Drug War Chronicle #709 - November 17, 2011

Issue #709, Phillip S. Smith, Editor - David Borden, Executive Director

1. The Future of Drug War Chronicle

As drug policy reform continues into its most consequential stage in decades, StoptheDrugWar.org plays a crucial role for leaders and organizations in the movement. But we need your help, more perhaps than ever, to keep the most important StoptheDrugWar.org service, the Drug War Chronicle newsletter, at full strength.

2. Seattle Pilot Program Offers Treatment Not Arrest [FEATURE]

Fed up with endless recycling of low-level, problematic drug offenders through the criminal justice system, Seattle and King County have embarked on a "treatment not arrest" pilot program designed to break the cycle.

3. NORML Sues Feds in CA Medical Marijuana Fight [FEATURE]

The federal crackdown on medical marijuana in California is provoking legal challenges. First ASA, and now, NORML have filed lawsuits seeking to halt it.

4. Cities Can Ban Marijuana Dispensaries, CA Court Rules

An California appeals court decision saying localities can ban medical marijuana dispensaries is only adding to the industry's woes.

5. DEA Raids Seattle Area Marijuana Dispensaries

The Justice Department's offensive against medical marijuana distribution just spread to the Seattle area, with the DEA raiding 14 dispensaries Tuesday.

6. Michigan AG Says Cops Can Seize Medical Marijuana

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is no friend of medical marijuana, and he proved it again last week with an opinion telling police they can seize patients' medicine.

7. Washington Marijuana Initiative Gains Support

An initiative to tax and regulate marijuana in Washington state is pulling in some big names and big bucks, but it hasn't completely unified the state's marijuana community behind it. That may not matter.

8. Mexico Drug War Update

The cavalcade of arrests, busts, and killings continues in Mexico.

9. Mexico Drug War Deaths Leveling Off, Study Says

The good news is that prohibition-related killing in Mexico may be leveling off. The bad news is that it's leveling off at horrendous levels.

10. Dominican Presidential Candidate Says Legalize Drugs

Yet another Latin American politician comes out for legalization. This one is running for president in the Dominican Republic.

11. This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A meth-dealing cop in Hawaii, a dope-load protecting cop in Houston, a pair of cops willing to sell information to drug dealers in Jacksonville and Cincinnati, and a contraband-toting jail guard in Alabama make this week's hall of shame.

Permission to Reprint: This issue of Drug War Chronicle is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.