Drug War Chronicle #560 - November 14, 2008

After eight years of Republican rule and the Bush presidency, drug policy and related reformers are ready for change. They have some concrete ideas, too. Here's a look at them and the prospects for change in Washington.

With the Bush administration preparing to leave town, so is drug czar John Walters. Now the question is who will replace him... and should he be replaced at all?

Last week we wrote seeking support for StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet)'s lobbying programs, to help us lobby the Obama administration and Congress on causes near and dear to the hearts of drug reformers with which the President-Elect has said he agrees. This week we are seeking tax deductible donations to our educational programs, especially our web site, on which readership continues to go up and up.

Crooked policing sparks lawsuits in Oakland and New Haven, another jail guard goes down, so does a Border Patrol inspector, a Louisiana narc gets busted for burglary, and an Illinois cop gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Do drug defendants have the constitutional right to cross-examine the laboratory analysts who prepare crime lab reports? That was the question before the Supreme Court in oral arguments Monday.

Texas is the latest state to see an effort to ban salvia divinorum with a bill introduced this week. Another bill would limit its sales to adults, but it's not the one getting attention.

People busted with dirty pipes or needles in Cleveland will no longer face felony drug possession charges -- unless they try really hard.

A pair of would-be North Dakota hemp farmers were in a federal appeals court Wednesday as they resumed their bid to get the federal government out of their way.

Five years ago, the Thai government waged a "war on drugs" that left nearly 3,000 people dead in less than three months. Now, it has declared a new drug war, and human rights groups are issuing warnings.

The lower house of the Czech parliament has approved reforms to the penal code that would decriminalize marijuana possession and separate "hard" and "soft" drugs.

The Swiss will vote November 30 on whether to decriminalize marijuana and whether to continue the government's ongoing four pillars drug strategy, complete with prescription heroin.

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

The Marijuana Policy Project is seeking a Legislative Analyst to work in its State Policies Department in Washington, and a Campaign Manager for an Upcoming Ballot Initiative in Arizona.