Drug War Chronicle

Every two years drug policy reformers from across the United States and around the world come to the International Drug Policy Reform Conference to listen, learn, network and strategize together for change. This year the conference is in Albuquerque, in November, and StoptheDrugWar.org is a partner.

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"Medical Marijuana Isn't a Trojan Horse, the Drug War is a Trojan Horse," "The Daily Show's Best War on Drugs Moments," "Christian Science Monitor Thinks Arresting Cancer Patients Will Stop Marijuana Legalization," "John Stossel and Bill O'Reilly Debate Drug Legalization," "Oakland Airport's Awesome Marijuana Policy," "Cartoon: The First Time I Smoked Pot," "Obama's New Medical Marijuana Statement: What Just Happened?," "Do You Know Your Rights When Dealing With Police?," "Has Anyone Seen Former Drug Czar John Walters Lately?," "Washington Post Story on Crack Sentencing Bill."

For Mexico, drug prohibition is the deadly gift that keeps on giving. A thousand people have been killed in the past 40 days, and this year's death toll has now passed 6,000. And it seems to be accelerating.

The Justice Department this week formalized earlier statements from Attorney General Eric Holder that the federal government would not go after medical marijuana patients and providers in compliance with state laws. But in places where state law is contested terrain -- California, in particular -- plenty of confusion remains.

Modesto, California, is a sleepy, dusty, economically struggling small city in California's Central Valley. With high levels of methamphetamine and other injection drug use, it is a locale crying out for needle exchange programs. But local officials disagree, and when activists did it anyway, they got busted. Now, they're fighting back.

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

Pretty quiet on the corrupt cops front this week. The Google brings us the daily litany of cops get busted for assaults, sex crimes, drunk driving, and the like, but this week we could only find one cop in trouble for drug-related corruption. Not to worry -- we're quite sure this is an anomaly.

"America's Giving Challenge" is offering prizes ranging from $500 to $50,000 to nonprofits who get the largest number of gifts from supporters between now and November 7. Any gift of $10 or higher -- made through the "Causes" program, which is linked in to Facebook -- counts equally toward the prize, and gifts can be made up to once a day. StoptheDrugWar.org is a contestant, and we're asking for your help by participating and by spreading the word.

West Africa has become an important transshipment point for cocaine headed from South America to Europe. They also grow a lot of marijuana there. Now, the Liberian government wants to crack down, and it's reading from the old US drug war playbook.