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Drug War Chronicle

Comprehensive coverage of the War on Drugs since 1997

  • Even the feds can no longer sustain current mass incarceration policies. (US Supreme Court)
    Even the feds can no longer sustain current mass incarceration policies. (US Supreme Court)

    DOJ to Sentencing Commission: Fewer Prisoners, Please

    The Justice Department is signaling it wants a smaller federal prison population because we can't afford our mass incarceration binge anymore, but it doesn't want to talk about the drug war.
  • medical-marijuana COLO DOT_3.jpg
    medical-marijuana COLO DOT_3.jpg

    Medical Marijuana Rescheduling Lawsuit Moving

    Ten years after the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis filed a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule I and one year after the DEA rejected that petition, a federal appeals court is set to hear the evidence.
  • activists protest exclusion of drug users and sex workers (conference video at http://drogriporter.hu/en)
    activists protest exclusion of drug users and sex workers (conference video at http://drogriporter.hu/en)

    "You Can't Stop AIDS Without Ending the Drug War" [FEATURE]

    The International AIDS Conference in Washington this week saw foreign drug users and sex workers excluded even amidst a rising clamor for ending the drug war to help stop the spread of disease.
  • coca plant (UNODC)
    coca plant (UNODC)

    Colombian Coca Cultivation Ticks Upward

    Coca production in Colombia ticked upward last year after four straight years of declines, the UNODC said in a new report. It's still way down from its peak, though.
  • MMJ leaf and stethoscope KY ODCP_42.jpg
    MMJ leaf and stethoscope KY ODCP_42.jpg

    Medical Marijuana Update

    Harborside fights for its life, LA bans dispensaries, and Oregon transplant hospitals are lightening up on medical marijuana patients. Those are the big stories this week, but there's plenty more, too.
  • Do_Not_Cross,_Crime_Scene_17.jpg
    Do_Not_Cross,_Crime_Scene_17.jpg

    Two More US Drug War Deaths

    One man is dead after swallowing drugs and being hit with a stun gun in Indianapolis as he tried to flee an arrest. Another is dead in Massachusetts after he was shot trying to flee an arrest in his car.
  • pile-of-cash_75.jpg
    pile-of-cash_75.jpg

    This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

    Bad cop, no donut for a Miami sergeant, two more TSA screeners cop pleas in LA, and a Phoenix cop couldn't keep his paws off the evidence room goodies.
  • 00new approach.jpg
    00new approach.jpg

    Washington Marijuana Initiative Has Good Week

    Washington state's I-502 marijuana legalization initiative did well in polling this week and even better in fundraising. This thing could win, and it has the money to help make that happen.
  • signs in business reflect community support (all photos by Drug War Chronicle)
    signs in business reflect community support (all photos by Drug War Chronicle)

    Oakland to President Obama: Change Your Ways! [FEATURE]

    In one of the largest medical marijuana demonstrations in years, as many as a thousand people came out in Oakland Monday to let President Obama know he needs to end the federal crackdown on dispensaries.