Drug War Chronicle

The number of marijuana arrests last year declined for the first time since 2002, the FBI said in its Uniform Crime Report this week. The overall number of drug arrests also fell slightly. The down-tick seems to be the result not of enlightened policing, but of law enforcement agencies feeling the budgetary pinch.

San Diego may be a gleaming, coastal California city, but when it comes to medical marijuana, it's more like Fresno-by-the-Sea. The latest round of dispensary raids has patients and advocates fuming and looking for ways to extract political revenge and gain a little justice.

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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.

To kick off our autumn fundraising drive, StoptheDrugWar.org is pleased to offer the exciting new book, "Marijuana is Safer -- So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?," as our latest membership premium -- donate $36 or more and we'll send you a copy for free! Things are happening, and the importance of your support at this time could not be greater.

The Higher Education Act's "Aid Elimination Penalty," or anti-drug provision, is poised for further watering down after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would limit it to people with drug sales -- not drug possession -- convictions. But the provision's author, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) kept fighting almost until the end.

Anti-medical marijuana zealot San Diego DA Bonnie Dumanis has struck again. A series of raids yesterday resulted in 31 arrests and 14 dispensaries shuttered. The DEA was there, too.

More than a decade ago, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled that drug possession was not a prosecutable offense. Now, President Uribe is moving to undo that, but the country's Supreme Court has put a roadblock in his path by upholding that ruling.