Drug War Chronicle #447 - August 4, 2006
1. Editorial: Sometimes They Tell the Truth
Whether the good or the truly horrid, much can be learned about drug policy during those rare moments when public officials tell the truth about it.2. Feature: British Parliamentary Committee Slams Drug Classification Scheme, Calls for Evidence-Based System
A parliamentary select committee has issued a report calling Britain's drug classification scheme outmoded, ineffective, and based more on politics than science.3. Feature: As Fighting Flares in Southern Afghanistan, Support for Licensed Opium Production Grows
As NATO takes over in southern Afghanistan, fighting is flaring and opium is driving much of it. Now, European politicians are beginning to embrace a controversial opium licensing scheme.4. In Memoriam: Methadone Pioneer Vincent P. Dole
Vincent Dole, a legendary figure in addiction treatment who has countless saved lives to his credit, has passed at age 93.5. Announcement: Sick Editor = Short Issue
Summer pneumonia cut into the Chronicle editor's work week, but he's already recovering.6. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
Another sheriff who couldn't resist temptation, another drug-dealing cop, and something smells mighty bad in a Mississippi anti-drug task force.7. Harm Reduction: Drug Czar's Office Opposes Letting Heroin Users Have Easy Access to Overdose Antidote
The drug czar's office wants to make sure drugs kill -- to prove that drugs kill.8. Marijuana: Seattle Hempfest Sues City, Art Museum Over Permitting, Access
Who would have thought the world's premier marijuana law reform rally would have to sue one of the most progressive cities in the country?9. Latin America: New Report Says Colombian Cocaine Production Seriously Underestimated
Despite billions of dollars in US aid, Colombian cocaine production remains at near record levels. Or is it even more? A new report raises serious questions.10. Web Scan
Stamper for Alternet, DrugTruth Radio, DrugScience.org, Cannabis Churches11. Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.12. Weekly: The Reformer's Calendar
Showing up at an event can be the best way to get involved! Check out this week's listings for events from today through next year, across the US and around the world!Drug War Chronicle #446 - July 28, 2006
1. Editorial: It's Time to Get Real About Opium in Afghanistan
Opium eradication is a dangerous, dead-end road. It's time for a little realism, for the sake of Afghanistan's and global security.2. Feature: Medical Marijuana Crisis in San Diego as Feds, Locals Move to Shut Down Remaining Dispensaries
The San Diego-area medical marijuana community is reeling under assault from the DEA and local officials, but is already fighting back at city hall and in the courts.3. Feature: Bipartisan Group of US Senators Introduce Bill to Reduce Cocaine Sentencing Disparities
A new bill sponsored by four former state attorneys general would significantly reduce the number of crack cocaine offenders (and slightly increase the number of powder cocaine offenders) who face draconian mandatory minimum sentences for low-level offenses.4. Feature: Holy Smoke Bust Mobilizes Interior British Columbia Cannabis Community
When Nelson city police raided the Holy Smoke Culture Shop almost two weeks ago, they awakened the area's large cannabis community. Now, Holy Smoke and its supporters are preparing to wage holy war (non-violently) to defend themselves and the herb.5. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
Cops getting arrested, cops pleading guilty, cops going to prison -- and of course the ever-present drug-dealing prison guard.6. Sentencing: Federal Judges More Likely to Acquit Than Juries
A new study of the federal courts finds judges less likely to convict than juries, and the author attributes it to the federal judiciary's discomfort with harsh sentencing guidelines.7. Medical Marijuana: South Dakota Ballot Description Erroneous and Apparently Illegal
South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long has written a medical marijuana initiative ballot summary that appears to violate state law.8. Medical Marijuana: In New York Democratic Gubernatorial Race, Spitzer Says No, Suozzi Says Yes
Upstart New York Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer parted ways on the issue of medical marijuana.9. Search and Seizure: Five-Day Shackling in Colorado Prison to Find Swallowed Drugs Approaches Torture Level
A Colorado judge has ruled prison officials went too far when they shackled a prisoner to a chair for more than five days in a bid to see if he had swallowed drugs.10. Khat: Feds Arrest 62 in Crackdown on Mild East African Stimulant Herb
US federal authorities have rounded up 62 immigrants on charges of smuggling khat, a mild stimulant herb used for hundreds of years in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Their use of the Hawala financial network has generated weak speculation that there could be a terrorist link.11. Europe: British Conservatives Call For Legal, Licensed Afghan Opium Production As Troop Toll Mounts
With conflict heating up in Afghanistan, British Conservatives are urging their leader, David Cameron, to consider legalizing and licensing the opium crop.12. Web Scan
Tony Papa debunks anti-rockreform report, horrendous Nightline khat segment, drug reform candidates, DrugTruth radio.13. Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.14. Announcement: IJPD Seeks Article Submissions on Women and Harm Reduction
The International Journal of Drug Policy has released a call for papers for a special issue on "Women and Harm Reduction: Spanning the Globe."15. Weekly: The Reformer's Calendar
Showing up at an event can be the best way to get involved! Check out this week's listings for events from today through next year, across the US and around the world!16. Errata: Kershaw Not In Kershaw Anymore
A very minor geographical error in one of last week's corrupt cops stories.Drug War Chronicle #445 - July 21, 2006
1. Editorial: Do We Really Want to Help Kids Find the Drug Dealers?
Drug offender registries are a hare-brained idea that is more likely to help young people find drug dealers than prevent them.2. Feature: What Would Jesus Do? Religious Communities as Drug Reform Allies
The drug reform movement, much of it secular and unattached to traditional religious practices, is beginning to make serious inroads with mainstream religious denominations.3. Feature: Vancouver Fights to Save Its Pioneering Safe Injection Site
Vancouver is mobilizing to save the Insite downtown safe injection site from closure by a hostile federal government.4. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
A former Massachusetts State Police sergeant goes to prison, a former Milwaukee detective cops a plea, a Virginia sheriff's deputy gets busted, and so do a pair of would-be drug-dealing prison guards.5. Sentencing: Bill to Study Habitual Drug Offender Registry Introduced in Maine
A bill introduced in the Maine Senate would lay the groundwork for what could be the nation's first registry of habitual drug offenders.6. Europe: Britain Goes After Medical Marijuana Suppliers
Despite the government's downgrading in 2004 of marijuana from a Class B drug to the less serious Class C, members of two British medical marijuana groups are headed to trial this week and next, and could face up to 14 years in prison.7. Australia: Victoria Greens Call For Prescription Heroin, Safe Injection Sites
The Victoria Green Party has unveiled a new drug policy platform that calls for prescription heroin trials for long-term addicts and the establishment of safe injection sites. But those were only the most controversial proposals in the platform.8. Middle East: War Driving Iraqis to Drugs
Thanks to the horrors of war, drug abuse is on the rise in Iraq, Iraqi officials and residents told the Associated Press Monday.9. Canada: Vancouver Police to Stop Arresting Peaceable Drug Users, According to New Draft Policy
Vancouver police are making it their official policy not to arrest people for quietly using drugs, but to focus instead on those who sell and make them.10. Canada: Nelson, British Columbia, Head Shop Busted for Marijuana Sales
Local police in a particularly tolerant part of Canada broke with longstanding unofficial tolerance to bust the Holy Smoke Culture Shop and Psyche-Deli.11. Harm Reduction: Needle Access Bills to Become Law in Delaware, Massachusetts
Governors in two states Monday signed into law bills that would ease injection drug users' access to clean needles -- in one case overriding a veto.12. Web Scan: Cato on Paramilitary Police Raids, John Fugelsang on Drug War for Daily Kos, Australia Institute Drug Prohibition Report
Cato on Paramilitary Police Raids, John Fugelsang on Drug War for Daily Kos, Australia Institute Drug Prohibition Report13. Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.14. Jobs and Internships
Marijuana Policy Project and Criminal Justice Policy Foundation15. Weekly: The Reformer's Calendar
Showing up at an event can be the best way to get involved! Check out this week's listings for events from today through next year, across the US and around the world!Drug War Chronicle #444 - July 14, 2006
1. Editorial: Not Playing by the Rules, Not Making Sense
Legislators and law enforcers should not disrespect the constitutional frameworks intended to limit their power.2. Appeal/Book Offer: Race to Incarcerate, by Marc Mauer
Support DRCNet with a much-needed donation and get your copy of this important book about the unprecedented rise in the use of imprisonment in the United States over the last 25 years.3. Feature: Judge Throws Out Part of Alaska Marijuana Recriminalization Law, Up to An Ounce is Now Legal At Home
Gov. Frank Murkowski's two-year effort to recriminalize marijuana in Alaska hit another roadblock Monday when a Superior Court judge struck down the part of the law he pushed through the legislature earlier this year.4. Feature: Methamphetamine as Child Abuse Laws Gain Ground, But Do They Help or Hurt?
When Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) signed a package of anti-methamphetamine measures into law last Thursday, Michigan became at least the sixth state to define either the use or the production of meth where children are present as child abuse. The trend is part of an all-out offensive against methamphetamine use and manufacture by law enforcement and child welfare agencies, but child protection critics and maternal rights advocates say it is a destructive and unnecessary response.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, at least 21 states and the District of Columbia...