Drug War Chronicle

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

For the first time in nearly a century, the California legislature took up marijuana legalization on this week. A Wednesday hearing on a legalization bill previewed the battle lines and arguments that lie ahead.

If you are trying to figure out which Latin American country will be the first to legalize marijuana, you can probably eliminate Chile. Support for legalization there is in the teens -- and declining.

Medical marijuana caregivers must actually know the patients for whom they are growing pot, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled. The opinion, if upheld on appeal, could put a crimp in the state's fast-growing medical marijuana industry.

If you're interested in the border or Mexico's drug war or drug culture or drug economy, or in drug law enforcement, we've got a book you need to read. University of Texas-El Paso sociologist and anthropologist Howard Campbell provides a vivid, rich, and nuanced portrayal of drugs and the drug war in El Paso-Juarez that couldn't be more timely.

Every now and then authorities discover an electrified, air-conditioned tunnel underneath our border with Mexico or Canada, presumably built for drug smuggling. How many such tunnels go undiscovered? And does it take more than one successful smuggling operation to pay for a tunnel's construction?

More crooked jail guards, and a trooper who must have had a whopper of a habit.

Mexico's wave of prohibition-related violence grinds on, and Ciudad Juárez remains the epicenter.

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.