Marijuana prohibition has obviously failed... (July 31, 2003)
An editorial rant on the evils of prohibition, and many replies to said rant.

Pot Shots (July 31, 2003)
"The Bush administration has attacked medical marijuana on several fronts, but its latest effort to go after doctors has got the outspoken director of a Santa Cruz-based medical marijuana referral service stepping out of the shadows and onto the warpath. He offers an inside look at how medical marijuana works and why the feds have taken on a war they can't win."

Md. Mom Fights For Medical Marijuana Use (July 31, 2003)
"A Maryland mother [and DrugWar.com list subscriber] who openly admits she smokes marijuana said it's the only way she can cope with her chronic disease and care for her family -- but it is illegal."

Toronto police will take marijuana at no charge (July 31, 2003)
"This morning, up to 450,000 people are expected to stream through the gates of Downsview Park, where they will be searched by one of 1,500 private security guards before gaining access to the Rolling Stones concert."

Not providing marijuana endangers the sick: lawyer (July 31, 2003)
"The federal government is endangering the lives of seriously ill Canadians by forcing them into the black market to obtain marijuana for medicinal use, Ontario's highest court was told yesterday."

Saskatoon marijuana grower in limbo (July 31, 2003)
"The federal government has been ordered to give the drug to people who need it for compassionate reasons. But a Saskatoon business owner who's growing the drug for just that purpose still hasn't been cleared to sell it."

U.S. House Defeats Medical-Marijuana Bill (July 31, 2003)
"In a closer vote than expected, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a bill that would have protected users of medical marijuana from federal prosecution, the San Francisco Chronicle reported July 24."

Cento Sides With Vasco Rossi on Marijuana Legalization (July 31, 2003)
"Vasco Rossi is right, he has the courage to say what the great majority of us think but for hypocrisy we continue to deny: we need to separate the market and consumers of light and heavy drugs. To do this, we need to legalize marijuana as it is already in Holland coffee shops..."

National Park Service Overwhelmed by Marijuana Farms (July 31, 2003)
"National parks in the U.S. are being dotted with so many marijuana farms that park rangers are struggling to weed them out, according to the Aug. 4 issue of Time magazine."

Bush, the Rainforest and a Gas Pipeline to Enrich his Friends (July 31, 2003)
"The plan will enrich some of Mr Bush's closest corporate campaign contributors while risking the destruction of rainforest, threatening its indigenous peoples and endangering rare species on the coast."

Voting Systems 'Can't be Trusted' (July 31, 2003)
"Florida's voting snafus during the 2000 presidential election pale in comparison to the vulnerabilities of high-tech voting machines counties throughout the nation are scrambling to buy in compliance with a new federal law, several top computer scientists are warning."

Marijuana mail-order (July 31, 2003)
"One sign of Canada's growing acceptance of cannabis is the increasing number of marijuana delivery services springing up across the country. These businesses offer nationwide access to fine buds through the magic of mail-order." Order yours today, but only in Canada.

Poll of Health Professionals on the Issue of Medical Marijuana (July 31, 2003)
A vast majority of those who replied to this unscientific but still impressive poll are in favor of people using medical marijuana.

ACLU Challenges U.S. Anti-Terrorism Law (July 31, 2003)
Even those who aren't guilty of anything should be concerned about anti-terror laws and how they are being used in the US.

Dying in Iraq (July 31, 2003- free NYTimes registration required)
"Those are good kids that we're sending into the shooting gallery called Iraq, and unless you have the conviction of a Bush or a Rumsfeld or a Bechtel or a Halliburton, you have to be nursing the sick feeling that each death is a tragic waste, and that this conflict is as much of a fool's errand as the war in Vietnam."

US Drugs Czar piles on pressure to tighten border controls (June 30, 2003)
"USA Drugs Czar, John Walters has called on the Venezuelan government to monitor more effectively its border with Colombia more effectively and stop Colombian guerrillas and narco-traffickers from entering Venezuela."

House GOP ready to up ante for Amtrak aid (July 26, 2003)
"By 400-21, the House approved a measure providing $37.9 billion for the departments of Commerce, State and Justice, about 2 percent more than this year. The Drug Enforcement Administration would get a healthy increase over this year, while FBI would have a level budget and aid to state and local law enforcement agencies would be cut." Just a few months ago the DEA received a failure rating from the White House Office of Management and Budget. Where were these Representatives when that news broke, and why the hell are they forking over yet more of our taxdollars to such a wasteful failure of an agency?

Weeding out marijuana traffickers (July 25, 2003)
"DNA database being developed to track down dealers...Using a single marijuana bud seized anywhere in the world, police would be able to quickly deduce whether a suspect is a homegrown dope dealer or part of an international cartel."

Insurance covers Hilo woman's marijuana (July 25, 2003)
Right on! "VanBuskirk said the case is significant because the mainland insurance company recognized the Hawaii law over the federal prohibition of all uses of marijuana."

The Amazing Stories of Condoleezza Rice (July 25, 2003)
It's almost as though Condoleezza Rice doesn't care that it's obvious to most everyone on the planet that she's been and is lying repeatedly.

Prosecuting doctors who tell of marijuana's medical benefits is wrong (July 25, 2003)
Even CNN is publishing editorials decrying the federal war on medical marijuana users and suppliers and the doctors who dare even discuss the issue with their patients. The whole WOSDU is wrong, but this is a good step in the right direction for CNN.

Growing Outrage- The DEA's medical marijuana raids show contempt for the Constitution (July 25, 2003)
"Today [Wednesday] the House of Representatives rejected an amendment aimed at stopping federal raids on patients who use marijuana and people who provide it to them in states that recognize the drug as a medicine. Sponsored by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.), the amendment would have forbidden the Justice Department (which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration) from spending money to tear up plants, close down clubs, or arrest patients or providers."

Misinformation Clouds Issue of Medical Marijuana (July 25, 2003)
As NORML puts it in responce to this shrill anti-thinking propaganda, "Who do you believe? A paid spokeswoman for the Drug Czar's office, or the RNs [American Nurses Association (ANA)] who have dedicated their lives to attend the needs of the sick and dying?" NORML reports that the ANA had a meeting in Washington, DC just weeks before this article was published, where they resolved to "support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic marijuana."

Ten Questions for Cheney (July 24, 2003)
"Not much is known about the Vice President's role in building the case for war. Members of a key congressional subcommittee want more information."

Iraqi weapons 'now a secondary issue' (July 24, 2003)
"The US Deputy Defence Secretary says finding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is now a secondary issue. The existence of such weapons was cited by Washington and London as justification for going to war, but Paul Wolfowitz says he's no longer concerned about them."

If You're Not Paranoid, You're Not Paying Attention (July 23, 2003)
"There were CIA ties to the Mafia and alliances with Nazis and the messy matter of kidnapping the less fortunate and feeding them LSD [LINK]. Assorted coups and assassinations were also unearthed -- as was the "other" September 11, in 1973, when a U.S.-led coup toppled Chile's democratically-elected Salvador Allende."

Study Says Burgers are as Addictive as Heroin (July 23, 2003)
"Scientists at the University of Wisconsin say high doses of fat and sugar in fast and processed foods act the same way as nicotine, heroin and other substances in becoming habit-forming."

Another Bush Aide Apologizes Over Uranium Flap (July 23, 2003)
"Stephen Hadley said he was warned by the CIA three times that the intelligence was shaky about Iraq's reported efforts to buy uranium in Africa." But Hadley "forgot" about the warnings before the State of the Union Lies...I mean, Address.

400,000 Letters to Congress Seek War Evidence Probe (July 23, 2003)
"More than 400,000 letters have been sent to members of the U.S. Congress backing a call for an independent investigation into intelligence used by the Bush administration to justify the Iraq war, organizers of an online campaign said on Tuesday."

Group: Cheney Task Force Eyed on Iraq Oil (July 23, 2003)
"Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there, according to documents released Friday by a private watchdog group." This was before the September 11 terrorist attacks on US citizens.

For "New Europe's" Mercenaries, War for Oil is A-OK" (July 23, 2003)
"With admirable--if ruthless--honesty, Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimioszewicz openly declared that his nation joined the Anglo-American crusade against Iraq for one purpose only: a share of the plunder from the conquered country's oil fields."

Operation Hidden Agenda (July 23, 2003)
Honest to goodness war criminals, crooks, liars and murderers, these are the folk who lied us into attacking Iraq, subjected US troops to DU and others Gulf War illnessess, invited the enemy to "bring it on" and kill US troops, and countless other crimes against their own citizenry here in the US. Get your deck of cards today.

Warning of Toxic Aftermath from Uranium Munitions (July 23, 2003)
"The American use of depleted uranium munitions in both Persian Gulf wars has unleashed a toxic disaster that will eclipse the Agent Orange tragedy of the Vietnam War, a former top Army official said Monday evening...Rokke said an "infamous memo" from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico on March 1, 1991, warned of the 'impact on the environment' of depleted uranium rounds and suggested that they 'may become politically unacceptable.' Today he interprets the memo as 'a direct order to lie.'"

16 Questions for a Lying Bush (July 23, 2003)
"Mr. President, we need to know why you incorrectly claimed this very week that the war began because Iraq would not admit UN inspectors, when in fact Iraq had admitted the inspectors and you opposed extending their work?" As amazingly revisionist as this statement by Bush was, this is the least serious of the 16 questions posed here.

Democratic Candidate Calls on Cheney to Explain His Role in Intelligence Flap (July 23, 2003)
"Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is calling on Vice President Dick Cheney to explain his role in how the now-disavowed claim that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa ended up in President Bush's State of the Union address."

White House Striking Back? (July 23, 2003)
"Now in an NBC News exclusive, Wilson says his family is the subject of a smear campaign. Wilson tells NBC News the White House deliberately leaked his wife's identity as a covert CIA operative, damaging her future career and compromising past missions after he criticized the administration on 'Meet the Press' and in the New York Times." The White House is smearing its opponents in all kinds of ways.

DAs try antiterror laws for drug cases (July 21, 2003)
"Following the lead of Watauga County, other district attorneys in North Carolina are considering using antiterrorism laws to prosecute accused methamphetamine producers."

Some Dare Call It Treason (July 21, 2003)
"A Story of Two Unidentified 'Senior Administration' Officials Who Allegedly Betrayed the National Security of the United States: No Response from the White House, and No Coverage in the Mainstream Press."

Prosecuting doctors who tell of marijuana's medical benefits is wrong (July 21, 2003)
"The Justice Department has decided that criminalizing marijuana -- a perfectly defensible position -- also requires criminalizing talking about marijuana."

Police Save Man Who Swallows, Chokes on Marijuana Just Purchased (July 21, 2003)
Pot is mostly likely to be bad for you when the cops approach.

Guardsman Face Drug Charges (July 21, 2003)
"Three Army National Guard sergeants are accused of using their positions of authority to transport marijuana from Mexico into Arizona."

Health Canada set to release users' manual for medical marijuana (July 21, 2003)
"The department must also release a manual on how to use its dope - but a draft version of the document shows patients will get little practical advice about ingesting marijuana and lots of warnings against using it at all."

Judge drops drug charge (July 21, 2003)
"A Lauderdale circuit judge has dropped a case against a man accused in a drug-possession case because he said prosecutors breached an agreement to dismiss the charges in exchange for $5,000."

As technology improves, use of bugs, taps broadens (July 21, 2003)
"As technology makes it easier to eavesdrop, electronic surveillance – bugs, body wires, and wiretaps of telephones, cell phones, digital pagers, faxes, computers and e-mail – is increasingly common in criminal probes, particularly in drug cases."

Training highlights police ethics (July 21, 2003)
"Police officers aren't just charged with protecting people. When they are in uniform, they represent a department or agency, a town, city or county -- and their profession."

Halting Drug Reform (July 21, 2003)
"As drug reformers offered each other salt for their wounds, curiously enough, a sort of halting progress has recently emerged. Each step forward was achieved only when reformers managed to capture a fickle media's intermittent attention."

The Next Debate: Al Qaeda Link (July 21, 2003)
"In all the debate over the disputed claims in President Bush's State of the Union address, we must not forget to scrutinize an equally important, and equally suspect, reason given by the administration for toppling Saddam Hussein: Iraq's supposed links to terrorists."

The Crime and the Cover-Up (July 21, 2003)
"When the American government gets hijacked by extremists like the men staffing the Office of Special Plans, when intelligence data stating flatly that Iraq presents no threat to America is disregarded or exaggerated because the truth does not fit ideological desires, when Congress is lied to, when the American people are lied to, when innocent civilians at the sharp end of these lies are left to rot in the dust and the bomb craters on purpose, when American soldiers are shot down in the street because of these lies, no kind of cover-up can be allowed to succeed."

Heavy Marijuana Use Doesn't Damage Brain (July 21, 2003)
"Long-term and even daily marijuana use doesn't appear to cause permanent brain damage, adding to evidence that it can be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of diseases, say researchers."

Rockefeller Drug Rap (July 21, 2003- Free NYTimes registration required)
"Years of disappointment with Albany make it easy to settle for a very little, but Mr. Simmons at least is a relatively fresh entry to the game, and he ought to push harder while he still has the energy."

Have Guns, Will Travel (July 21, 2003- free NYTimes registration required)
Warpigs at the trough. "The Pentagon's plan to hire a private paramilitary force to guard sites in Iraq may have surprised many Americans, but it was really just another example of a remarkable recent development in warfare: the rise of a global trade in hired military services." Bet the citizens of Colombia aren't surprised.

A New Hard-Liner at the DEA (July 19, 2003)
"According to drug-reform activists, the nomination of Tandy – a career Justice Department prosecutor and administrator whose most recent assignments have included busting mail-order bong sellers and those involved in Oregon and California's state-sanctioned medical marijuana programs – is a clear signal from the Administration that it will give no quarter on any aspect of marijuana policy."

America's destructive war on drugs (July 19, 2003)
"The war on drugs has not only failed, but it has destroyed countless lives of individuals who have been caught up in this violent, ineffective and senseless battle."

Passing It Along (July 19, 2003)
"And just as some people argue that the war was justified even though it was sold on false pretenses, some say that the biggest budget deficit in history is justified even though the administration got us here with cooked numbers."

House Committee Chairman Call Cops on Democratic Lawmakers (July 19, 2003)
"Months of political tension in the House of Representatives erupted into open warfare today when Democrats stormed out of a Ways and Means Committee session and the panel's chairman called in the Capitol Police." When the guys with badges and guns obey the orders of one political party to roust the members of another political party in the very halls of government, citizens who care about Freedom should be very, very worried.

Iraq: Denial and Deception (July 19, 2003)
This is the real title the White House itself put at the top of the webpage featuring Bush's State of the Union Speech.

"Not Just Sixteen Words" (July 19, 2003)
"Even more troubling, however, is the fact that the uranium statement appears to be but one of a number of several questionable statements and exaggerations by the Intelligence Community and Administration officials that were issued in the buildup to the war," says Senator Carl Levin, the Ranking Member Senate Armed Services Committee, "It is therefore essential that we have a thorough, open and bipartisan inquiry into the objectivity, credibility and use of U.S. intelligence before the Iraq war."

The Spies Who Pushed for War (July 19, 2003)
"Julian Borger reports on the shadow rightwing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess the CIA and deliver a justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force." As he notes, as Tenent was testifying Wednesday, "it was becoming increasingly clear in Washington that the scandal was only a small, well-documented symptom of a complete breakdown in US intelligence that helped steer America into war." If there's no Congressional oversite of these "intelligence" maniacs, who exactly is in control of the US government?

Tenet Says White House Official Insisted Questionable Information Be Included in Speech, Democrat Says (July 19, 2003)
George Tenent told Congressfolk behind closed doors the name of a White House official who insisted the Niger claims go into the President's State of the Union address despite CIA doubts about the claim, but we the people the US government works for aren't allowed to know that info, yet.

Senate Rebuffs Democrats' Moves to Challenge Bush on Iraq (July 19, 2003)
Proving again that at least some of our Republican politicians are driven by partisan politics, GOP members are blocking efforts to investigate just what the President and his cadre knew, and when they knew it, about the Niger and various other lies used to promote an invasion of Iraq, and are blocking efforts to get the President to spell out how much the on-going Iraq fiasco is going to cost US taxpayers.

Enter the FBI (July 19, 2003)
Although the FBI is investigating now, "Only three months ago, FBI director Robert Mueller had brushed aside a request from Congress to probe the Niger documents after bureau officials concluded that the forgeries did not appear to be part of a broader disinformation campaign to influence U.S. policy by a foreign intelligence service."

Prison Industry Has a Lock on Davis (July 17, 2003)
"Davis has accepted $3.4 million in campaign contributions from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) – the state's prison guards' union. The union gave Davis the largest single check he has ever received from a group – $251,000. And Davis is repaying them many times over."

Officer denies drug sales charges (July 17, 2003)
"On seven occasions in June and earlier this month, Springfield police officer Vincent I. Savage wasn't helping get drugs off the streets - he was doing the opposite, according to prosecutors and state police."

Bush's Revisionist History (July 17, 2003)
"Defending the broader decision to go to war with Iraq, the president said the decision was made after he gave Saddam Hussein 'a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in.'" Bush has apparently lost his mind.

No Stun Grenades Since Death in Raid, as Debate Continues (July 17, 2003- free NYTimes registration required)
"A civil rights group yesterday cited the change as proof that the grenades had been used excessively, while a police union leader said his members were concerned that without them, more officers and suspects could be injured or killed."

US Troops Doing the Work for Halliburton (July 17, 2003)
"Soldiers say most of their work involves civilian contractor Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton Corp. The company has contracts to haul fuel, and 319th members are riding along as armed escorts. 'The main reason we're still here is to support Brown and Root,' said Sgt. 1st Class David Uthe, 45, of Augusta."

Dirty Tricks, Inc.: The DynCorp-Government Connection (July 17, 2003)
"Organized White-Collar Crime is the absolute essence of Mega-Corporate-Government Business."

State Medical Marijuana Laws (July 16, 2003)
"Although federal law prohibits any use or possession of marijuana, more than half of the U.S. states have enacted favorable medical marijuana laws since 1978. However, most of the laws are ineffective because of their contradiction to the federal prohibition...Click on the states in the map below to see their medical marijuana policies, based on information from NORML and the Marijuana Policy Project."

Calif. Doctor's License at Risk Over Medical Marijuana (July 16, 2003)
"According to the Medical Board of California, Dr. Tod Mikuriya has written 7,500 recommendations for medical marijuana. Mikuriya has been a vocal supporter of the use of marijuana for medical purposes for many years."

President Of Medical Marijuana Clinic Pleads Guilty (July 16, 2003)
"Scott Imler, president of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison but is expected to receive less time under federal sentencing guidelines. He could be fined up to $500,000."

Police chief's son pleads not guilty in marijuana arrest (July 16, 2003)
"Three men, including the son of Hattiesburg Police Chief David Wynn, have entered not guilty pleas to misdemeanor possession of marijuana charges."

Marijuana Use Not Raising as Many Eyebrows (July 16, 2003)
"While more people are mellowing out their attitude when it comes to the use of marijuana, they aren't nearly as laid back about other illegal drugs."

Senator Banks mellows out on marijuana (July 16, 2003)
"When Tommy Banks was a new senator a few years ago, someone asked him whether marijuana should be more available in Canada and he didn't like the idea. What a difference two years and 600-plus pages of research can make."

Frustrated Toronto MD quits medical marijuana committee (July 16, 2003)
"A Toronto doctor living with AIDS has quit a federal advisory group on medical marijuana in frustration, saying it's now clear to him Health Minister Anne McLellan doesn't want to provide pot to those who need it."

Reform school students forced to eat vomit (July 16, 2003)
These maniacs running these torture camps have an incredibly sick sense of Reform.

Mistrust Mixes With Misery in Heat of Baghdad Police Post (July 16, 2003)
"'U.S. officials need to get our [expletive] out of here,' said the 43-year-old reservist from Pittsburgh, who arrived in Iraq with the 307th Military Police Company on May 24. 'I say that seriously. We have no business being here...'"

Celebrate America- by Asking Where It's Heading (July 16, 2003)
Veteran peace activist William "Bud" Combswill spend some of his 90 day sentence for protesting at the US Terror-training school once known as the School of the Americas, now called Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, for passing on "propaganda" to other prisoners. "The offending 'propaganda' included commentary by such extremists as Bill Moyers and Ellen Goodman, and included an article published in Reader's Digest. The common thread was that they all questioned the wisdom of government policy."

All Spin All The Time (July 16, 2003)
"Viva Nihilism! It must be great working in the Bush White House. Zero accountability. It's All Spin, All the Time. Nothing matters but politics, hence no unfounded claim requires correction or apology."

Uranium hazard prompts cancer check on troops (July 16, 2003)
"Experts have calculated that from all sources between 1,000 and 2,000 tonnes of depleted uranium were used by the coalition in the three-week conflict." Seems that Depleted Uranium is actually dangerous after all, and that the invader troops should be checked for exposure upon return to their prospective countries. Hmmm.

Court Rejects Davidian Claim Against U.S. (July 16, 2003)
"A federal appeals court rejected an attempt by survivors to collect damages from the government for the deadly 1993 confrontation outside Waco, Texas, between federal agents and members of the Branch Davidian cult." These poor people are still getting screwed by the US federal government.

Trading on fear (July 14, 2003)
"From the start, the invasion of Iraq was seen in the US as a marketing project. Selling 'Brand America' abroad was an abject failure; but at home, it worked."

Colombia's Results (July 14, 2003)
How the Washington Post can publish this editorial claiming Plan Colombia is succeeding is a maddening mystery.

Plan Colombia seen as failing (July 14, 2003)
"Several government reports and experts on Capitol Hill say Plan Colombia, the U.S.-backed war on drugs in the South American nation, is failing. Some say the State Department is mismanaging the operation."

Why does 9/11 Inquiry Scare Bush? (July 14, 2003)
"The Bush administration has never wanted an inquiry into the intelligence and law-enforcement failures that led up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and it is doing its best to make sure we never get one."

High Comedy (July 14, 2003)
"Why a House committee's recent appropriation of money to fund anti-drug advertising was a laughable waste." This is an article published last month, but still highly pertinent.

Ex-Administration Officials Dismiss Iraq Tie To Al-Qaida (July 14, 2003)
"Before the war on Iraq, President George W. Bush accused Saddam Hussein of harboring top al-Qaida operatives. Now two former Bush administration intelligence officials are dismissing those claims."

Bush Aides Now Say Claim on Uranium Was Accurate (July 14, 2003)
The Bush administration doesn't know which way is up or down, changing their story by the day, trotting out established liars such as Condoleeza Rice to insist that, hey, what do you know, despite the White House admission that the Niger claim was faked it doesn't matter as it is still true. What? Are these people on drugs or more likely, forgetting to take their medications? The CIA got that uranium reference cut from another Bush speech in October, months before his State of the Union Address, so what exactly the Bush administration is talking about now is a mystery.

Drug Giant Accused of False Claims (July 13, 2003)
“I think that they’re greedy, and they just are after money. And they don’t really care about the person who takes the medicine, obviously.”

We have lost the war on drugs (July 13, 2003)
"The 'War on Drugs' has failed. Perhaps it is a war that could never have been won."

Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False (July 13, 2003)
To reiterate, CBS news has reported that not only was the allegation about Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger totally false, Bush knew it was false and used it anyway in his Constitutionally-mandated State of the Union Address. It's really all a question of trust, but trusting Bush to do anything honestly for the people he rules...leads I mean, is not a great idea it appears.

I only sells crack and heroin .. I get £50 a day and give me mum £20 'cos she's so skint (July 13, 2003)
"The police can't search you without the permission of an adult. I've never been nicked but they can't do me anyway. "All's they can do is ask us who's carrying the gear. We tell them it's someone else and then ride off on our bikes. It's that easy," says this 12 year old dealer in Liverpool, England.

All War All The Time (July 13, 2003)
While this is an interesting look at the "new" perpetual war that Dick Cheney called the "new normalcy" back in October 2001, it completely ignores the never-ending War on Some Drugs and Users, the US war on ourselves, our friends, families and neighbors that has gone on for decades, wracking up millions of victims as it goes.

The Madness Of King George (July 13, 2003)
"Folks, our God-fearing president, George W. Bush, who claims to start every morning on his knees praying, now says that he gets his orders from God Himself... OK, I've been shilly-shallying around here, hesitant to come right out and say what I think, but I'm becoming convinced that our president, the man with his finger on the nuclear trigger, is a bona fide nutcase."

Also moved in advance (July 13, 2003)
"Yet to truly curtail the culture of addiction, the people of Rio Arriba say they must ultimately address its underlying causes: the lack of jobs and opportunity, their faltering faith in the future."

FIU to examine drug use among Hispanic groups (July 13, 2003)
"As the nation's population becomes more diverse, so should its efforts to stop drug use, experts say."

National House of Waffles (July 13, 2003)
"Dissembling over peccadillos is pathetic. Dissembling over pre-emptive strikes is pathological, given over 200 Americans dead and 1,000 wounded in Iraq, and untold numbers of dead Iraqis."

For Democrats Challenging Bush, Ashcroft Is Exhibit A (July 13, 2003- free NYTimes registration required)
Democrats claim they don't want Ashcroft tampling any more civil rights.

Civics lesson or country music concert? You decide (July 13, 2003)
The Dixie Chicks are true American heroines. "Their March 12 statement is still ringing loud and clear. It read in part,
'. . . one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view.' The Chicks were saying they are not backing down. They are proud to be able to speak freely."

Medical Marijuana Case Goes to Supreme Court (July 12, 2003)
The madmen prohibitionists in the Bush Administration want to take away doctors' licenses if they recommend marijuana to their patients, even in those states which have legalized medical marijuana use by their citizens.

Collateral damage in the war on drugs (July 12, 2003)
"Long sentences for nonviolent offenders pack state prisons and wreck families."

Medical Marijuana in Colorado (July 12, 2003)
"The Canadian Government announced recently that, following an Ontario court ruling, it would begin growing and selling marijuana for medical use by its citizens...As KUNC's Jim Williams reports, some Colorado officials will be watching to see what effects, if any, it has on drug crime, and availability."

U.S. Report on 9/11 to be 'Explosive' (July 12, 2003)
"A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists."

Bush Team United Iraq Front Unravels (July 12, 2003)
"Use of flawed intelligence opens a Pandora's box."

9/11 Inquiry Alleges Witness Intimidation (July 12, 2003)
"A US panel investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks yesterday accused the Pentagon and the justice department of obstructing the inquiry and said witnesses were being intimidated."

Bush Knew Iraq Info Was Dubious (July 12, 2003)
"The statement was technically correct, since it accurately reflected the British paper. But the bottom line is the White House knowingly included in a presidential address information its own CIA had explicitly warned might not be true." Of course, there's also the report that the "CIA [also] Asked Britain To Drop Iraq Claim."

Investigations of Chemicals Will Continue (July 12, 2003- free NYTimes registration required)
"The Pentagon has assured Congress that it will not shut down its inquiry into a cold war program that tested the vulnerability of American forces to chemical or biological attack."

Police council considers changing drug rules (July 12, 2003)
"The state's Police Standards and Training Council believes it's too harsh to rule out potential officers who, as juveniles, gave drugs to someone. The council instead wants to bar only people who sold drugs for profit."

Rumsfeld admits evidence for war was not new (July 10, 2003)
"The Bush Administration conceded yesterday that it had no 'dramatic new evidence' about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction before the war — an admission in stark contrast to claims it made earlier this year to justify the invasion."

Canada Begins Medical Marijuana Sales (July 10, 2003)
"Canada's government has begun selling medical marijuana to seriously sick people and their suppliers."

Judge Looks for Legal 'Hook' in Medical-Marijuana Case (July 10, 2003)
"U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose, Calif., has asked medical-marijuana advocates to help him find a legal "hook" to prevent federal drug agents from raiding a Santa Cruz medical-marijuana cooperative, the San Francisco Chronicle reported July 8."

Giving a graceless okay to medical marijuana (July 10, 2003)
"Like a recalcitrant teenager ordered to do her homework or lose her TV privileges, Health Minister Anne McLellan has waited until the last possible moment to make medical marijuana available to Canadians, as directed by the courts." Now the government must give doctors medical marijuana to dispense to patients.

How to Rig an Election in the United States (July 10, 2003)
Will the lies told by the Bush administration to justify the killings of so many people in Iraq matter come election time? Perhaps not if this article has its facts correct. It's not so difficult to rig an election if We the People accept the touchscreen voting machines.

Medical Marijuana: Health Canada Deals Herb Prohibited in US (July 10, 2003)
"The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Health, today announced that in response to the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Hitzig et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen, the Government of Canada is adopting an interim policy on the provision of marihuana for medical purposes."

Ozzy Osbourne to campaign against drugs (July 10, 2003)
How this headline got put on the top of this article is a mystery. Nowhere does Ozzy say anything anti-drugs here. In fact he sounds more anti-War on Drugs. He makes no bones about his own addictions, so why would he promote War upon himself and family?

More Evidence Bush Misled Nation (July 10, 2003)
"If you blinked – or were busy buying hot-dogs and beer for a Fourth of July cookout – you might have missed the latest evidence that George W. Bush misrepresented the threat from Iraq as he guided the country into invasion and occupation in the Middle East...In other words, Bush lied."

Victims of the War on Drugs (July 10, 2003)
"Outsiders find it hard to believe that residents of dangerous communities -- those most in need of police services -- can be anti-police. Our drug laws create this paradox...Those at the receiving end of our drug policy know it simply doesn't work. People will riot as long as police keep locking them up without anything getting better."

AmeriKKKa's Racist War on Drugs is No Mistake (July 10, 2003)
"The only real answer is legalization, especially in the face of facts that this "RACIST WAR" is proposly targeting minorities for what they choose to ingest. The same thing would happen to whites if tobacco and alcohol users were targeted for criminatization," write Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion.

DA Meets With Drug Czar To Combat Drugs (July 10, 2003)
More plans to waste US taxmoney and lives.

The Pentagon's Plan for Tracking Everything That Moves (July 10, 2003)
"Everything is set for a new Pentagon program to become perhaps the federal government's widest reaching, most invasive mechanism yet for keeping us all under watch. Not in the far-off, dystopian future. But here, and soon."

Wrestling for the Truth of 9/11 (July 10, 2003)
"The Bush administration, long allergic to the idea of investigating the government's failure to prevent the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is now doing its best to bury the national commission that was created to review Washington's conduct."

Six bikers arrested in local ATF raid (July 10, 2003)
"More than 170 local and federal officers staged a series of pre-dawn raids Tuesday, arresting two local leaders of the Hells Angels and four other area men and seizing drugs and firearms."

White House 'Warned Over Iraq Claim' (July 10, 2003)
It appears that the CIA is not appreciative of all the talk about "how could our intelligence agencies give the poor President such bad info" that is coming out of our spineless politicians. Now the White House is on the defensive over intelligence.

Government research on medical marijuana produces no results after four years (July 10, 2003)
"Four years after former health minister Allan Rock announced a major effort to assess the medical benefits of marijuana, not a single study has been completed and the whole research program is clouded with uncertainty."

White House Admits Bush Lied About Iraqi Nukes (July 9, 2003)
Will US reporters actually ask Bush himself about his lies, or will they continue to treat this guy with kid gloves?

A Diplomat's Undiplomatic Truth: They Lied (July 9, 2003)
"They may have finally found the smoking gun that nails the culprit responsible for the Iraq war. Unfortunately, the incriminating evidence wasn't left in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces but rather in Vice President Dick Cheney's office."

Court Allows Suit on Cheney's Energy Panel (July 9, 2003)
Will the VP finally face the music? "A federal appeals court dealt a setback to the Bush administration Tuesday, refusing to stop a lawsuit delving into Vice President Dick Cheney's contacts with the energy industry as his task force was drafting the White House's energy policy."

THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR: The First Casualty (July 7, 2003)
US Troops are dying over this, as are Iraqis, while US taxes are paying for the invasion and subsequent occupation.

In the War on Drugs, everyone's a loser (July 7, 2003)
"I never pass up an opportunity to write about the War on Drugs. Every time the local drug warriors do anything, I perk right up because invariably one of the warriors is going to say something that makes no sense."

Marijuana group awaits ruling (July 7, 2003)
"A federal judge promised Monday to decide 'soon' whether to restrain the U.S. government from acting against a medicinal marijuana users' group in Santa Cruz whose farm it raided in September." The group, the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, claim that the raid was illegal.

Stoudamire is arrested on marijuana charges (July 7, 2003)
"Damon Stoudamire was arrested on marijuana charges after allegedly trying to pass through an airport metal detector with almost 1 1/2 ounces of the drug wrapped in aluminum foil." This is the third time in 18 months he's gotten busted for pot.

White House Backs Off Claim on Iraqi Buy (July 7, 2003)
"The Bush administration acknowledged for the first time yesterday that President Bush should not have alleged in his State of the Union address in January that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Africa to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program."

If You Don't Want To Know, Then Don't Ask (July 7, 2003)
"Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear-weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat....Those news stories about that unnamed former envoy who went to Niger? That's me."

Judge dismisses pot conviction (July 7, 2003)
"A Fairbanks judge ruled the Alaska Constitution guarantees a local man the right to possess marijuana for personal use in his home."

Drugs rife in defence force (July 7, 2003)
Australia's Northern Territory has some stoned soldiers serving in its military.

A Day to 'Begin the World Over Again' (July 5, 2003)
"As long as no one tells John Ashcroft or Dick Cheney that this holiday honors revolutionaries who threw off the chains of colonialism, empire, monarchy and the state-sponsored religion that were - and remain - the primary threats to freedom and human advancement, the Fourth is probably safe from interference from our contemporary King George and his churlish courtiers."

US Intelligence Relied on Old Data in Assessing Iraqi Weapons (July 5, 2003)
"A CIA internal review panel has concluded that US intelligence analysts lacked new, hard information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and relied on data from the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the Iraq war, The Washington Post reported."

Getting High Off NAFTA (July 3, 2003)
"The United States is a huge importer of a Mexican product that legally isn't supposed to be here: marijuana. Much of the drug comes through Tucson, Arizona, just 70 miles from the border. As Julia Barton reports from Tucson, the long-standing pot trade isn't all bad for the local economy."

Libraries wrestle with access issues (July 3, 2003)
"To enter the main library's men's room, Khalid Wafi passed through two doors with signs warning that drugs were prohibited in the building and violators would be prosecuted. Neither deterred him from his last high."

Tories pledge 20,000 drug clinic places (July 3, 2003)
"A Conservative government would instigate a tenfold expansion of drug rehabilitation places, the party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, pledged today."

Keeping Heroin Users Safe From the Police (July 3, 2003)
This reporter, Paul Walfield, doesn't like the idea of heroin users being safe while they use. He thinks it's "stupid." The editor of DrugWar.com thinks his postion is "stupid."

Scheme to slash drug-use deaths (July 3, 2003)
"The Liverpool-based group HIT wants to raise awareness among drugs-users on how to manage their habit more safely, to advise their loved ones on dealing with an overdose and to develop a working protocol between the emergency services."

Ex-drug cop jailed for trafficking (July 3, 2003)
"Sentencing the former senior constable, Judge Michael McInerney in the County Court said he rejected totally Paton's claim he had been led into corruption by the culture of the drug squad. To accept such an argument demeaned all those police officers who were not corrupt as well as others who had not abused their positions of trust in society, Judge McInerney said."

Detective sacked after seven-year inquiry into police links to 'powerful drugs baron' (July 3, 2003)
What do you know, more police corrupted by the riches which prohibition enables these "powerful drugs barons" to make by selling illegal drugs.

Officer suspended in drug corruption probe (July 3, 2003)
A major source for corruption of police officers would be eradicated if currently illegal drugs became legalized. Prohibition creates crime.

Prison population rises as alternatives wither (July 3, 2003)
"Even though studies show programs offering treatment and alternatives to prison save money, the various departments that deal with defendants and convicts have cut staff and trimmed funding."

Iraqis Defy Bush, Wound Seven U.S. Soldiers in Attacks (July 3, 2003)
What the editor of DrugWar.com wants to know is: Why in the world did the Commander in Chief invite enemy forces to attack our own troops? Is this guy out of him mind?

Bush's 'surreal' choice for AIDS czar (July 3, 2003)
"US President George W Bush's 'surprise' choice of a former top executive of a major US pharmaceutical company and major Republican contributor as his global AIDS coordinator has drawn expressions of concern and even outrage among Africa and AIDS activists here."

FBI investigates possible drug theft, Lone Jack police (July 3, 2003)
"The FBI is investigating the possible theft of drugs being held as evidence by the Lone Jack Police Department."

US Support For War Fades As Casualties Mount (July 3, 2003)
What about the support for the domestic War on Some Drugs and Users? The casualties continue to mount, much closer to home, but we hear little from our media pundits about fading support for this stupid, evil war.

Iraq, "The White Man's Burden" (July 3, 2003)
"In Iraq, George W. Bush is in the process of discovering the paradox of imperialism. As Rudyard Kipling said when he celebrated 'The White Man's Burden', there can only be a durable victory if the conqueror becomes the servant of his captives."

Fire chief pawned valuables, police say (July 3, 2003)
"DuPont Fire Chief Rick Stillwaugh pawned his family valuables, used a spoon from the fire department to liquefy heroin and illegally bought prescription painkillers to satisfy a drug addiction, according to police reports obtained by The News Tribune."

Re-Lighting the Torches of America's Soul (July 2, 2003)
"The upshot of all these recent revelations of Bush Administration greed and skullduggery, stealth power-mongering, and gross lying is that the American people have been given the tools with which to measure their sense of morality and spirituality against the shadow forces that, for the moment, dominate U.S. policy."

Ministers Knew War Papers Were Forged, Says Diplomat (July 2, 2003)
"A high-ranking American official who investigated claims for the CIA that Iraq was seeking uranium to restart its nuclear programme last night accused Britain and the US of deliberately ignoring his findings to make the case for war against Saddam Hussein."

Pentagon Had 50 Tests Of Chemical, Biological Weapons Involving Military Personnel (July 2, 2003)
"Several House members are asking Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to keep alive the Pentagon's investigation into 50 chemical and biological weapons tests in the 1960s that involved 5,842 military personnel."

Rights Group Says U.S. Detentions Of Iraqis May Violate International Law (July 2, 2003)
"Amnesty International said Monday it has gathered evidence that points to U.S. violations of international law by subjecting Iraqi prisoners to 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' conditions at its detention centers here."

Green light for first safe-injection site (July 1, 2003)
"Health Canada has given the green light for the City of Vancouver to open the first safe-injection drug site in North America."