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Feature: As Fighting Flares in Southern Afghanistan, Support for Licensed Opium Production Grows

As NATO takes over in southern Afghanistan, fighting is flaring and opium is driving much of it. Now, European politicians are beginning to embrace a controversial opium licensing scheme.

Smugglers Innovate as Border Tightens

Roadside Drug Tests in Two Years (UK)

Rising Violent Crime in US Sparks a Search For Answers

It's Aghanistan and England in the featured stories tomorrow

I wanted to do South Dakota and the lawsuit over the the medical marijuana initiative ballot language, but the lawsuit hasn't happened, and the appointed spokeswoman for the initiative hasn't returned my calls. I contacted the Senlis Council for some comment about increasing support for their opium licensing initiative. No response. Nada. I find these guys increasingly insufferable.

Feature: British Parliamentary Committee Slams Drug Classification Scheme, Calls for Evidence-Based System

A parliamentary select committee has issued a report calling Britain's drug classification scheme outmoded, ineffective, and based more on politics than science.

New "Meth Gun" Not as Cool as it Sounds

Courtesy of Pete Guither at DrugWarRant comes this terrifying story.

From CNET News:

A new "meth gun," in development by Maryland-based CDEX, enables police to use ultraviolet light to detect trace amounts of chemicals left by methamphetamines and other illegal drugs.

Civil libertarians have been concerned for some time that drug war profiteers would begin marketing something like this. Of course, the obvious problem with this type of technology is that it will inevitably be wrong sometimes.