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Drug War Chronicle #713 - December 15, 2011

Issue #713, Phillip S. Smith, Editor - David Borden, Executive Director

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PBS "Prohibition" on DVD and Blu-ray

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1. Teens Rejecting Alcohol, Tobacco; Selecting Marijuana [FEATURE]

The annual Monitoring the Future survey of high school students find cigarette and alcohol use down, but marijuana use up.

2. ALERT: Don't Let Congress Backslide on Needle Exchange

Republicans in Congress are pushing to reinstate a ban on use of federal AIDS funds for needle exchange programs. If they succeed, if won't reduce federal spending, but it will kill people. Please call today to tell Congress and the President to say no.

3. New Offer for Donating Members: PBS "Prohibition" on DVD and Blu-ray

We are pleased to announce our newest offer for donating members, the recent Prohibition documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick made for PBS. These three disk sets include 90 minutes of bonus footage not available on the web site or shown on TV.

4. US House Votes to Ban New Synthetic Drugs

As expected, the House of Representatives has passed a bill banning synthetic stimulants and cannabinoids. On the positive side, 98 members voted against responding to the drugs with a new prohibition.

5. Medical Marijuana Update

Busy, busy, busy. Here's this week's medical marijuana news digest.

6. Mexico Drug War Update

Mass murders in Ciudad Juarez and the Comarca Lagunera, and the army killed 11 cartel gunmen in Tamaulipas. Just another week in Mexico's prohibition-related violence.

7. Marijuana Legalization Fares Well in Colorado, Massachusetts Polls

Marijuana legalization gets strong support in polls in Colorado and Massachusetts, but not enough for activists to rest easy.

8. Arizona Governor Asks Federal Judge to Void Part of Medical Marijuana Law

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has decided the state will argue in federal court that federal law preempts the dispensary provisions in the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law.

9. Federal Unemployment Benefits Drug Test Bill Introduced

A Republican congressman from Georgia has introduced a bill that would mandate drug screening assessments for unemployment applicants and drug tests for those assessed as having a "high probability" of being drug users. But he cited only apocryphal evidence for any need for such legislation.

10. Basque Country to Legalize, Regulate Marijuana

Spain's Basque County Autonomous Community is on course to legalize marijuana early next year.

11. Poland "Treatment Not Jail" Drug Law Now in Effect

A new law allowing prosecutors to divert small-time drug possessors into treatment instead of prison went into effect Friday.

12. California Man Killed in Drug Raid Shootout

A 24-year-old California man is dead after a shootout during an attempted drug bust, and a local gang is vowing revenge.

13. This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A Virginia sheriff gets raided, a sleazy Michigan cop gets busted, a New Jersey cop gets convicted, and several Oklahoma lawmen are headed to prison.

14. This Week in History

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

Drug War Issues

Criminal JusticeAsset Forfeiture, Collateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Court Rulings, Drug Courts, Due Process, Felony Disenfranchisement, Incarceration, Policing (2011 Drug War Killings, 2012 Drug War Killings, 2013 Drug War Killings, 2014 Drug War Killings, 2015 Drug War Killings, 2016 Drug War Killings, 2017 Drug War Killings, Arrests, Eradication, Informants, Interdiction, Lowest Priority Policies, Police Corruption, Police Raids, Profiling, Search and Seizure, SWAT/Paramilitarization, Task Forces, Undercover Work), Probation or Parole, Prosecution, Reentry/Rehabilitation, Sentencing (Alternatives to Incarceration, Clemency and Pardon, Crack/Powder Cocaine Disparity, Death Penalty, Decriminalization, Defelonization, Drug Free Zones, Mandatory Minimums, Rockefeller Drug Laws, Sentencing Guidelines)CultureArt, Celebrities, Counter-Culture, Music, Poetry/Literature, Television, TheaterDrug UseParaphernalia, Vaping, ViolenceIntersecting IssuesCollateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Violence, Border, Budgets/Taxes/Economics, Business, Civil Rights, Driving, Economics, Education (College Aid), Employment, Environment, Families, Free Speech, Gun Policy, Human Rights, Immigration, Militarization, Money Laundering, Pregnancy, Privacy (Search and Seizure, Drug Testing), Race, Religion, Science, Sports, Women's IssuesMarijuana PolicyGateway Theory, Hemp, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Marijuana Industry, Medical MarijuanaMedicineMedical Marijuana, Science of Drugs, Under-treatment of PainPublic HealthAddiction, Addiction Treatment (Science of Drugs), Drug Education, Drug Prevention, Drug-Related AIDS/HIV or Hepatitis C, Harm Reduction (Methadone & Other Opiate Maintenance, Needle Exchange, Overdose Prevention, Pill Testing, Safer Injection Sites)Source and Transit CountriesAndean Drug War, Coca, Hashish, Mexican Drug War, Opium ProductionSpecific DrugsAlcohol, Ayahuasca, Cocaine (Crack Cocaine), Ecstasy, Heroin, Ibogaine, ketamine, Khat, Kratom, Marijuana (Gateway Theory, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Medical Marijuana, Hashish), Methamphetamine, New Synthetic Drugs (Synthetic Cannabinoids, Synthetic Stimulants), Nicotine, Prescription Opiates (Fentanyl, Oxycontin), Psilocybin / Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelics (LSD, Mescaline, Peyote, Salvia Divinorum)YouthGrade School, Post-Secondary School, Raves, Secondary School