Drug War Chronicle

More DEA raids in California and Montana, and more action in the legislature in Connecticut and New Hampshire, among other medical marijuana news.

Actor and comedian Russell Brand called for "love and compassion" for drug addicts at an appearance before a parliamentary committee in London Tuesday and suggested that decriminalization could be a good approach.

The Dutch government plans to implement its Dutch-only "weed pass" system for cannabis coffee houses on the border on May 1, but it faces growing legal and political challenges. Not to mention, it just lost a vote of confidence.

"Driving while black" continues to be an issue in Connecticut, and now, the state Senate has voted to beef up the state's 12-year-old racial profiling law, which police departments have been ignoring.

4/20 in Oakland was aimed squarely at the Obama administration and its attacks on medical marijuana distribution. Obama is alienating his base, protestors said, as they delivered a message to his local campaign headquarters.

The 2012 National Drug Control Strategy is out. It looks much like the 2010 strategy or the 2005 strategy or the 2000 strategy. There are a few new wrinkles, but nothing much has changed.

Georgia has now followed Florida's lead in passing a bill requiring that welfare applicants undergo mandatory, suspicionless drug testing. Florida's law has been stymied by a legal challenge, and one is coming in Georgia, too.

The new national drug strategy is out and it looks very much like the old national drug strategy, retaining the seemingly eternal 60:40 split between law enforcement and interdiction on one hand and treatment and prevention on the other.

Oaksterdam University is bouncing back from the federal raid two weeks ago, but Richard Lee is stepping down to prepare for legal troubles and campaign for drug law reform.

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