Drug War Chronicle

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

The Obama administration has nominated the acting DEA administrator to be permanent DEA administrator. But this veteran DEA agent carries some baggage with her, and drug reformers are looking for ways to challenge the nomination.

Whee! It sure looks like marijuana legalization is going to be on the ballot in California this year. Richard Lee and his Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 initiative just handed in 700,000 signatures. They need 434,000 valid ones.

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

"Obama Launches YouTube Forum on Legalizing Marijuana," "Cannabis Cups Causing Controversy in Medical Marijuana States," "Ruining Young Lives for Marijuana Possession," "Obama Chooses Terrible Nominee to Head the DEA," "When Police Mistake Candy for Crack...," "The Irrationality of Banning Marijuana Offenders from Working at Dispensaries."

Seven years ago, Seattle residents voted to make marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority. Now, the newly elected city prosecutor agrees with them. He says he will not prosecute simple pot possession cases.

Given rising gang problems surrounding the hash trade in Copenhagen, Danes can be forgiven for yearning for the good old days of Pusher Street, where hash was slung relatively peacefully. Now, the Copenhagen city council wants to experiment with cannabis stores, but that seems unlikely to fly with the Conservative national government.

It was a relatively quiet week in Mexico's drug wars this week. Only about 15 people a day were killed.

At least seven heroin users have died from dope contaminated with anthrax in Scotland, and one in Germany. Harm reductionists and public health experts are demanding that government respond with more than "quit using."

Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. If enacted, it would provide for the first comprehensive review of criminal justice policies in decades.