Legal Pot Gets Calderon Consideration as Deaths Mount
A record number of homicides in Mexico has forced President Felipe Calderon to open discussions on a new strategy in the war on drugs: legalization. The impact of violence is the biggest threat to the Mexican economy according to 57 percent of Mexican executives, a survey published last month by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu showed. Mexico, which spends about $8.2 billion annually on law enforcement, would save between 5 percent and 15 percent of GDP if narcotics were legal in all countries, said Luis Rayo, a finance professor at the University of Utah.
alt="Newsletter V1_I4 Leonhart" border=0>The Obama administration has affirmed that it believes Michele Leonhart is the right person for the job as head of the DEA, despite a unified effort led by MPP to withdraw her nomination. Leonhart has shown that she is more interested in carrying out Bush-era raids on medical marijuana patients than she is in following a more reasonable policy of non-interference laid out by the DOJ last year.
Nearly four years after she was killed by police officers in an illegitimate raid on her home, the family of 
In an update to a story we brought to you in our very first issue of the Insider, activists in Detroit are now fighting to keep on the ballot a measure that would make marijuana legal for adults. Locals collected more than 6,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, but in a shocking development, the city's election commission voted 3-0 to remove the measure. Supporters are now appealing the decision in an attempt to get the measure reinstated so that voters in Detroit can have their say in November. 
alt="Newsletter V1_I6 Calderon">The endless cartel violence in Mexico and on our southern border has convinced Mexican President Felipe Calderon to call for a debate on ending prohibition, while two of his predecessors say the time has already come, and U.S. officials sadly continue to deny reality. More than 28,000 Mexicans have died in prohibition-fueled violence since 2006, and the cartels now make more than 60 percent of their revenue from selling marijuana in the United States.
alt="Newsletter V1_I4 YouTube">Did you know that MPP has a YouTube channel? We do! In fact, we put all of the latest MPP Insider videos, our television appearances, and lots of other great content up all the time. Check it out and be sure to subscribe to our channel to be the first to know when we've added new content!
alt="Newsletter V1_I5 Victim">Peter McWilliams, stricken with both cancer and AIDS, died because the federal government prevented him from using the one thing that controlled his nausea.