Drug War Chronicle

Unprecedented developments have us more optimistic than ever before at the prospects for significant change in drug policy.

A rare window of opportunity has opened for addressing one of the drug war's most glaring injustices.

The Mexican government scored a victory this week with the killing of Beltran Leyva cartel head Arturo Beltran Leyva, but will it turn out to be a pyrrhic victory? Knocking off cartel heads in the past has typically led to renewed infighting as rivals vie to replace them.

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It's an odd mix this week: A cop with a gambling jones doing petty bribery, a pair of narcs misbehaving, and a Customs officer and a small town cop heading for prison are just the half of it.

Three years ago this month, Mexican President Felipe Calderon sicced the military on the so-called drug cartels. Three years later, the drugs keep flowing north, the cash and guns keep flowing south, and more than 16,000 people have been killed. Here's the latest.

There are at least three marijuana legalization initiative campaigns under way in California, but Richard Lee's "Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 campaign" is the first to announce it has achieved its signature-gathering goals. Lee says they need 434,000 and they will end up with 700,000.

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

Some legislators' reflexive response to a newly known psychoactive substance is to ban it. That's certainly been the case with salvia divinorum, which was banned in four more states this year. Similar efforts failed or have yet to reach fruition in at least seven others.