Drug War Chronicle #535 - May 9, 2008

It's not exactly "stop the presses" material, but two new reports from Human Rights Watch and the Sentencing Project provide even more confirmation that America's drug war is racially biased and waged mainly against black Americans.

In more than 200 cities worldwide, activists celebrated the Global Marijuana March on Saturday. But in a handful of places, there was trouble, with local authorities trying to repress the marches. Here's a report.

Will SDSU's Drug Bust Reduce Drug Availability on Campus in the Future? Advocates Urge Media to Look Beyond the Surface, Ask Critical Questions About Raid's Long-Term Implications for Drug Trade (or Lack Thereof)

Clergy are speaking out against the war on drugs! Donate $16 or more (or whatever you can afford) and we'll send you a copy.

Belated justice comes for two crooked cops, one in Dallas and one in Long Beach.

Alabama lawmakers declined to ban salvia divinorum, letting two bills die this week, but a prohibition on the psychedelic plant went into effect in Kansas.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has sent the DEA a letter demanding that it explain its raids on medical marijuana patients and providers in California. He's threatening to hold hearings, too.

A conservative Oregon political operative who specializes in "tough on crime" ballot initiatives has given up plans for an initiative that would undo the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act -- at least for this year.

The Texas attorney general has issued an opinion that a law passed last year to allow a needle exchange program in San Antonio does not protect exchange workers from arrest under state paraphernalia laws, so the Lone Star State's first officially-sanctioned needle exchange is dead -- for now.

As expected, the British government announced Wednesday it would reclassify marijuana as a more dangerous drug, thus theoretically increasing maximum jail sentences for pot smokers. In so doing, the government rejected the recommendation of its own advisory panel that marijuana stay a Class B drug.

Marijuana is big business in the Netherlands -- a conservative estimate says that the government collects $600 million a year in tax revenues from the coffee shops.

Iran complains that the West is ignoring opium production in Afghanistan, and some US Marines inadvertently help Tehran make its case.

Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

"Drug Cops Raid Innocent Man, Shoot Him 5 Times, Then File Bogus Charges," "Mississippi Drug War Blues: The Case of Cory Maye," "British Prime Minister Ignores His Own Experts and increases Penalties for Marijuana," "Judge Says Stun Guns Can't Be Mentioned in Autopsies," "John Conyers Demands Answers From DEA Over the Medical Marijuana Raids," "Don't Use Text Messages to Advertise Your Cocaine Prices," "Man Dies After Being Denied a Liver Transplant For Using Medical Marijuana," "Bloody Culiacan," "Dia Mundial de la Marijuana (Global Marijuana Day), Mexico City," "Will SDSU Drug Bust Coverage Ask the Critical Questions?," "Marijuana: UK’s Police and Drug Policy Experts Object to PM’s Reefer Madness," "Nobody is Safe from Drug Prohibition’s SWAT Teams."

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