attorney has announced that beginning January 1, people caught with trace amounts of drugs or drug paraphernalia with drug traces will no longer be charged with felonies.

Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy

"Good Stuff to Read," "Washington Post Writer Gets Tricked by the Drug Czar, Refuses to Accept Responsibility," "10 Rules for Dealing With Police (Film Preview)," "Deputy Drug Czar: I hate This job'," "No Marijuana Smoking at the Dog-Sled Races," "A Magical Day in Mexico," "No Drug Bust is Worth the Life of a Good Cop."
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.