Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has some interesting ideas about international drug policy.  

Do you think legalizing softer drugs could be a way forward?

Yes, that could be an answer, provided everyone does it at the same time.

Is that something you would support?

If the entire world does it, yes.

But somebody has to take the first steps?

Yes, and it won’t be me.

Why?

Because for Colombia, this is a matter of national security. Drug trafficking is what finances the violence and the irregular groups in our country. I would be crucified if I took the first step. We need to insist on more multinational actions on drug trafficking and innovate the ways we are dealing with it. [Metro]

So…either the president of Colombia is dangerously insane, or there are actually some pretty enormous problems with the way drug use is dealt with around the world. His candor is impressive considering the unbelievable amount of effort it takes to get our president to talk about drug policy for even 30 seconds. 

As controversy over the federal government’s escalating nationwide assault on medical marijuana continues to swell, some federal officials are trying to shield the President from the political fallout.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. attorneys have a message for California's medical marijuana advocates: Don't blame Barack Obama. After it was announced that the crackdown on medical pot establishments in the Golden State was a collective decision by the four U.S. attorneys in California and not the result of any directive from Washington, spokeswoman Lauren Horwood emphasized that the administration never even green-lighted the ramped-up enforcement actions.

The only D.C.-based official with whom California U.S. attorneys coordinated, Horwood said, was Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who was chosen by Attorney General Eric Holder, an Obama appointee. [Huffington Post]

This is amazing. Literally, we are being told by presidentially-appointed officials not to blame the president when they do things we find disgusting.  I don’t recall ever being handed a ballot with the name Lauren Horwood on it, and the same goes for James Cole, Eric Holder and every other federal prosecutor presently presiding over this massive new war on medical marijuana patients and providers.

When the president’s own appointees defy his campaign promises and dishonor the values of the American public, the president himself is so obviously, thoroughly, and undeniably at fault that it seems silly to argue the point further. 

After all, any effort to sugarcoat this mess is indicative of an increasing awareness at DOJ that their approach to medical marijuana is becoming a bit of a political fiasco. Deflecting criticism from the president is a smart strategy for avoiding a scenario in which mounting public outcry forces Obama to revisit the issue. The lesson here for advocates is to apply more pressure on the president, not less. 

A Texas DA gets greedy, and so do a California narc, a California prison worker, a Washington state evidence clerk, and a Washington, DC, police officer. Chronicle story here.

A budding coalition of medical marijuana reform backers, including some of the same folks behind last year's Proposition 19, is working on an initiative for the 2012 ballot that would impose statewide regulation on California's crazy-quilt medical marijuana dispensary scene. The announcement came during a San Francisco press conference Tuesday preceding a demonstration during a visit to the city by President Obama. Chronicle story here.

A federal judge Monday halted Florida's law mandating drug testing for welfare applicants. District Court Judge Mary Scriven in Orlando granted a temporary injunction barring the state from enforcing the law until the case is resolved. Chronicle story here.

Colombia's president says the world should legalize marijuana, but don't look for his country to lead the way. Chronicle story here.

A pair of Northern California elected officials Wednesday urged the federal government to back off on its "senseless assault" on medical marijuana dispensaries. At the same time, they said they want to meet with federal officials to see what's behind the crackdown. Chronicle story here.

I have a new piece at Huffington Post demanding answers for Obama's badly botched approach to medical marijuana. The situation has spiraled into total insanity, and whatever anyone actually did or did not expect from this administration no longer matters. What we got is unacceptable, and if the president can't defend these policies, then he lacks the credibility to carry them out.

I’m sure I’ve never seen anything quite like this on MSNBC and it’s about time:

If I’m correct in assuming that MSNBC has until now avoided this sort of subject matter for fear of being branded as a bunch of liberal hippies, then I’m grateful to see the network getting over it. Face it, people are going to say that about MSNBC regardless of what the network does or does not say about marijuana policy, or anything else for that matter. Fortunately, this way MSNBC can at least score points with its viewership, which is 104% in favor of legalization according to the latest polling data.

As for the substance of the whole thing, I suppose O’Donnell is on target in trashing the drunken hypocrisy of our political culture, but when he promises that the wholesale arrests of marijuana users will continue for that very reason, I wonder if he let his frustration take the fun out of the story. What matters here is that the American people are finally in favor of legalizing marijuana and that’s a positive indicator of what the future holds for the fight to reform marijuana laws.

Britain's governmental Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has once again called for the decriminalization of drug possession. Once again, the British government doesn't want to listen. Chronicle feature story here.

A quiet week on the corrupt cops front this week, with only two reports. But one of them raises interesting questions: Why does a drug task force commander who steals from suspects and tries to cover up his crimes only get probation, when the suspects if convicted may get prison? This weekly Chronicle feature is online here.