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Jackson death creates witch hunt
Of all the flak that's been stirred up by the recent death of M.J.,the king of pop,the scariest is the dea's searching for doctors that prescribed various pain medications.As a person taking large dos
Chronicle
Reportaje: Están en curso labores por iniciativa pro legalización de la marihuana en California con miras a elecciones del 2010
Hay planes serios en marcha para una iniciativa pro legalización de la marihuana en California para las elecciones de noviembre del 2010. ¿Será que ya es hora de aprovecharse del aparente Ãmpetu en pro de la reforma o será la medida prematura y posiblemente contraproducente?
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What has happened to our country
Today I am ashamed to call myself an American.
Chronicle
Industrial Hemp: Bill Passes Oregon Legislature, Heads for Governor's Desk
"It's about rope, not dope" was the message as the Oregon House passed a bill allowing for industrial hemp production. It already passed the Senate, and the governor is expected to sign it, but it passed by veto-proof majorities if he doesn't. Still, the federal prohibition on hemp production in the US remains an enormous obstacle.
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New Study: Marijuana Doesnât Increase Your Risk of Going Crazy
Remember two years ago when some scientists announced that marijuana causes psychosis and the press, along with the entire nation of Great Britain, went borderline psycho just from thinking about it?
Well, Paul Armentano at NORML reports that a new study has proven that the whole thing was just a bunch of crazy talk:
In non-sciency terms, this means that when rates of marijuana use go up, rates of mental illness do not. Therefore, we can conclude that marijuana apparently doesn't cause anyone to develop psychosis who otherwise wouldnât have.
It's really a shame that this now-debunked junk science about marijuana and psychosis led the British government to increase penalties for marijuana. But, as we know all too well, fits of ignorance and distortion are causally linked to an increased risk of bad drug legislation.
Well, Paul Armentano at NORML reports that a new study has proven that the whole thing was just a bunch of crazy talk:
â[T]he expected rise in diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychoses did not occur over a 10 year period. This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and incidence of psychotic disorders. ⦠This concurs with other reports indicating that increases in population cannabis use have not been followed by increases in psychotic incidence.â
In non-sciency terms, this means that when rates of marijuana use go up, rates of mental illness do not. Therefore, we can conclude that marijuana apparently doesn't cause anyone to develop psychosis who otherwise wouldnât have.
It's really a shame that this now-debunked junk science about marijuana and psychosis led the British government to increase penalties for marijuana. But, as we know all too well, fits of ignorance and distortion are causally linked to an increased risk of bad drug legislation.
Chronicle
Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) and Help Stop the Drug War!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!
Chronicle
Please: Don't Shoot!
The killing of Tarika Wilson, an unarmed mother holding her child, and the maiming of that child, is an inevitable consequences of the overuse of SWAT teams and the growing paramilitarization of the drug war.
Chronicle
Alert: Medical Marijuana Defendant Bryan Epis Wants YOU to Take Political Action
Bryan Epis was the first medical marijuana provider to be prosecuted by the federal government, and he is one of dozens of people whose fate is still caught up in the federal system despite recent policy shifts by the Obama administration. Bryan is asking all of us to take action to help those who have risked much to help patients.
Chronicle
Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy
"New Study: Marijuana Doesn't Increase Your Risk of Going Crazy," "Innocent Teenage Girls Forced to 'Jump Up and Down' During Marijuana Search," "Can You Name One Good Thing About the War on Marijuana?," "Opponents of Marijuana Legalization Will Say Anything," "A Surprise Encounter with Former Drug Czar John Walters," "Obama Seeks Volunteer Drug War Soldiers," "An Awesome Marijuana Debate on the McLaughlin Group," "US Admits Failure, Calls Off Opium Eradication in Afghanistan," "Boring Drug War Reporting from the Mainstream Press," "Marijuana Expo Draws 20,000 to LA Convention Center," "I Went to Visit Will Foster in Jail a Couple of Nights Ago."
Chronicle
Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda," by Gretchen Peters (2009, Thomas Dunne Press, 300 pp., $25.95 HB)
With US and NATO policies for dealing with the Afghan poppy group undergoing quite radical shifts -- giving up on eradication, treating traffickers as terrorists -- Gretchen Peters' exposé of the links between the traffic in prohibited drugs and the Taliban and Al Qaeda couldn't be more timely or more informative.
Chronicle
Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
It's been a relatively quiet week on the corrupt cops front, with just two stories, but one of them is a real doozy.
Chronicle
Latin America: Obama Administration Declines to Restore Bolivian Trade Preferences, Cites Government's Acceptance of Coca Production
Relations between Bolivia and the US just got a little rockier as the Obama administration declined to restore trade preferences, citing Bolivia's "encouragement" of coca cultivation, and Bolivian President Morales responded with hard words.
Chronicle
The Border: Obama Administration Could Deploy Up to 1,500 National Guard Troops in Bid to Increase Anti-Drug Efforts
Here comes the National Guard! The Obama administration is planning to send 1,500 National Guard troops to the Mexican border to support drug war law enforcement there.
Chronicle
Medical Marijuana: Oakland Dispensary Tax in Hands of Voters
Voters in Oakland will decide whether to impose a whopping 1500% tax increase on dispensaries, and it's not an attack on them. In fact, it was the dispensaries' own idea. Talk about your good citizens.
Chronicle
Marijuana: Rhode Island Senate Okays Commission to Explore Marijuana Prohibition, Legalization, and Decriminalization
Thanks to last minute action by the state Senate, Rhode Island will create a commission to explore all aspects of marijuana prohibition, decriminalization, and legalization. It will issue a report seven months from now. And Gov. Carcieri can't veto it.
Chronicle
Feature: Marijuana Legalization Legislation in the Works in Portugal
Portugal has been getting good press over its decriminalization approach to drug use, including from unexpected places like the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Now, some Portuguese lawmakers are ready to take the next step. A bill to legalize the possession, cultivation, and sale of marijuana is being prepared.
Chronicle
Feature: US Gives Up on Eradicating Afghan Opium Poppies, Will Target Traffickers Instead
Faced with a growing Taliban insurgency fueled by opium and heroin profits and inflamed by the destruction of farmers' fields, the US last weekend announced a dramatic shift in its Afghan anti-drug strategy. The US will abandon what has been a pillar of its anti-drug strategy worldwide: eradication.