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DEA vs. ONDCP: Whose Propaganda is Worse?
The DEA has announced its latest attempt to discourage marijuana use among teens who visit anti-marijuana websites. Theyâve created an online magazine called âStumble Weedâ and it isnât very good.
Petitioning for the Right to Petition
Tireless DrugWarRant blogger Pete Guither continues to generate press coverage of his campaign against the DEAâs traveling museum exhibit:
What's up with these "pain contracts"?
Spurred by the federal government's crackdown on prescription drug abuse, doctors around the country are resorting to "pain contracts" with patients in an attempt to protect themselves from charges they are Dr. Feelgoods. Such contracts typically require the patient to agree that "lost, stolen, or misplaced" drugs are not to be replaced and that the patient agree to be drug tested. Patients who refuse to sign such an agreement or who test positive for non-prescribed drugs--i.e. marijuana--are likely to be cut off.
Paging Orrin Hatch
Update 10/25/06: Hatch's office informed us that Dallas Austin's parents were instrumental in getting the Senator involved. We've now contacted the D.C. Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the hopes of tracking down this latest victim's family. They've promised to look into it. Yet another American has been imprisoned in Dubai on a pitifully small possession charge:From Gulfnews.com:Dubai: An American visitor who said he was unaware that he was carrying marijuana with him, which was found in his luggage at airport, will spend four years in jail.
Taking the Moral High Ground
(from DrugWarRant)Â Long-time DRCNet collaborator and current Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative Associate Director Troy Dayton is organizing religious leaders in support of Question 7 to legalize adult marijuana use in Nevada.The Reno Journal-Gazette now reports that 32 churches in the state have pledged to support the initiative:
A Capacious Body Cavity and Some Questions
A small story from the Columbia Tribune in Missouri caught my attention this morning. "Cavity Search Turns Up Mixture of Drugs," was the headline. A gentleman was busted by the cops and arrested "after police conducted a cavity search and found a mixture of drugs hidden inside his body." It was quite a haul: Roughly eight ounces of powder cocaine, crack, ecstasy pills, and marijuana.
Drug users are terrorists?
Iâm inspired to write this post after reading this. The author acknowledges two solutions to breaking the connection between opium and terrorism: âdecriminalization of drugs or much more aggressive policingâ.
A Failure Cake with Poison Icing
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- With profits from this spring's record opium crop fueling a broad Taliban offensive, Afghan authorities say they are considering a once unthinkable way to deal with the scourge: spraying poppy fields with herbicide.
From the Maras to the Zetas
UPDATE: Check out Phil's book review of De los Maras a los Zetas here. Despite the daily toll of arrests and busts in the United States, America's drug war is waged largely in other countries. Mexico, for example, is likely to see more police killed in a bad weekend than the US will see in an entire year. And in Colombia, the drug war is now part of a messy civil war/war on drugs/war on terrorism with casualtiesâpolice, soldiers, guerrillas, paramilitaries, civiliansâon a daily basis.
sumaiyya says let our kids go
they bring the drugs to the neighborhoods , then brainwash the young that theyNEED consumer items, they are taught by the old heads how to deal, they get caught up in money and violence and then get sent to prison for life so they can exploit theit kids labor for their industries in private and government prisons, with those young slave muscles, so up in arms about abu grab ? what about stock in these private prisons? this is evil.
EXPENSIVE DRUGS ARE MORE OF WHICH YOUR YOU IMAGINE THEY COST THE LIFE
HELLO ADOLFO HORNA SALUTES TO THEM PRESIDENT OF THE THERAPEUTIC CIVIL ASSOCIATION PROFESSIONALIZED âRIO MARAÃONâ, INSTITUTION THAT WORKS IN DRUGSDEPENS IN CHICLAYO - PERU I INVITE TO THE PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS THAT THEY WANT TO REPRESENT IN YOURS CITIES OR COUNTRIES TO US AND TO COLLABORATE WITH THIS AIM, TO WORK AND TO FORM AN ALLIANCE WITHOUT DRUGS.
Bigger war, more drugs
A new study by the Justice Policy Institute in Washington concluded our policies toward marijuana have not succeeded in a decline in overall use. The study (Efficacy and Impact: The Criminal Justice Response to Marijuana Policy in the United States) highlights the impact of policies in terms of monetary costs and the impact on the use of marijuana and other drugs. The findings should come as no surprise for those of us who follow this issue closely. However, some specific findings are revealing and particularly relevant to Nevada, as the study covers some specific states.
Questions, comments, suggestions- Is there anybody out there?
I just signed this thing up and don't know what I'm doing or why. Is there anything anyone would like to say?
Blasphemy: College Reporter Quotes Us in Defense of the HEA Drug Provision
Ordinarily a lame anti-drug editorial in a college paper would escape our attention. Not this time. Nicki Croly of The State Hornet in Sacramento uses statistics from our website in defense of the HEA drug provision:
Is it my breath? or the travails of alternative advocacy journalism.
Sometimes I feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of alternative advocacy journalism. I just donât get no respect, especially from drug reform foes (for some reason). The two big stories I'm working on this week are the marijuana initiatives in Colorado and Nevada, where big fights are brewing. Here is a list of people or organizations involved in trying to defeat the initiatives who either refused to talk to me or failed to respond to repeated calls about their efforts:
No Kidding: DEA Says MJ Legalization Initiative Could Result in MJ Legalization
Reformers may have jumped the gun in condemning DEAâs opposition to Colorado's marijuana legalization initiative. If they're gonna keep saying stuff like this, I say we hear âem out.
Pot Politics
It's going to be a lot of pot politics in the Drug War Chronicle this week. With the November elections now little more than a month away, there are developments in both Colorado and Nevada, the two states where measures that would free the weed are on the ballot. In Colorado, SAFER Colorado campaign director Mason Tvert is debating Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today.
Cory Maye to be Re-sentenced!
Huge news from Radley Balko. Cory Mayeâs attorney Rhonda Cooper was found incompetent during the sentencing phase, which means Mayeâs death sentence is vacated, at least for now.For anyone unfamiliar with the case, Cory Maye was sentenced to death in Mississippi after fatally shooting a police officer who he mistook for a burglar. Maye lived alone with his infant daughter and had no criminal record. The raid appears to have been a mistake, but Mayeâs apparent attempt to defend his home and daughter led to a murder conviction and a now-vacated death sentence.Balkoâs article in Reason Magazine provides an in-depth look at the case, which Iâd argue is one of the most compelling stories of injustice yet to emerge from our disastrous war on drugs.Read the article, then check out Balkoâs blog The Agitator for on-going coverage of Mayeâs appeal. There's a lot happening with the case over the next couple weeks , so this is a great time to get caught up.
Hilarious Video: The Hazards of Covering the Drug Beat
Now, I don't know if this is real or not, but it is quite amusing. The video clip shows a British journalist attempting to file his report from the scene of a massive drug burn. He has some problems. This has been floating around for awhile, but I think it's worth posting here. Enjoy.