Drug War Chronicle

Will Rhode Island be the next state to decriminalize marijuana possession? It just took a big step in that direction this week, as a special legislative commission endorsed the idea.

After nearly a quarter-century of federal crack cocaine laws that disproportionately affected black Americans with far harsher sentences than for powder cocaine, the US Senate has passed a bill that would take a step toward eliminating that disparity. Advocates aren't sure whether to be pleased by the progress or disappointed by the ways in which it falls short.

In 2006, South Dakota voters won the dubious distinction of being the only ones in the nation to reject an initiative allowing for medical marijuana. This year, they will have a chance to make up for that. The Secretary of State has just certified an initiative for the November ballot.

Mexico's prohibition-related violence took nearly another 300 lives this past week, including three US citizens connected to the US consulate in bloody Ciudad Juárez. That pushes the death toll since President Calderon sent in the army little more than three years ago over the 18,000 mark.

Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!

Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to funders. We need donations too.

In the good old days, Danish hash smokers went to the counterculture enclave of Christiania, with its famous Pusher Street, to score. Now, after six years of police crackdowns on Pusher Street, you can still buy hash there, but the trade has spread throughout Copenhagen and the scene has grown more hard-edged. Can you say unintended consequences?

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

A lying narc, a horny narc, and yes, another crooked jail guard make the corrupt cop news this week.

M-Cat is not a college entrance exam, but a nickname for mephedrone, an amphetamine-like drug derived from khat that is legal and increasingly popular in Britain. Now, after the deaths of two young men on Sunday were (indirectly) linked to its use, calls to ban it are increasing.