Are federal funds helping to oppose the Oregon initiative? Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) wants to know. Plus, Hawaii dispensary hearings loom, Charles Bowden dies, and today marks an infamous anniversary. Let's get to it:

[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana Policy

Oregon US Representative Calls for Federal Investigation into Use of Public Funds to Oppose Legalization Initiative. Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has sent a letter to SAMSHA calling for immediate federal investigation into the possible misuse of federal funds to sponsor the "Oregon Marijuana Education Tour," which is filled with anti-legalization operatives and which comes as Oregonians prepare to vote on Measure 91, the legalization initiative. Click on the title link to read the letter and associated attachments.

Medical Marijuana

Princeton Employee on Paid Leave over Medical Marijuana Use. Princeton University campus dining manager Don DeZarn, who had been told to choose between his job and his medicine after he began legally using medical marijuana this summer, is now on paid leave as the school attempts to resolve the issue. The problem arose after DeZarn said he might use the drug while at work and school public safety officials raised concerns he could be impaired and might accidentally give a student with food allergies the wrong item (or something).

Hawaii Dispensary Task Force to Hold Public Hearings This Month. A task force created by the state legislature to address dispensary issues will hold public hearings next week in Hilo and on September 24 in Honolulu. Click on the link for more details and information about how to submit public comments.

Drug Policy

25 Years Ago Today, George HW Bush Waved a Bag of Crack on TV. Today is the 25^th anniversary of President George HW Bush's infamous oval office speech escalating the war on drugs. In that speech, he waved at viewers an evidence bag containing crack cocaine that he warned had been sold in Lafayette Park, just across the street from the White House. Only later was it revealed that the dealer who delivered the crack had no idea where the White House or Lafayette Park were, and that he had to be given directions by DEA agents. Bush used the speech to ask for "more jails, more prisons, more courts, and more prosecutors" to fight the drug war, and largely got them.

Obituaries

Charles Bowden, Chronicler of the Southwest's Drug Wars, Dead at 69. Chronicler of the American Southwest and the brutal violence along the border sparked by Mexico's drug wars Charles Bowden has died in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at age 69. A vivid and evocative writer, Bowden's "Blood Orchid: An Unnatural History of America" achingly described environmental and social alienation in the Southwest (and turned your correspondent on to him), but in the last two decades he focused increasingly on the border and the drug wars. His insightful, critical, and horrifying books on the subject include "Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields," "Down By the River: Drugs, Money, Murder, and Family," and "A Shadow in the City: Confessions of an Undercover Drug Warrior." Bowden is gone, but his work remains. Check it out.

International

Austrian Activists Seek Parliamentary Inquiry on Marijuana. Legalize Austria is demanding a parliamentary inquiry into its proposal to remove marijuana from the country's drug laws. The group so far has more than 20,000 signatures on a petition to that effect and is seeking 80,000 more. The move comes as the Austrian Young Greens are also on a legalization campaign.