San Malverde, Mexico's patron saint of narco-traffickers
This Year's Top 10 International Drug Policy Stories
It's been a busy year on the global drug policy front. Here, we look at some of the biggest stories.
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fire truck lent by Dr. Bronner's for SSDP/Prop 19 campus tour
This Year's Top 10 Domestic Drug Policy Stories
This was your year on drugs. Or at least, your year in drug policy reform. Here's our top 10 drug policy issues of the year.
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The 700 Club's Pat Roberston Supports Ending Cannabis Prohibition In An Effort To Get 'Smart On Crime'
Televangelist and former Baptist minister Pat Robertson makes a cogent argument on alternatives to arresting and incarcerating citizens who use drugs, with a clear emphasis on legalizing the possession of a few ounces of cannabis.
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Momentum Is Building to End the Failed Drug War: Top Stories of 2010 (Opinion)
Tony Newman, communications director for the Drug Policy Alliance, says the debate around failed marijuana prohibition and the larger drug war arrived in a big way in 2010. He shares what he feels are some of the most significant stories from 2010 and the reasons why he's encouraged that we can start finding an exit strategy from America's longest running war.
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This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
From the Rio Grande Valley to New York City, it's more cops gone wild this week.
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Drug Trafficking Organization's Bandits Stealing Oil to Fuel Mexican Drug Prohibition War Kill 27
A breeched oil pipeline caused a massive blast in the Mexican town of San Martin Texmelucan. Rivers of fire coursed through the streets, killing at least 27 people and damaging 115 houses.
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Mexico Drug War Update
More than 12,000 dead in Mexico's prohibition-related violence as of November 30, according to the Mexican attorney general, and more than 30,000 since Calderon called out the troops in December 2006.
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Drug War Defenders Beg Obama to Help Prevent Pot Legalization
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This Christian Science Monitor editorial positively reeks of desperation. You've got to give the prohibitionists at CSM some credit for seeing the writing on the wall, but their silver-bullet strategy for beating back the movement for marijuana legalization is a little less than intimidating:
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Angry Jurors Refuse to Convict in Marijuana Case
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As Americans grow increasingly disgusted by the waste and injustice of the War on Drugs, it seems inevitable that we'll reach a point at which the public no longer accepts the embarrassing excesses of prohibition. That's exactly what just happened in Montana, and it's a story that ought to terrify the drug war establishment.
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Please Make a Year-End Gift for Our 2011 Campaigns
Help bring about the brighter future that awaits us beyond prohibition, by making a tax-deductible educational donation or a non-deductible lobbying donation before year's end.
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Patients Protest Israel's First Medical Marijuana Raid
An Israeli police raid on a medical marijuana dispensary has sparked protests in Tel Aviv.
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(image courtesy Sensible Washington)
Marijuana Legalization Billboard Goes Up on I-5 Near Seattle
Now, there's a sight for sore eyes! A huge pot legalization billboard has gone up on I-5 outside Seattle.
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Bob Ainsworth breaks ranks with drug prohibition. (image courtesy Wikimedia)
Former British Drug Czar Says Legalize It All
The debate over British drug policy heats up again as a Labor stalwart who served as drug czar and defense minister calls for legalization.
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not business as usual at the courthouse in Missoula (image courtesy Wikimedia)
Montana Marijuana Prosecution Runs into Jury Pool "Mutiny"
You've heard of jury nullification? How about jury pool nullification? That's basically what happened to a small-time marijuana charge in Montana last week.
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Missoula District Court: Jury Pool in Marijuana Case Stages 'Mutiny'
A funny thing happened on the way to a trial in Missoula County District Court. Jurors â well, potential jurors â staged a revolt. They took the law into their own hands, as it were, and made it clear they werenât about to convict anybody for having a couple of buds of marijuana.
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Can windmills and the Rijksmuseum pack 'em in like the coffee shops? (wikimedia.org)
EU Court Okays Dutch Coffee Shop Ban for Foreigners
A ruling by the European Court of Justice paves the way for the Netherlands to ban foreigners from buying weed in the country's famous coffee shops. Is Amsterdam about to become Amsterdone?
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The New Orleans City Council just made life a bit easier in the Big Easy.
Marijuana Bust No Longer Automatic Arrest in New Orleans
The Big Easy just got a little bit easier. Get busted for smoking a joint in New Orleans now and you just get a summons, not a trip to the slammer.
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Mexican Drug Prohibition War Claims Over 12,000 Lives This Year Alone
More than 12,000 people have died this year as a result of Mexico's drug prohibition war, although officials said the number could be higher. Through November 30, 12,456 people were killed, making 2010 the deadliest year since Mexican President Felipe Calderon began a government crackdown against traffickers in 2006. In a recent survey, 59 percent of respondents said organized crime groups are winning the drug prohibition war against federal forces; a different poll said 80 of the respondents believe there is more violence in Mexico than a year ago.
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Why We Need an Impact Assessment of Drug Policy (Opinion)
UK Labour MP and former minister Bob Ainsworth has come out out strongly against drug prohibition. He proposed an âImpact Assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Actâ, an âindependent, evidence-based review, exploring all policy optionsâ which was welcomed by Lib Dem MP Tom Brake. Adam Corlett, acting vice-chair of Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform, explores the matter.
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Draft of Arizona Medical Marijuana Rules Released
The first draft of the rules that could govern medical marijuana use in Arizona are now online. The rules are laid out in a 47 page document on the Arizona Department of Health Services website. The rules cover everything from who can qualify to use medical marijuana, how dispensaries will be regulated and the role doctors need to play in the process.