Is the Drug War a Well Polished Lie?
A leading Mexican journalist with deep knowledge of the drug war, claims that government corruption and back alley deals with the DEA carry a heavy load of responsibility for facilitating and encouraging the war.
Topic
drug war
57 articles
Law & PoliticsLink
How the DEA Seized a College Student's Entire Life Savings, Without Charging Him With a Drug Crime
Carrying cash is not a crime. But that didn't stop the federal government from seizing $11,000 from Charles Clarke. Charles, a 24-year-old college student, was flying home after visiting family and friends in Cincinnati, when he lost his entire life savings to civil forfeiture.
Pot LuckLink
Imagine if the Media Covered Alcohol Like Other Drugs
An ongoing drug epidemic has swept the US, killing hundreds and sickening thousands more on a daily basis. The widespread use of a substance called "alcohol" — also known as "booze" — has been linked to erratic and even dangerous behavior, ranging from college students running naked down public streets to brutal attacks and robberies.
Border Patrol Turns Immigration Checkpoint Into Drug Trap
If the border patrol is just becoming the DEA with a new name, we have some serious problems on our hands. One such incident occurred in early May near the New York/Canadian border.
Law & PoliticsLink
New DEA Chief Claims He Will Not Focus on Marijuana
While the domestic War on Drugs has been supported for nearly four decades by Michele Leonhart, it appears as though some of her misguided policies, mostly those rooted in Reagan’s anti-reefer regime, may finally come crashing down with the recent appointment of the new leader of the DEA.
CannabusinessLink
The End of the War on Drugs and the Emergence of the Venture-Backed Cannabis Industry
When news broke that Founders Fund, the proudly contrarian venture firm helmed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, was going to invest a major $75 million in Privateer Holdings, a company focused on producing, distributing and educating consumers about legal marijuana, it opened the floodgates for other investors to barrel in.
Sonoma County, California, Wages Quiet War On Weed
Yarrow Kubrin was recently to be sentenced to four years in prison. His crime? He was growing medical cannabis in complete compliance with state laws.
Law & PoliticsLink
Do Marijuana Prisoners Deserve Amnesty?
What to do with the prisoners of a failed war? Since 2012, when voters in Colorado and Washington approved the tax and sale of recreational marijuana, the cognitive dissonance of America's drug penalties has become even more absurd.
There Is No Excuse to Bring Up Freddie Gray's Drug History
Freddie Gray's criminal background of several drug related offenses has been being tossed around quite a bit by people who bring it up as though it somehow justifies what happened to him.
Law & PoliticsLink
New Bill Would End Federal MMJ Patient Prosecutions
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has introduced a new bill which appears to target the same aims of the so-called “Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment,” which many advocates claimed would end federal raids in medical marijuana states when it passed by bipartisan vote last year.
Cannabis and Child Care: Why Discretion Is Key
My advice: discretion until they are 18. A recent story out of Kansas illustrates perfectly why I feel this way. An 11 year old boy who's mother is a medical cannabis user took issue with some of the "factual" nonsense his school was saying about cannabis and spoke out in its defense, claiming that his mother used it.
Cop Sexually Assaults Teen Caught With Weed, Avoids Felony Charge and Keeps Law Enforcement Certificate
Nebraskan law enforcement officer, Cory Cooper, discovered a small amount of cannabis during a traffic stop, and proceeded to use it to extort a teenager into performing sexual acts on him.
Back-Fire: How Getting Busted Made Me a Drug-Policy Activist
My experience, seeing the unfairness of the drug war laid bare before me, crystallized in my mind to form the nucleus of all my drug war efforts.
Law & PoliticsLink
Ex-Drug Officer Says He Stole Cash, Planted Drugs Many Times
A disgraced ex-police officer testifying against his drug squad colleagues acknowledged Tuesday that he stole drug money, planted evidence and lied on police paperwork too many times to count. Jeffrey Walker told jurors that the Philadelphia Police Department drug squad targeted white "college-boy ... khaki-pants types" who were "easy to intimidate."
Law & PoliticsLink
DEA Used Drug War as an Excuse to Spy on American Citizens
An exposé published last week by USA Today reveals that the practice of spying on American citizens had nothing to do with monitoring terrorist activity post 9/11, but that it was actually a program launched in the early nineties by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a means to further combat the drug war.
U.S. Government Finally Admits Cannabis Can Kill Cancer Cells
Many are screaming "hypocrisy," and with good reason. How can the U.S. government continue to classify cannabis as a Schedule I drug while simultaneously admitting, at last, to its medicinal benefits?
Wordplay and Stigma: An Appeal Against the Word Marijuana
As a botanist myself, I always look for the proper names of things — especially plants. There is a reason for this, and any first year plant biology student will learn this.
Law & PoliticsLink
Report: Racial Disparities in Arrests Persist With Legal Pot
The legalization of marijuana in Colorado hasn't solved the racial disparities in enforcement that drug-policy reformers had hoped to end, with blacks still far more likely than whites to be charged with pot-related crimes, a new report says.