Drug War Chronicle

Frente a crisis económicas, <em>déficits</em> fiscales y listas de prestaciones sociales y subsidios de desempleo, algunos legisladores estatales están proponiendo una idea malísima: someter a los beneficiarios de prestaciones sociales y/o de subsidios de desempleo a exámenes toxicológicos. Pero hay una amplia gama de organizaciones alineada en contra suya. Ah, y también hay aquella latosa Constitución.

Vidas están siendo perdidas porque cuando alguien sufre una sobredosis con drogas, los amigos, con miedo de que los arresten o apresen a la víctima, dudan en buscar ayuda. En el 2007 Nuevo México se convirtió en el primer estado que aprobó una ley del Buen Samaritano para proteger a la gente que llama ayuda para acudir a sobredosis. Este año proyectos de ley parecidos están surgiendo por todo EE.UU.

The latest SAMHSA drug treatment statistics show that 288,000 people entered treatment for marijuana in 2007. Only one in six sought it; more than half were ordered there by the courts. Given continuing problems with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs, is this how we want to spend our treatment dollars?

Narcs gone wild, narcs cheating on their pay, narcs stealing dope, narcs lying on the stand, a perverted sheriff heads to prison, and that's just the half of it.

As Mexicos's plague of prohibition-related violence continues unabated, Washington is moving to beef up the border and the Mexican repressive apparatus. But for the first time, US officials are openly admitting that some of it is our fault, possibly opening the way for the discussion of drug legalization to move in from the margins.

Sen Jim Webb (D-VA) has become a hero for drug reformers in the short time he's been in the Senate. Now, his latest effort is sure to earn him more kudos.

Reform of New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws is almost a done deal, the New York Times reported Thursday. But the devil is in the details, and advocates are biting their nails.

The Justice Department will/will not raid medical marijuana providers in states where it's legal. Who knows? Attorney General Holder said last week the DEA would only go after dispensaries violating state law, but this week, the DEA hit a San Francisco dispensary that appears to be operating legally. Confusion and concern abound.

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