Drug War Chronicle #749 - September 6, 2012

Here is our overview of initiatives headed to the ballot this November. Look for in-depth coverage of the candidates and parties, as well as action in individual states, during the coming weeks.

With The Lebanese Connection, global drug trade scholar Jonathan Marshall has made an important contribution to the literature -- not only of the drug trade, but also of the Middle East, terrorism, covert operations, and failed states.

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The Republican platform section on crime lays out the party's official positions, and while they stay "tough on crime," there are also some hints of evolving positions.

Los Angeles dispensaries got a reprieve last week -- or did they? The busts there continue, despite the ban on the ban. And there's more news from around the state and the country as well.

Montana's first registered medical marijuana caregiver has died in federal prison after being sentenced to five years on federal drug charges stemming from the DEA raids of March 2011. Richard Flor was 68.

The Danish government could be providing heroin pills to addicts as early as next year under a proposal from the health minister.

A young man sitting in a car with a pellet gun and 50 Ecstasy tablets in the wee hours of the night Sunday is dead after an encounter with police.

The Murray County, Georgia, scandal keeps unraveling, another prison guard goes down, and a pair of South Texas deputies are going away for awhile.