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Drug War Chronicle #818 - January 23, 2014

1. The Specter of Municipal Marijuana Legalization Looms Over DC [FEATURE]

While the DC city council is moving on decriminalization, local activists aren't waiting to take the next step: a marijuana legalization initiative.

2. Book Review Essay: The Drug War Past, Present, and Future

We review three recent tiles on the drug war's prehistory, its current incarnation, and how we escape it.

3. Obama: Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Alcohol, But...

In an interview with the The New Yorker's David Remnick, President Obama said marijuana was safer than alcohol and that state-level experiments with legalization were "important," but that he thought it was a bad habit.

4. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Supports Medical Marijuana

US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has come around on medical marijuana, and he thinks cops waste too much time arresting pot smokers, too.

5. Medical Marijuana Update

Residents of a pair of California counties are fighting back against restrictive ordinances, Arizona rejects some new medical conditions, Illinois rules out draft rules, and more.

6. This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

The stench grows in Philadelphia, a parole officer gets caught stealing parolee's pills, a reserve cop tries to trade dope for sex, and jail guards continue to go wild.

7. Chronicle AM -- January 16, 2014

Florida's medical marijuana initiative appears poised to qualify for the ballot (if it survives a challenge in the state Supreme Court), a new pot poll finds the country evenly split, Afghanistan was on the agenda in the Senate yesterday, and more.

8. Chronicle AM -- January 17, 2014

Washington's attorney general has dealt a body blow to the statewide legalization of marijuana commerce there, medical marijuana continues to keep state legislatures busy, a New Mexico town and county pay out big time for a horrid anal search, heroin legislation is moving in Kentucky, and more.

9. Chronicle AM -- January 20, 2014

Marijuana law reform bills just keep coming, a most likely unconstitutional food stamp drug test bill gets filed in Georgia, Australian regulators block urine drug testing of state energy company workers, Jamaicans legalizers grow impatient, and more.

10. Chronicle AM -- January 21, 2014

The war on weed may be beginning to wheeze toward its end, a researcher reports, and legislators continue to introduce bills to help it on its way. Meanwhile, harm reduction down South gets some attention, a bad bill targets medical marijuana-using parents in Michigan, and Bermuda gets a decrim bill, and more.

11. Chronicle AM -- January 22, 2014

Marijuana, marijuana, marijuana. It sure is generating lots of activity, plus Chris Christie speaks out on the drug war, a major farm organization endorses hemp, and Honduras wants to shoot down drug planes.
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.

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