Alcohol & Drug Class News
In New York, sometimes the City (as in New York City) get's all the attention. But those of us who care about drug law reform in NY--especially getting rid of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws-- ignore Upstate NY at our peril. ( read more)
when it comes to talking about race. And he's right. ( read more)
1, drug prohibitionists have dominated the language and concepts behind our nonsensical approach to drug policy.
That the main stream media accepts these concepts without scrutiny, and in facts furthers them by publishing them without any requirement of proof, without any true questioning of it.
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California is in a budget crisis. According to reports, 20,000 government employees are to be laid off. ( read more)
in which Mr. Howard Wooldridge of LEAP talks about untested rape kits.
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I can't help but piggyback on this item, because of the hilarity of Evan's post with the embedded SNL skit. So I don't get a plagiarism suit, please bear in mind that the entire concept comes from Seth Myer's SNL skit.
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California could become the first state to tax and regulate marijuana.
With the state facing the worst budget deficit in generations, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill earlier this week to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. ( read more)
Last Monday, the first-ever floor vote on medical marijuana in New Jersey was successful, passing in the New Jersey Senate by a vote of 22 - 16. This important legislation will help to relieve the suffering and improve the quality of life for seriously ill people in New Jersey.
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Policymakers in Maryland have an opportunity to choose reason over prohibition this legislative season when considering Senate Bill 9 (R-Colburn), a bill that would classify Salvia divinorum, a hallucinogenic herb which is currently legal to use in Maryland, as a Schedule I substance. If passed the bill would impose misdemeanor and felony penalties, including prison terms of up to 20 years for selling salvia. ( read more)
I wanted you to be the first to know -- we just confirmed in the last hour that President Obama selected Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to be his drug czar.
s drug policy reform agenda.
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I'm taking a quick break from duties in Hartford, CT, to make sure you see this editorial in the NY Times today, about the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The editorial is in response to a report released last week by the NY State Commission on Sentencing Reform. ( read more)
I take exception to this statement. and possibly earlier). ( read more)
As Malakkar wrote on Friday, Kellogg's will not renew its sponsorship deal with Michael Phelps because of his marjuana consumption. It seems they will let this contract expire because they don't realize exactly who buys their products. ( read more)
Dan Rather reporting from Afghanistan
Like thousands of others, I have become a constant viewer of the Rachel Maddow show. Maddow's depth of policy understanding, wry sense of humor, and ability to get any guest she wants make her one hour commentary on the day's news required viewing. ( read more)
Call me nuanced, but I don't recall Michael Phelps agreeing to be a role model. I googled it and came up with nothing except other people volunteering Mr. ( read more)
Mexico border last year, most of which was allegedly a result of drug trafficking violence.
2) An estimated 0 people died from medical marijuana use in California last year.
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Drug Policy Summit. The story talks about the State Department being at odds with President Obama's recent announcement that he would be working on lifting the ban on funding to organizations that participate in syringe-exchange programs.
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Fresh off the heels of the overwhelming passage of Question 2, an initiative to decrimialize an ounce or less of marijuana in Massachusetts, top state legislators in Connecticut are making a play of their own. Recognizing that arrest for possession of small amounts of marijuana puts an enormous strain on law enforcement and criminal justice resources, state Senate majority leader Mark Looney and Senator Toni Harp, chairwoman of the appropriations committee, are seeking to recreate Mass's new rational policy in Connecticut.
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I don't expect Obama to rectify the past eight years (or, if we're talking about drug policy, the past forty) in seven days. And every day brings a new cause for optimism: water boarding is torture, Guantanamo is closing, cleaner emissions standards are coming, etc. ( read more)
On January 22 - 23, 2009, the Drug Policy Alliance and the New York Academy of Medicine brought together over 300 conference participants representing community advocates, researchers, service providers and legislators from all over the state in order to build a public health and safety approach to drug policy. s event, New York State Assembly Speaker Silver released his very first policy position paper, making his commitment to reform clear. ( read more)
Harsh and unfair prison sentences are tearing apart families and communities in New Jersey.
The state criminal justice system is seriously out of balance. ( read more)
This year marks an historic turning point for all Americans.
Less than a generation ago, African-Americans were denied the right to vote in some states. ( read more)
Like many states, New Mexico is one in a fiscal crisis. Now is the time to start saving millions of tax dollars by embracing treatment instead of incarceration. ( read more)
Andrew Carroll's a smart young man!
He's lucky, too, that he's white; and lucky that he possesses enough class privilege to move across the country as part of the Free State Project, and engage in civil disobedience, calling attention to the travesty that is our country's drug policy. ( read more)
Back this week, fresh from the New Directions New York conference joining together health service professionals, politicians, and advocacy groups. There were even some law enforcement people present - though they were definitely in the minority.
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com, a story about a small town north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with drastic rates of heroin overdoses.
My favorite section? ( read more)
s sister city, Ciudad Juarez, and to draw attention to the impact of drug prohibition on both communities. Separated only by the barely-existent Rio Grande river, El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico share the fallout at the frontline of the war on drugs -- but not equally.
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On December 19, 2008, Mamie Singleton, 101, was issued a notice to vacate her house within five days. Under a Syracuse nuisance abatement law, she was ordered to leave her home of 45 years because her nephew, who had stayed periodically in the upstairs apartment, had used the residence to sell cocaine and marijuana.
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I'm sure people are wondering if President Obama is really going to change our nation's drug policies? Only time will truly tell, but it's very encouraging that the official White House website now calls for eliminating both the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity and the federal syringe ban. ( read more)
The new law?
The Drug Trafficking Vessel Interdiction Act of 2008 was signed into law in September. ( read more)
denying Professor Craker (University of Massachusetts) a marijuana growing license, specifically stating that the current monopoly on government-approved production of marijuana by the University of Mississippi was acceptable because the university lab provided an ample supply of sufficient potent marijuana.
Professor Craker had argued in a suit that the marijuana provided was not of sufficient potency for the studies he needed to conduct. ( read more)
New Jersey citizens are still at risk for contracting deadly diseases because our state is still without a comprehensive HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C prevention strategy. Some of our cities have established syringe access programs, permitted under the Blood Borne Disease Harm Reduction Act. ( read more)
Your work for drug policy reform makes a difference -- and you're not alone. Together we are a part of a growing movement, with millions of other Americans who care about this issue.
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Every month at Busboys and Poets, a progressive boosktore/cafe near U St. in Washington, DC, an open discussion called ACTOR (A Continuing Talk On Race) is held, with varying (though never overwhelming) levels of attendance. ( read more)
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos was interviewed by a reporter about the success of Plan Colombia.
drivel that is symptomatic of the drug war in general.
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Grant was with his friends on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), returning to the East Bay from the Embarcadero. He would never make it home. ( read more)
For a second I thought that team Obama was going to shut down Open for Questions after being inundated with drug policy and particularly marijuana questions and concerns. was unsatisfying and did not fit the web 2.0 context of the exercise. ( read more)
This experience has taught me that not one choice, action, or lack thereof is without consequence. She would know. ( read more)
Ohio is one step away from making Salvia Divinorum illegal. This would make it the 6th state in the country to ban it outright, consequently providing awesome economic opportunities for black market entrepreneurs. ( read more)
It's been a good year for medical marijuana. Michigan became the 13th medical marijuana state, Massachusetts passed a decriminalization measure, and yesterday a medical marijuana bill made it out of subcommittee in New Jersey.
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Depending on the need for a story, evidently, cocaine in the United States is held to a different standard.
Times, 12/16/08 Home Edition, if we're to believe the federal government, in a recent National Drug Threat Assessment report, cocaine availability is down (despite increased production) because of interdiction efforts along the Eastern Pacific Seaboard (someone forgot to mention this to the various coke dealers in New York, street availability and prices haven't changed).
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Emails and faxes sent by DPA Network's supporters to legislators helped bring New Jersey one step closer to becoming the 14th state to allow access to medical marijuana.& nbsp; Thanks to people like you, seriously ill patients suffering from debilitating diseases have renewed hope that they will no longer have to live in fear of arrest and prosecution for using the only medicine that relieves their terrible symptoms and improves their quality of life.
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California police chiefs asked the DEA in 2006 to subvert California law on medical marijuana.
The latest government data indicated that over the past 15 years teen cigarette use declined while marijuana use increased to the point where teens use them pretty much equally now.
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You've got to hand it to the Obama team: web 2.0 was not just a campaign strategy for them. what the most important issues facing the president-elect are.
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that uses wit in an attempt to promote the dangers of cocaine use. This advert fails, but at least it's a funny fail, unlike the war on drugs itself. ( read more)
Jonathan Magbie died in jail because his jailers couldn't provide proper health care.
He was locked up in the first place because he was a paraplegic who smoked cannabis to alleviate his suffering -- and when he came before the judge, arrested for his illegal drug use, he spoke his truth to power: he would continue smoking his medicine despite the consequences. ( read more)
Today is the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th amendment. For those of you (and me) who fell asleep during high schools civics, the 18th A. ( read more)
That's right, 75 years ago today, Alcohol Prohibition came to a close.
citizenry over their own bodies. ( read more)
Today is the 75th anniversary of that blessed day in 1933 when Utah became the 36th and deciding state to ratify the 21st amendment, thereby repealing the 18th amendment. This ended the nation's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition. ( read more)
I've been attending the California prison law suit brought by mentally ill prisoners who have alleged that the care they received in prison is so poor it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The cast of characters in this particular drama is as follows: the plaintiffs are the prisoners and the defendant is the state of California. ( read more)
That's right, 75 years ago today, Alcohol Prohibition came to a close.
citizenry over their own bodies. ( read more)
Author Wendy Chapkis, professor of Sociology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine, is reading from her book Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine at Bluestockings in the East Village this evening at 7 pm. What I would give to be in New York tonight!
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is no longer happy with just being the world police, we now must be the world police, judge, jury, and executioner.
According to the Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2008 Sunday Home Edition, Mexico is now extraditing suspected drug smugglers at a record rate to the United States, for prosecution here.
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When former DPA intern Jessica Matuozzi learned from her younger brother that his high school --her former high school-- was considering a random student drug testing proposal, she didn't take the news sitting down. This busy NYU college student took the time away from writing midterms to collect materials and prep to speak at the Bernards Board of Education meeting back in her hometown in New Jersey. ( read more)
Taken directly from their website, the non-sequitur approach to drug prohibition:
'The legalization movement is not simply a harmless academic exercise. was graphically illustrated by a story from California. ( read more)
ONDCP is going to spend 130 million dollars on media in 2008 (total expected budget).
What have they spent a majority of this money on? ( read more)
Methadone, a drug used for many years to treat heroin addiction, also appears to work well against cocaine addiction, a new Canadian study suggests. ( read more)
With the election of Barack Obama, the United States has a fresh chance to reinvigorate its relations with Latin America, according to a new report that recommends Washington overhaul its drug policies at home and pursue a rapprochement with Cuba. The report, compiled by prominent former policy-makers from the United States and Latin America and scheduled for release on Monday by the Brookings Institution, called on the new administration to put Latin America at the center of its foreign policy radar screen. ( read more)
Someone who supplies marijuana to a patient who has a doctor's approval for it can be prosecuted for dealing drugs, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday in a narrow interpretation of California's medical marijuana law. Advocates on both sides of the case agreed that the unanimous ruling will encourage Californians to obtain medical marijuana from patient cooperatives, which are authorized by a 2003 state law, rather than from an individual supplier. ( read more)
You have an opportunity right now to influence one of the most important choices President-elect Obama will make. s easy to understand why. ( read more)
Drug Policy Alliance staff and allies recently gathered at the biennial Harm Reduction Coalition conference in Miami, FL. The forum served as an exciting exchange of cutting-edge information, empowering ideas and successful strategies for incorporating harm reduction into direct community services, public policy and individual life choices.
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I want to let you know what DPA's national game plan is. We just completed a two-day planning session, and I'm excited about our prospects for change. ( read more)
Special thanks to Gillian Maxwell, community activist and spokesperson for the Insite Community Safety Campaign in Vancouver, BC for her input on this article.
British Columbia has been leading the hemisphere in drug policy reform for years. ( read more)
It was really cold last Tuesday night outside the Ward Circle building at American University. My housemate and I shivered in our puffy coats, and tried to re-enact the emperor penguin scenes from Planet Earth while waiting in line to hear Bolivian President Evo Morales address a crowd of students, staff and folks in the DC community. ( read more)
Ever so rarely, a good idea is drawn up: let's try something out, and give it an end date. The end date is just in case the idea doesn't work out so well, but vested interests form that would normally keep the bad idea alive. ( read more)
I am writing this from the highly sought-after hotel shared computer in Santiago, Chile where I have been living for the past week as a member of a delegation of SOA Watch activists from the United States. borders when it was declared that Obama won the election last week - I was, in fact, nervously watching states turn blue and red on the only television displaying CNN in the Toronto airport on election night.
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In the United States, the War on Drugs is a political slogan for a policy disaster that has cost taxpayers at least $500 billion over the past 35 years. How many more must die before we can revisit this failure, and move towards a better approach? ( read more)
As a sign of the (oh my god) economic times, New York Governor David Paterson has cut $8.6 million in funding for nonprofit community-based groups that provide drug treatment and counseling to those that served time in prison and are returning to society -- basically people on parole.
The Division of Parole is also cutting its entire treatment program for parolees -- this will not end well. ( read more)
history on Election Day in California, and why California is still going strong with treatment-instead-of-incarceration despite the loss of Proposition 5 at the ballot box. ( read more)
re disappointed. s punitive drug policies. ( read more)
Election Day was a success for marijuana initiatives across the country, thanks to the work of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and numerous state and local groups. In Massachusetts, voters decriminalized the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. ( read more)
My byline:
That's Not Change, That's More of the Same!
California voters have once again been bamboozled by the powers that be and ballot officials in California. ( read more)
The drug war did not have a prominent place in the presidential campaigns this year. But given how the federal coffers are being drained in response to the current economic mess, both candidates might be interested to see some numbers from a September Zogby poll of likely voters who were asked about the war on drugs.
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In less than two weeks I will walk into a polling booth and vote my conscience. m one of the lucky ones.
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At a time when public pennies need to be pinched, voters in municipalities around the country will be reviewing their law enforcement practices surrounding marijuana arrests. Proven success in cities like Seattle, Washington; Missoula, Montana; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Columbia, Missouri; cities across California and many others have laid the groundwork for upcoming initiatives. ( read more)
drug policy reform since alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago. t let them get away with it. ( read more)
while serving 12 years of his 15-to-life sentence at Sing-Sing under New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws.
s partner organization on the ground in Alabama, settled a lawsuit on voting rights with the Alabama Department of Corrections, and our historic voter education effort is proceeding in Alabama prisons. ( read more)
I've spent time in jail. Six months. ( read more)
Now, I'm all for workers getting unionized. Big fan of the Employee Free Choice Act - EFCA - which, when it passes, will make it a heck of a lot easier to start a union).
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They come across and kidnap, murder and carry out assassinations. territory to make attacks.
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This from Saturday's Ventura County Star (10/18/08), Local Section.
UCLA's most recent report, issued earlier this week, does not cite Proposition 36 as the reason. ( read more)
Gosh, there's a shocker.
ABC news reported on this earlier in the week - apparently Congress mandated a study of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which launched in the 90s. ( read more)
file, it turns out that Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John P. Walters was among one of many senior Administration officials to use tax dollars to attend partisan events in key Republican districts.
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disingenuous: admission of past drug use. I thought that was over, but apparently Keating likes to beat a dead horse, then make it into glue, fashion it into a horse replica, and then beat it again.
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Although the Daily Mail is the UK's version of the New York Post, and as such, grounds its reporting filter in purely abject fear-mongering, this article about a youth overdose death in England is still worth noting. But man oh man, does it highlight the absurdity of a prohibitionist view.
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The Great American Farce is finally, and overwhelmingly, being seen as such.
citizens are saying the 'War on Drugs' is a failure.
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The Times-Picayune in New Orleans featured a story on September 29th, 2008, about rogue cops planting evidence on innocent people and making a bust. Most of the cops are later busted on unrelated charges, ranging from identity theft, to drugs, to unlawful use of state property or possession of stolen property.
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voters think the war on drugs is failing, and 27 percent think legalizing some drugs is the best alternative, according to a new nationwide poll released by Zogby Interactive Oct. The dim view on the drug war's chances for success was shared by a majority of respondents from all political parties, albeit by more Democrats (86 percent) and independents (81 percent) than Republicans (61 percent). ( read more)
On NPR this morning: Salvia is an herb related to the mint family. But when processed, Salvia can also be a powerful hallucinogenic drug. ( read more)
The California State Supreme Court will hear oral argument in People v. s medical marijuana laws. ( read more)
This article in Slate examines Obama and Biden's record and rhetoric around criminal justice reform. They conclude that their support of beefing up some federal law enforcement programs shows a lack of understanding about how the tactics these grants engender affect communities. ( read more)
Nationally, there are roughly 4 million released felons whose convictions have cost them the right to vote at least temporarily, if not permanently. To return to the ballot box, felons must negotiate suffrage laws that vary from state to state, in many cases working with election officials who can be both unfamiliar with the law and hostile to former convicts seeking to register. ( read more)
New Jersey has a stupid and cruel drug law that has racially discriminatory side effects. A bill that would moderate its provisions is pending in the state Senate and appears to have a good chance of passage this fall. ( read more)
New York's Bluestockings bookstore was packed one night last week: bookshelves pushed to the walls of what was really a small space, what seemed like every available surface area covered with bodies (though maybe my perspective is skewed because I had to get up in front of the crowd and say hi from DPA). People wanted to hear about women's resistance to the prison industrial complex. ( read more)
I can't make this stuff up. I really can't.
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A report published by a Scottish Parliament-backed think tank has called for radical new ways to tackle the damage done by drugs and alcohol. ( read more)
It's time to stop drug prohibition and start looking at realistic ways to deal with drug use, abuse, manufacture and distribution. Regulation is one such path. ( read more)
Honest drug information that respects teens enough to give it to them straight gets results. Dishonest information that tries to scare them with propaganda that conflicts with their real-life experiences leads to dismissal and failure. ( read more)
In a recent interview Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed Senator Obama's call for a national dialogue on race, expressing her concern that the ugly bootprints of slavery still mark America's cultural and political landscape. officials for not doing enough to eliminate the vestiges of slavery, most notably America's punitive drug war policies. ( read more)
Educational harm reduction initiatives that promote the effectiveness of strategies designed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission may decrease prisoners' high-risk behaviors. This finding provides initial support for the Iran prison system's current offering of HIV/AIDS harm reduction programming and suggests the need to offer increased education about the effectiveness of HIV prevention practices. ( read more)
Once more people realize that incarceration for petty drug law violations is not an appropriate response to veterans' suffering from addiction and depression, then people will question the logic of giving long jail sentences to others in our society who also could be self-medicating for pain and trauma in their own lives. ( read more)
use, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration should conduct a formal review to determine whether access to it should be restricted or banned.
That's the level of inquiry that should be used? ( read more)
On Election Day, people across the country will miss out on casting a ballot because they don't even know they're eligible to vote. Right now in Alabama, we're working to repair the democratic process with a groundbreaking voter registration project being conducted in partnership with The Ordinary People's Society (TOPS), an Alabama organization.
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Voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas, will have the chance to make adult marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority at the ballot box in November. This initiative is led by Sensible Fayetteville, a coalition of groups that includes the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, Inc.
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Because I am an equal opportunity disparager and enjoy disturbing your Friday a little, I have posted an unnerving, and quite frankly, darren aronofsky-esque rip-off anti-drug commercial from New Zealand.
The ad is gross, and may possibly offend you. ( read more)
DOTHAN -- Alabama-based Ordinary People's Society and their national partner the Drug Policy Alliance began an historic voter registration drive this week in prisons across Alabama. However, after Alabama newspapers reported on the registration drive, the state GOP voiced their opposition to the effort and pressured the DOC to end it. ( read more)
From the Associated Press, Business, September 18, 2008 Thursday, comes a story about the European Union stepping up its interdiction efforts.
Around 7,500 Europeans die of a drugs overdose ever year, according to statistics published by the EU's drugs monitoring agency in Lisbon, Portugal. ( read more)
Rudy Giuliani annoys me with his arrogance as well as the fact that he is a poor excuse for a human being. I think maybe he should stop talking publicly, or privately, about anything. ( read more)
about Massachusetts Question 2, an initiative to decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana.
The arguments in favor of Question 2 are weak. ( read more)
Not that I'm religious. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy in our policies, which are supposed to reflect a Judeo-Christian ethos.
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s 120 legislators understand the harms caused by excessive drug war policies. Still, Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has stood firm on advancing some of the most progressive drug policy reforms in the state, and will likely continue his leadership in the state Senate beginning in 2009.
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s medical marijuana laws (as he is required to do under those laws).& nbsp; The AG guidelines aim to fully clarify the legal landscape of medical marijuana law in California. ( read more)
The California state budget is so late, it's setting records -- and there's no deal in sight. s a budget. ( read more)
nbsp; The federal legislation would enable schools to use Title I funds, including Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities funds, to implement just and proven programs, such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, to replace counterproductive, zero-tolerance discipline policies in our schools.
DPA recognizes that too many schools rely on punitive consequences such as expulsion, suspension or exclusion from extracurricular activities to respond to students who break school rules regarding alcohol and other drugs. ( read more)
Last month DPA launched a new group on the social networking site Facebook to oppose invasive and ineffective random student drug testing programs. Our goals are to raise awareness among high school and college students and provide more young people with the tools to take a stand against random student drug testing.
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Too many people suffering from addiction are being arrested and incarcerated before they can get help. No one should have to get arrested to get access to treatment.
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Check out this recent post at the Kirwan Institute blog. Important stuff!
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And now to an herb that may be as dangerous as cocaine and LSD. You may have never heard of it, but your kids definitely have. ( read more)
The Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 edition of the Kansas City Star had yet another story on the failure of the drug war:
There was a decline in methamphetamine labs busted two years ago, but the number of labs busted has steadily increased since then.
The lessened number of busts was attributed to less labs being present due to increased restrictions on the sale of pseudo-ephedrine, one chemical that can be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. ( read more)
From the New York Times, a story on September 8, 2008, about the difficulties faced around developing drug policy for salvia divinorum, perhaps one of the safest compounds known to man.
Though states are moving quickly, Bertha K. ( read more)
Late last Friday morning, I stood with a group of displaced New Orleans residents, Washington, DC community organizers, day laborer union members and other folks in solidarity with the survivors of Katrina outside what was termed the Failed Emergency Management Agency building at 5th and C St SW near L'Enfant Plaza.
It was a grey day, and as Yvonne Byrd started speaking about Louisiana's incarcerated, the rain picked up in a little more earnestness - though luckily we were spared a downpour. ( read more)
Don't hate on Prop 5. You and your family have struggled with addiction, and you should know better. ( read more)
Last week I wrote from the Democratic National Convention. d like to share some insights regarding the Republican National Convention.
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Happy Labor day weekend everyone!
David Murray wearing white after this Monday. ( read more)
Iran has captured the attention of harm reduction activists worldwide for its surprisingly progressive policies on syringe exchange and drug treatment, designed to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among injection drug users.
Now, two doctors who are deeply involved in HIV prevention and treatment work have been arrested and are believed to be detained in Evin Prison in Tehran. ( read more)
Last time I checked, Martin Sheen was an actor, not a policy expert. t stopped him from asking our elected officials to oppose Prop. ( read more)
s safe from the brutal tactics of the zero-tolerance drug war?
Answer: No one, apparently.
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Alex Wodak is director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St. Vincent's Hospital in Australia, and is on the Executive Committee of the International Harm Reduction Association. ( read more)
history, recently tried to get it thrown off the ballot. But we fought back, with the result that the California Supreme Court rejected their challenge and affirmed that the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act will appear on the November state ballot as Prop. ( read more)
Simple, eloquent, and directly to the point. Sums up all that is wrong with our drug prohibition policy - cops and politicians handling things better left to doctors. ( read more)
Let's not invade Iran. But seriously, Iran, you're not helping. ( read more)
It's the day after Christmas in 2001. You're 21 years old. ( read more)
the myths and legitimacy of Rep. Barney Franks and Ron Paul's marijuana decrim bill on The Hill blog (which is Congresses way of staying hip).
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it could, anyway. strip searching thirteen-year-olds looking for Ibuprofen). ( read more)
In 2003, Robert E. was released from prison after serving a 15 year sentence. ( read more)
cause it worked so well the first time.
government has significant experience in spraying poison on other peoples' lands; sometimes, ostensibly, to fight the war on drugs. ( read more)
This is a letter from community advocates and local organizations to Gov. Bill Richardson, asking him to consider recommendations on prison reform. ( read more)
Recent recommendations on prison reform from a New Mexico taskforce stop short of calling for comprehensive changes, but DPA New Mexico has jumped in with a letter to Governor Bill Richardson outlining additional steps the state can take to create real reform.
The Prison Reform Taskforce was convened this spring by the governor, bringing together a consortium of criminal justice leaders and employees from around the state. ( read more)
Congressional staffers and members of the press packed a hearing room on Capitol Hill Wednesday for Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA) announcement of the first federal marijuana decriminalization bill in decades.
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Several months ago my colleague Naomi Long and I had an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for a repeal of the federal prohibition that blocks states from using their share of HIV/AIDS prevention money on syringe exchange programs. We had a hard-hitting conclusion: As many as 300,000 Americans could contract HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C over the next decade because of a lack of access to sterile syringes. ( read more)
The entire reason Mr. Dillmann used this reference on his beer caps is because he lives in Weed, California. ( read more)
In case anyone out there has ever doubted the suitability of calling it the War on Drugs, please visit this website.
Doesn't get more warlike than death, collateral damage, acquittal, and double standards.
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to assist in medical marijuana dispensary raids?
Times story. ( read more)
Times' Sandy Banks wrote an article on Saturday criticizing the DEA's raiding tactics. By DEA standards, the raid on Organica Collective was par for the course: they dressed to the nines in protective gear, handcuffed employees and patients alike, and confiscated everything they could. ( read more)
there are simply too many I've run across today. A brief summary:
Seattle Times: the local police don't think sick people should be smoking cannabis. ( read more)
It's the first decriminalization bill to hit the House floor since 1978. The victory here is that they're starting to discuss it again, since it's highly unlikely to pass a House vote - in fact, it'll probably die in some weird terrorism or judiciary committee.
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This is exciting!
Tens of thousands have died because of this federal policy. ( read more)
on the violence in Sinaloa, a Mexican state allegedly buried in drug trafficking.
This time, civilians in the way of alleged narco-traffickers were slaughtered.
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So says Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis Jones, anyway. The ABC program 20/20 aired an episode the other day about Rachel Hoffman, the 23-year-old recent college graduate whom the Tallahassee police used as a confidential informant. ( read more)
foregin policy, unsurprisingly, making matters exponentially worse. Check out the DPA news summary regarding recent increased violence in Mexico.
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She was thirteen. An honor student. ( read more)
Thousands of people descended upon New Orleans this week to attend the 37th annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) summit. The conference serves as a melting pot of Legislators and their families, lobbyists (who all lament their bad rap), and advocates to discuss issues important to their states. ( read more)
Somewhere in Argentina, a man is growing marijuana on his balcony, with the blessing of the Camara Federal, a court of appeals. They overturned his conviction, calling it unconstitutional.
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This article provides, once again, more proof that ONDCP is crazy, their addiction to the drug war requiring a schizophrenic denial of reality.
While Ellen has already commented upon this, I wanted to add my own take.
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I'm new here. New to the Drug Policy Alliance, new to drug policy, period. ( read more)
by giving out clean syringes to local users, an act which could buy him jail time. Day stands on one side of a debate going on in San Antonio about syringe exchanges. ( read more)
Jim Anthony, Chair of Epidemiology at Michigan State University, recently released results from an ongoing study: Toward a Global View of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis and Cocaine Use: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Sarah Lynch discusses the study - and its 'expert' critics - for Time Magazine, in An American Pastime: Smoking Pot. ( read more)
New research by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows that there is no link in NSW between the decline in heroin use and the rise in amphetamine type substance (ATS) use. ( read more)
In the last few weeks:
* Nearly six tons of cocaine were seized from a homemade submarine in waters off of Oaxaca.
nbsp; * More than 20 people were killed in the span of a week in the city of Culiacán.
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This has prompted calls for more effective coordination of policing and public health efforts. ( read more)
Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton is the new golden boy of baseball. Hamilton's record-breaking performance in Major League Baseball's All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium on Monday is a living testament to that fact that people who struggled with drugs in the past can change their lives in a positive way. ( read more)
Heath Ledger's haunting role as the Joker in the Dark Knight will hit the screens nationwide this weekend. Joker performance and there is already buzz that he might win an Oscar for the role posthumously. ( read more)
Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton is the new golden boy of baseball. Hamilton's record-breaking performance in Major League Baseball's All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium last week is a living testament to the fact that people who struggled with drugs in the past can change their lives in a positive way. ( read more)
The New York Post hit a new low on Tuesday when they deemed Britney Spears having a cigarette in the company of her son worthy of front page news. Wars rage on in Iraq and Afghanistan while Americans face losing their jobs and houses at home but The Post thinks Britney's cigarette trumps it all. ( read more)
This has prompted calls for more effective coordination of policing and public health efforts. In Vancouver, Canada, a supervised injection facility (SIF) was established in 2003. ( read more)
According to The Washington Post, the sheriff of St. Mary's county in Maryland has reinstated DARE. ( read more)
was valid. America's fear of HIV/AIDS has gone on too long. ( read more)
Like depression, addiction affects tens of millions of Americans. How best to treat it is a serious a question we need to explore. ( read more)
On June 27th, the Dallas Morning News reported that the Resource Center of Dallas would be commemorating National HIV Testing Day by offering free HIV testing. Also on that day, the Washington Post published an article about how HIV/AIDS infections were up 12% in young men who have sex with men (MSM) and up 1.5% in the entire MSM demographic. ( read more)
First off, I would like to thank the New York Times for continually calling out the failure of drug prohibition policies, most recently in the July 2nd Late Edition Editorial.
The counternarcotics effort has produced some successes. ( read more)
demand for illicit drugs.
citizenry demands illicit drugs, however, victory cannot be achieved. ( read more)
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