Haiti's drug money scourge (March 30, 2004)
"The military regime which overthrew Mr Aristide in September 1991 was reported to be in the pay of Colombian drugs cartel bosses, with the head of police Michel Francois allegedly controlling the trade. In those days, Mr Aristide was seen as 'Mr Clean'. But when he came back to power in 1994, and during his second term from 2000, accusations surfaced regularly of his government's corruption, particularly with regards to taking drugs money."

Drug squad, gang link probe (March 30, 2004)
"Possible links between Melbourne's 23 underworld killings and the state's former police drug squad will be investigated by Victoria's Ombudsman."

More Corruption Allegations Shake NYPD (March 30, 2004)
"Late last year, Julio Vasquez and Thomas Rachko donned NYPD raid jackets and set the stage for the city's worst police-corruption scandal in a decade. The veteran detectives stopped a drug courier and allegedly stole nearly $170,000 in cash he was carrying. They didn't know other narcotics officers were watching."

Drug Cases at Risk: Suit alleges corruption by cop (March 30, 2004)
"The number of cops being investigated by federal authorities in the corruption scandal has grown to a dozen officers, almost all of whom had worked in an anti-drug unit called the Northern Manhattan Initiative, with an estimated 2,000 combined arrests in their careers. It has sparked comparisons to the infamous "Dirty 30" case of the early 1990s, which involved a ring of 34 officers in Washington Heights' 30th Precinct charged with making illegal arrests, taking bribes and ripping off drug dealers of money and narcotics."

Investigators uncover more money in New York police corruption scandal (March 30, 2004)
"According to investigators, the suspects have implicated two fellow detectives and a retired lieutenant in what has become the gravest corruption scandal to hit the NYPD since the early '90's."

Police, drugs, underworld connections questioned (March 30, 2004)
"As the Victoria Police battles to maintain credibility amid an underworld war that is spiralling further out of control, questions are being asked about possible links between suspect police and the gangland drug lords."

Afghan economy 'at risk of relying on drug trade' (March 29, 2004)
"A United Nations body will warn this week that Afghanistan is in danger of reverting to an economy entirely dependent on the illegal drug trade and a "terrorist breeding ground" unless the international community significantly increases development funding to the war-torn country."

Methadone, Buprenorphine, and Heroin Maintenance Treatment Update (March 29, 2004)
"News And Information About Opiate Substitution Treatment- Bill Restricting Methadone Treatment Clinics Passes Virginia State Senate."

Drug raid suspects released (March 29, 2004)
"The seven people arrested Friday night on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia have been released on bond, along with an eighth man arrested on suspicion of trafficking."

Teens see what future holds without changes (March 29, 2004)
"Because of privacy laws concerning juvenile offenders, the names of the five boys in the story have been changed."

1-year-old with drugs in system yanked from Norwalk home (March 29, 2004)
"An 1-year-old child was removed from his home after it was determined he had illegal drugs in his system, according to reports from the Norwalk Police Department."

Man charged after Army drug raid (March 29, 2004)
"A 24-year-old man has been charged with possessing ecstasy after a series of raids centred on 19 soldiers at Townsville's Lavarack Barracks in north Queensland."

Heads-Up To Ashcroft Proves Threat Was Known Before 9/11 (March 28, 2004)
"Don't let them fool you, folks: They knew." It appears that the tinfoil hat is becoming much more fashionable these days. It's really too bad they weren't so just before and just after September 11, 2001, as we might then have avoided the subsequent criminality on the part of our elected representative government.

"We Should Have Had Orange or Red-Type of Alert in June/July of 2001" (March 28, 2004)
"A former FBI translator told the 9/11 commission that the bureau had detailed information well before Sept. 11, 2001, that terrorists were likely to attack the U.S. with airplanes."

The path to friendship goes via the oil and gas fields (March 27, 2004)
"The US goal was to assist the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Yet the year before, the US state department had branded the KLA a terrorist organisation, financing its operations from the heroin trade and funds from Islamic countries and individuals, including Osama bin Laden."

Andean policy falls short of region's needs (March 26, 2004)
"The U.S. focus on drugs in Colombia largely has neglected the other countries in the region. Venezuela is a powder keg ready to blow. Ecuador is plagued by habitual instability. Although strong economically, Peru is adrift politically. Bolivia could erupt again. In short, the prospect of regional collapse is real."

The Drug War's Next Casualty (March 26, 2004)
"Daniel Samper Pizano has turned his column in the Bogota daily El Tiempo into a megaphone in recent weeks, rallying the public against U.S.-backed herbicide spraying in Colombia's 49 national parks."

Colombia gets results in drug war (March 26, 2004)
"Cocaine production in Colombia dropped significantly last year, prompting President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe yesterday to discuss ways to intensify the war against narco-terrorists in that South American country."

Informant in drug war sentenced on tax charge (March 26, 2004)
"After he was sentenced, Baruch Jairo Vega complained that the same federal authorities who allowed him to trick and cajole 114 Colombian drug traffickers to surrender to American justice have abandoned him."

Drug war is about 'saving the children' (March 26, 2004)
To be read with barf bucket handy.

War on drugs (March 26, 2004)
Be a snitch for Big Brother.

In Praise of Laudanum (March 23, 2004)
"For some, 'addiction' may be the only cure... If Rush Limbaugh lived in any other era, we would not be having a national conversation about his behavior and the state would never be pursuing his medical records for evidence of crimes he may or may not have perpetrated upon himself."

Lawyers for Suicide Victim's Family Ask for Second Antidepressant Test (March 23, 2004)
"Lawyers for the family of a woman who committed suicide while testing an Eli Lilly and Co. experimental medication are seeking a second test to determine whether she had the drug duloxetine in her blood when she died."

Fighting Nigeria's Counter-Narcotics War (March 23, 2004)
"The release of the 2003 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the United States government appears to have been misunderstood by some Nigerians, who erroneously felt the country was not doing enough in the anti-narcotics fight. A perusal of the report reveals Nigeria's epic battle to curb the drug menace. Godwin Haruna tells the story."

Australia- Abbott, Latham go head-to-head in Parliament (March 23, 2004)
"Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has accused the Labor leader of being soft on the use of illegal drugs."

Victim backs validity of racial profiling report (March 23, 2004)
"The recent report released by Northeastern's Institute for Race and Justice confirmed what communities of color in Massachusetts had already known for years: Blacks and other minorities are pulled over by police at a greater rate than white drivers (vehicles driven by minorities also were searched at greater rates than white drivers). However, to merely say that blacks and Hispanics are stopped in disproportionate numbers doesn't begin to tell the whole story."

UN drug policies allow money to flow to terrorists: think tank (March 19, 2004)
"A controversy has erupted here over stemming the use of drug money to fund terrorism after the Madrid attacks, with a European think-tank saying UN policies were fuelling the problem instead of fighting it."

Scalia Refusing to Take Himself Off Cheney Case (March 19, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"'If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court justice can be bought so cheap,' Justice Scalia wrote, 'the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined.'" Boy, talk about a lack of sense of irony! This guy takes the cake. We as a nation are in deeper trouble than he's admitting, but then, he's in a position of power and prestige so his view of the nation is a lot different than, say, the DrugWar.com editor's is.

Legal Drugs Pose Greatest Health Threat, WHO Says (March 19, 2004)
Apparently this doesn't mean the WHO is urging yet more war, as it appears they are being somewhat sensible about this: "The report also found that it may not be possible to fully cure drug dependence because of long-term changes to the way the brain works. Health experts need to consider a range of factors in treating drug dependence because it is a disorder caused by genetic disposition, as well as psychological and cultural factors, it said...Any person can become a drug addict and that dependence is a disorder, making it crucial to eradicate the stigma suffered by drug users that can make treatment more difficult, the report said."

Drug-Fighters Turn to Rising Tide of Prescription Abuse (March 18, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"After years in which marijuana, cocaine and heroin were by far the main focus of the nation's war on drugs, the Bush administration is now attacking the rising abuse of prescription drugs."

Schools help sell drug-test kits (March 18, 2004)
"The Davison School District and police departments in the area have sold 43 drug-testing kits in what officials say is a well-received start to a program to test children for drug and alcohol use."

Study Supports New Theory For Nicotine's Protective Effect Against Neurodegenerative Disorders (March 17, 2004)
"While the health risks of tobacco are well known, several studies have shown that people with a history of cigarette smoking have lower rates of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. However, the explanations for nicotine's neuroprotective effects continue to be debated."

Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Membership Drive (March 16, 2004)
The Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is currently having a membership drive underway and could use as many new members as it can get. This outfit is currently beginning the very first legal study utilizing MDMA since MDMA was illegalized back in the 80s, and in my own opinion, is deserving of all the support they can get, as they work hard countering US prohibitionist propaganda and lies. Please visit the above link for more information.

Tough stance on drunk driving (March 16, 2004)
"The lawmaker who brought New York the nation's first ban on cell phones while driving now wants every driver to pass a breathalyzer test before getting behind the wheel." For a more in depth look at what this guy is up to, read NY bill would require all drivers to use breathalyzers.

New documents linking the CIA to Contra drug smugglers (March 15, 2004)
"Critics still like to call it a 'conspiracy theory,' even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the Agency and high-level White House operatives at the very least worked directly with known smugglers, if not were involved themselves in using cocaine sales to help finance the war in Nicaragua. With Sen. Kerry, who chaired the committee investigating the allegations, now running for President some people are starting to take another look at the story."

Rumsfeld Caught Lying, Yet Again, On "Face the Nation." But This Time, a Journalist Actually Threw It In His Face (March 15, 2004)
Rumsfeld is just one US official who lies baldfacedly to the US public on tv- so when are the others going to get their lies thrown in their faces?

U.S. stuck in the quagmire (March 15, 2004)
"If an observer from another planet - say, Mars - were to analyze these statistics, he might be surprised to learn that out of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, only the others are criminalized in the United States." This is a very well said editorial and should be forwarded far and wide. So, please forward the link far and wide. Education about the failures and corruption inducing War on Some Drugs and Users should get as much publicity as possible.

Beyond the Duck Blind (March 15, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"As late-night comedians have embarrassingly noted, again and again, Justice Scalia went duck hunting with Mr. Cheney, and accepted free rides on Air Force Two for himself and his daughter, shortly after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the task-force case."

A Student Aid Ban for Past Drug Use Is Creating a Furor (March 13, 2004)
"'I am an evangelic Christian who believes in repentance, so why would I have supported that?' he said. 'Why would any of us in Congress?'" Yes Rep. Mark Souder, that's a great question- why did you even write this stupid, evil law in the first place, much less support it? If one were to look up "smarmy" in the dictionary, one might very well find a photo of Mark Souder there. This guy is evil personified.

FBI hid Oklahoma bombing files, court told (March 13, 2004)
"The judge has said he will dismiss the charges with prejudice -- making it very hard for prosecutors to resurrect the case -- if Nichols' lawyers can prove documents that could have aided their defence were withheld."

Ex-cop calls for legalizing drugs (March 12, 2004)
"The T-shirt, which he's worn for the past four years, reads, 'Cops say legalize pot. Ask me why.' About 10,000 people have followed the shirt's instructions."

$5 million settlement reached in Tulia lawsuit (March 12, 2004)
"Amarillo has agreed to a $5-million settlement with dozens of Tulia residents targeted in a now-discredited drug sting. The settlement also will disband the drug task force that ran the 1999 sting."

Justice Dept. in Halliburton Probe? (March 12, 2004)
"Halliburton said in a statement that a memorandum from California Rep. Henry Waxman only publicly released 'selective portions of audit reports' and that releasing those reports could violate established federal policy." How dare Rep. Waxman alert the people of this country how extensively Halliburton is ripping us all off? The nerve of that guy!

Sens. Push Law for Receipt of Votes Cast (March 12, 2004)
If the machines used to vote in this country as coopted by one side or the other, what hope is there of actually having government really run by, for and of the people? If we can't count our votes, or even verify them, as is the case today with most touch-screen voting machines, what hope have we have regaining power from the maniacal greedheads in power today?

Accused Spy Is Cousin of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card (March 12, 2004)
"The woman charged with working for the Iraqi spy agency is a cousin of President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, and has held a variety of jobs in journalism and on Capitol Hill."

Police secretly watching hip-hop celebs (March 11, 2004)
"Police say they are secretly monitoring hip-hop stars P. Diddy, DMX and others in South Florida to protect them, but celebrities and critics see the surveillance as unnecessary and racist." Racial profiling is alive and well in the United States.

The new Pentagon papers (March 10, 2004)
"A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war."

Privacy in Retreat (March 10, 2004)
"But after 9/11, the passion went out of advocacy of privacy. The right to be let alone had to be balanced against the right to stay alive."

Bush Agrees to Answer All of 9/11 Panel's Questions (March 10, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
Why has the Bush administration up to now done everything imaginable to derail the Sept. 11 investigations, and why is it suddenly claiming that Bush will answer "all" the Commission's questions, albeit privately, even maybe allowing the Commission to question Bush for more than one hour?

C.I.A. Chief Says He's Corrected Cheney Privately (March 10, 2004- Free NYTimes registration)
"Mr. Tenet identified three instances in which he had already corrected public statements by President Bush or Mr. Cheney or would do so, but he left the impression that there had been more."

The Ecstasy Factor (March 10, 2004)
"Bad Science Slandered a Generation's Favorite Drug. Now a New Study Aims to Undo the Damage."

Disappearing the Dead Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Idea of a "New Warfare" (March 10, 2004)
"As the experience of both the Afghan and Iraq conflicts suggest, estimating the casualties of a war can be as controversial as the war itself -- although this should not be the case."

Assuming the Right to Intervene (March 9, 2004)
Sadly, the intervention doesn't stop with foreign countries, but goes right to the core- our very bodies when the government tell us what we can think, read, and ingest. But Soloman here is focusing on the foreign interventions angle here.

The Pentagon's Secret Scream (March 9, 2004)
"Sonic devices that can inflict pain--or even permanent deafness--are being deployed."

Operation Sweatshop (March 8, 2004)
"This week, the Bush administration added another violent 'regime change' notch to its gunbelt, toppling the democratically elected president of Haiti and replacing him with an unelected gang of convicted killers, death squad leaders, militarists, narcoterrorists, CIA operatives, hereditary elitists and corporate predators -- a bit like Team Bush itself, in other words."

Head op helps addict kick heroin habit (March 8, 2004)
So, why the hell couldn't this guy just do the heroin, rather than submit to a hole being drilled in his skull? This totally boggles my mind- the idea that wanting to do heroin, or any other illegal drugs, is considered by some maniacal prohibitionists to be a sign of such illness that brain surgery is considered preferable to the desire to use. This is the real sickness, not the use of heroin.

Never Saying 'Sorry' (March 8, 2004)
Dick Cheney's "former" company Halliburton is facing criminal charges, so where is the national outrage and demands for more coverage?

The Toxic Career of Rand Beers, Kerry's Drug War Zealot (March 8, 2004)
This bodes not well for those of us who hope that Kerry might be more rational and sane about reforming our anti-drug laws in the US. Rand Beers is one of the big time meanies when it comes to waging the War on Some Drugs and Users.

A Radioactive Nightmare in Concord, Massachusetts (March 8, 2004)
"Today, atop and buried beneath a low hill above a cranberry bog lie more than 3,800 barrels of radioactive and toxic waste, subject to a government-paid cleanup estimated to take 10 years and cost at least $50 million."

Ashcroft Funds Under Scrutiny (March 8, 2004)
Ashcroft the christian zealot is a hypocrite. Not that this should surprise anyone, but once again it is blatnatly obvious to anyone who looks that to Ashcroft and his ilk, laws are for those other folk, not for him. If he needs to break a law or three more power to him, but beware to those who aren't in his inner-click.

RNC Tells TV Stations Not to Run Anti-Bush Ads (March 8, 2004)
This in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. What happened that brought us to this sickening state of affairs? How did such anti-freedom maniacs grab such power over the rest of us?

Environmental Peacemaking (March 8, 2004)
"More than ever, hostile countries that share borders are working together to save their common environments." And one of the world largest insurance corporations "Warns of Global Warming Catastrophe" spinning out of control, leading the human race to total destruction and mayhem. But hey, let's spend a lot more taxmoney on locking up druggies and dealers while using more taxmoney propping up the very corporations that are destroying the environment human beings need to survive. We can afford it, as it makes total sense, right?

The clash over cannabis (March 8, 2004)
"Canadians will consume roughly 2,100 kilograms of marijuana today. This year, three million of us, according to a recent Senate study, will have smoked, eaten or inhaled almost 770,000 kilograms of the stuff -- impressive numbers considering marijuana use is a federal crime."

Subpoenas Seek to Show Attempts to Discredit Envoy (March 8, 2004)
"A transcript subpoenaed in the CIA leak investigation reveals the White House media operation began efforts to personally discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson days before a columnist blew the cover of his CIA-officer wife."

Illegal drugs took hit in 2003 (March 7, 2004)
"Agents from narcotics squad seized more than $3.1 million." And we wonder why the war continues? Isn't it obvious with these sums being siezed by prohibitionist enforcers? Who in their right mind is going to allow this sort of funding dry up?

Thailand Announces New Crackdown on Illegal Drugs (March 7, 2004)
"Thailand's prime minister has announced a new crackdown on illegal drug use and trade, just months after declaring victory in the war on drugs."

Palace downplays U.S. report on illegal drugs (March 7, 2004)
"Malacañang downplayed Thursday a report by the U.S. State Department tagging the Philippines as a haven of drug smugglers and a major source of illegal drugs."

U.S. Says North Korea Dealing in Illegal Drugs (March 7, 2004)
U.S. officials say that North Korea is probably dealing in illegal drugs as a matter of state policy, Reuters reported March 2.

Rock Musician Crosby Arrested in New York (March 7, 2004)
"New York police say Crosby was taken into custody early Saturday after an employee at a hotel where he had been staying found marijuana, a 45 caliber handgun and two knives in his luggage."

Drugs, Nuclear Near Misses and Architecture (March 3, 2004)
"On Dec. 11, 2003, President Vladimir Putin signed into law amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that are intended to significantly liberalize the country's draconian drug laws."

9/11 Panel Rejects White House Limits on Interviews (March 3, 2004)
"The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is refusing to accept strict conditions from the White House for interviews with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and is renewing its request that Mr. Bush's national security adviser testify in public, commission members said Tuesday."

Bust nets drugs headed for Maine State Prison (March 3, 2004)
"Three people were arrested Monday after police seized 40 grams of heroin, with a street value of $50,000. Officials said the drugs, in powdered form packaged in balloons, were destined for the Maine State Prison in Warren."

This Plague of Fear: A Thought by a Writer (March 3, 2004)
"Dick Cheney is manipulating our very vocabulary. Force and peace may as well be opposites. Peace can't be forced. It can't be owned by one side. Peace steps outside the parameters of language as we know it. It is borderless, un-claimable; the same everywhere; only the flags are different."

Avoiding Attacking Suspected Terrorist Mastermind (March 3, 2004)
Why did the Bush administration not attack this known terrorist and his gang?

The Deal (March 3, 2004)
"Why is Washington going easy on Pakistan's nuclear black marketers?"

Modernizing Marijuana Laws (March 2, 2004)
"The NDP opposes this Bill because it falls short of the government’s promises of decriminalization."

Some Iowa Troops Returning from Iraq to be Punished for Failing Drug Tests (March 1, 2004)
"Some Iowa soldiers will be in trouble when they return from Iraq. The Iowa National Guard says it will punish 21 soldiers who failed drug tests before being sent overseas."