Drug War Chronicle

US Attorney General Eric Holder has, unsurprisingly, come out against California's Prop 19 marijuana legalization initiative. He said in a Wednesday letter to former DEA chief and at a press conference Friday in Los Angeles that the feds will continue to enforce federal pot laws no matter the election results.

A pro-Democratic "super-PAC" is accusing Republican Kentucky US Senate candidate Rand Paul of being soft on drugs. But it's not working so far.

A leading scholar of the history of American drug policy has died. David Musto's "The American Disease" broke new ground when published in 1973.

The fate of Prop 19, California's initiative to legalize cannabis on the November 2nd ballot, will determine a lot of what happens in drug reform over the next two years. Volunteers are needed to help Prop 19 now, and you don't have to live in California.

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

Steve Bloom and Shirley Halperin discuss 700 marijuana-themed films, going back to even before the famous "Reefer Madness" movie through the present.

The apparent killing of an American jet-skier on the border-straddling Lake Falcon continues to draw US media attention, but meanwhile, prohibition-related violence continues to flare across Mexico.

Forget "Hemp for Victory." How about "Hemp in my gas tank?" Researchers in Connecticut say it is well-suited for biodiesel.

The opioid antagonist naloxone has long been used to prevent overdose deaths, but now it is available as a monthly injection to block cravings for heroin and prescription opiates like Oxycontin and Vicodin.

A massive round-up of dirty cops in Puerto Rico, a massive drug conspiracy led by a South Carolina sheriff, and another greedy jail guard make the news this week.