Dissertation on America's push for punitive drug laws
Certainly not light reading at over 300p, but I just came across Nathaniel Lee Smith's 2007 dissertation for UNC,
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Religious Freedom: Arizona Supreme Court to Hear Case on Spiritual Right to Marijuana
The Arizona Supreme Court will decide whether there is a religious right to use and possess marijuana.
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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
A former Border Patrol agent cops a plea, another jail guard gets busted, a mystery is solved in Alabama, and one remains in Minnesota.
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Marijuana: Arizona Supreme Court to Hear Case Asserting Religious Right to Use, Possess
The Arizona Supreme Court will decide whether there is a religious right to use and possess marijuana.
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Salvia Divinorum: Banned in Ohio in 90 Days
Ohio becomes the latest state to criminalize salvia divinorum (and its users). The ban goes into effect in 90 days.
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Drug Legalization: El Paso City Council Unanimously Calls for National Debate, Mayor Vetoes Resolution Same Day, Override Vote Set For Next Week
With Mexico's prohibition-related violence within earshot, the El Paso City Council Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a national debate on drug legalization. But then, the mayor vetoed it. An override vote is set for next week.
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West Africa: Here Come the Narcs
In recent years, South American cocaine traffickers aiming at lucrative European markets have made West Africa a favorite stop-over. Now, the narcs are following them.
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Drug Testing: Chess Players Rebel
Drug testing in chess? You've got to be kidding. That's what the players think, but the chess federation is dead serious, and now it finds itself in something of a pickle.
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Feature: Proposed Medical Marijuana Rules in Michigan Stir Chorus of Complaints
The Michigan bureaucrats charged with drafting rules and regulations for the state's new, voter-approved medical marijuana program need to go back to the drawing board, patients and advocates demanded at a Monday hearing.
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Feature: DEA Rejects Yet Another Rescheduling Petition, But the End Game Lies Far Down the Road
Marijuana reform advocates have been seeking to have it rescheduled out of Schedule I since 1972. This week, the DEA rejected the latest petition to seek rescheduling, but that just sets the stage for the next moves. Meanwhile, another petition is moving through the bureaucratic process.
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Obama Administration: Surgeon General Nominee Gupta Hates Marijuana, Sort of Supports Medical Use
Word is CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been offered the position of US surgeon general. A 2006 editorial he penned for Time magazine, opposing marijuana law reform initiatives on the ballot in two states, suggests Gupta may not be great news for drug reform.
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The Border: US Prepares "Surge" In Case Prohibition Violence in Mexico Spills Over
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has been keeping an eye on the border. Now, he reveals that he has plans for a "surge" if Mexico's prohibition-related violence spills over into the US.
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Students: Intern at DRCNet and Help Stop the Drug War!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet for this spring (or summer), and you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
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Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy
What Are the Worst Arguments Against Legalizing Drugs?," "Drug War Debate Continues in El Paso," "If the Drug War is so Great, How Come You Don't Wanna Talk About It?," "The Drug War is Basically an Employment Program for Criminals," "Metro Threatens Flex Your Rights with Legal Action, ACLU Defends," "Obama's Surgeon General Hates Marijuana (But Sort of Supports Medical Use)," "High Times Should Give Me a Job," "The Drug Cartels are Becoming More Powerful Than the Government," "The Drug War Only Causes Violence. It Can't Create Peace."
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What are the Weakest Arguments Against Legalizing Drugs?
Pete Guither lists a couple of the worst arguments we hear from our opponents. There are basically an infinite number of stupid reasons to oppose drug policy reform ("My girlfriend was smoking all this weed and making out with hippies and we broke up"), but Pete's right that the worst arguments are often regurgitated repetitively, so it's worth taking note of the common ones. Fun too, if you like banging your head against a wall.
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Drug War Debate Continues in El Paso
I wrote yesterday about El Paso Mayor John Cookâs veto of a city council resolution calling for a debate on our drug policy. Today, Former El Paso Mayor Bill Tilney came out in favor of the vetoed resolution.
It just gets better from there. Read the whole thing. Itâs wonderful to see conversations about our drug policy bubbling up in new places without the involvement of the usual familiar faces. If this is a sign of the direction weâre headed, that can only be a good thing.
As a former mayor, I understand the position taken by Mayor John Cook, when he decided to veto the resolution at the last moment. [link] The City of El Paso is dependent in many ways on both the Texas state government and the United States federal government for funding of many important projects. Tweaking their noses could have unpleasant consequences. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, who has done a great job as the region's representative, was chief of the Border Patrol for many years. Given the fact that he was involved in the "war on drugs" and interdiction here along the border, he may have reservations about launching a national debate at City Council. Nevertheless, given President-elect Barack Obama's philosophy of "Yes, we can change," this seems a propitious moment to give El Paso center stage at the national level. Also the simple truth that the last three presidents have experimented with illegal drugs, like cocaine or marijuana, makes it a most apropos time to initiate a national debate. [Newspaper Tree]
It just gets better from there. Read the whole thing. Itâs wonderful to see conversations about our drug policy bubbling up in new places without the involvement of the usual familiar faces. If this is a sign of the direction weâre headed, that can only be a good thing.
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