Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.
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Chronicle
Chronicle
Khat: Feds Arrest 62 in Crackdown on Mild East African Stimulant Herb
US federal authorities have rounded up 62 immigrants on charges of smuggling khat, a mild stimulant herb used for hundreds of years in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Their use of the Hawala financial network has generated weak speculation that there could be a terrorist link.
Chronicle
Feature: Holy Smoke Bust Mobilizes Interior British Columbia Cannabis Community
When Nelson city police raided the Holy Smoke Culture Shop almost two weeks ago, they awakened the area's large cannabis community. Now, Holy Smoke and its supporters are preparing to wage holy war (non-violently) to defend themselves and the herb.
Chronicle
Reportaje: Grupo Bipartidario de Senadores Estadounidenses Presenta Proyecto para Reducir Disparidades de Penas para la CocaÃna
Un nuevo proyecto auspiciado por cuatro ex fiscales generales estaduales reducirÃa considerablemente el número de infractores por crack (y aumentarÃa ligeramente el número de infractores por polvo de cocaÃna) que se enfrentan a sentencias mÃnimas obligatorias durÃsimas por infracciones menores.
Chronicle
Sentencing: Federal Judges More Likely to Acquit Than Juries
A new study of the federal courts finds judges less likely to convict than juries, and the author attributes it to the federal judiciary's discomfort with harsh sentencing guidelines.
Chronicle
Feature: Medical Marijuana Crisis in San Diego as Feds, Locals Move to Shut Down Remaining Dispensaries
The San Diego-area medical marijuana community is reeling under assault from the DEA and local officials, but is already fighting back at city hall and in the courts.
In The Trenches
Cops Say Legalize Drugs: LEAP Forum at DPA Los Angeles Office
For Immediate Release
Contact: Alberto Mendoza, (213) 201-4785
July 20, 2006
Growing Movement of Law Enforcement Officers Indict the War on Drugs
LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) to Debut 12-minute Video Offering Radical Alternative to War on drugs
LEAP Event (Thursday, July 27th) Comes as West Hollywood Makes Marijuana Enforcement Lowest Priority
Chronicle
Search and Seizure: Five-Day Shackling in Colorado Prison to Find Swallowed Drugs Approaches Torture Level
A Colorado judge has ruled prison officials went too far when they shackled a prisoner to a chair for more than five days in a bid to see if he had swallowed drugs.
Chronicle
Medical Marijuana: South Dakota Ballot Description Erroneous and Apparently Illegal
South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long has written a medical marijuana initiative ballot summary that appears to violate state law.
Chronicle
Europe: British Conservatives Call For Legal, Licensed Afghan Opium Production As Troop Toll Mounts
With conflict heating up in Afghanistan, British Conservatives are urging their leader, David Cameron, to consider legalizing and licensing the opium crop.
Chronicle
Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
Cops getting arrested, cops pleading guilty, cops going to prison -- and of course the ever-present drug-dealing prison guard.
Blog
Maryland Marijuana Gumballs
Marijuana-filled gumballs, apparently known as "greenades," drew the attention of the DEA after they became available at Ellicott City's Howard High school in Howard, County, Maryland, not far outside Washington, according to DC-area paper The Examiner.
In The Trenches
Belgian Cannabis Activists to Plant Seeds to Protest Seed Ban
Here is the text of a press release from ENCOD and "Draw Up Your Plant," a Belgian pot users' organization:
Belgian cannabis consumers united in "Draw Up Your Plant" will put the seed
for the first mother plant, in spite of controversy on the possession of seeds
Thursday 27 July, 12 hs. in the Botanic Garden of Antwerp (in front of the
glasshouses)
On Thursday 27 July, a seed of cannabis will be put in a flowerpot. The
Latest News
Blog
Marijuana Grow Outside Santa Cruz -- Could Have Been Dangerous, But Why?
NBC11 in the Bay Area reported that thousands of marijuana plants, valued at $40 million according to authorities had been spotted near Mount Umunhum, in a remote part of the Santa Cruz mountains in south Santa Clara County. They needed helicopters to remove the 10,000-15,000 plants estimated to be there. There's a cool slideshow on the site.
Blog
Joint-Rolling Record Attempt Thwarted (France)
That's the headline of a story that appeared in Australia's Daily Telegraph. This is the sort of story that would never make the Chronicle, but is too good to pass up: Four French pot smokers get the bright idea of breaking the world's record for the longest joint . They were working on a four-foot, 70-gram doobie when they were caught short by a lack of tobacco.