Man caught with painkillers and heroin (Nov. 30, 2002)
After all the taxdollars spent on this ultra-expensive War on Some Drugs and Users, police are still saying they're seeing ever more hard drugs, in this case heroin, hitting US city streets.

Heroin "stolen" in police raid (Nov. 30, 2002)
"A police anti-corruption taskforce is investigating claims that $370,000 in cash and a kilogram of high-grade heroin were stolen during a raid by drug squad detectives."

Heroin main drug of misuse in EHB area (Nov. 30, 2002)
"The Drug Treatment Centre is the largest provider of specialist drug treatment services in Ireland, managing over 96,000 client visits each year."

Judge gives heroin addict a chance to go straight (Nov. 30, 2002)
"The judge told Field that if he failed then he knew that he was looking at an immediate 326 days imprisonment in addition to a further sentence for the theft."

Cannabis Can Ease the Pain (Nov. 30, 2002)
"A former Torquay head teacher who took part in the world's biggest clinical trials of cannabis wants the drug to be legalised for medical use."

Warning to cannabis smokers (Nov. 30, 2002)
"Male marijuana smokers risk damaging their testicles, while female cannabis users can harm their reproductive organs. That was the warning from Speaker Peter Lewis yesterday during a parliamentary debate on a Bill to remove hydroponically grown cannabis from the expiation system."

U.S., ACLU agree on January deadline to release surveillance records (Nov. 30, 2002)
"In response to a suit brought by the ACLU and other groups, the Justice Department also said it would supply a list of documents that it would keep confidential, citing national security concerns. The ACLU could challenge the decision to withhold any documents."

Reefer Madness (Nov. 30, 2002- Free New York Times registration required)
"We interrupt our coverage of the war on terrorism to check in with that other permanent conflict against a stateless enemy, the war on drugs. To judge by the glee at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the drug warriors have just accomplished the moral equivalent of routing the Taliban — helping to halt a relentless jihad against the nation's drug laws," writes Bill Keller in this editorial for the New York Times.

Cannabis pioneers remember Mellow Yellow cafe (Nov. 30, 2002)
Amsterdam is celebrating 30 years of cafe shops openly selling smoke, and allowing their patrons to smoke on premises.

Greek league suspends former NBA first-round pick for cannabis use (Nov. 30, 2002)
"Former NBA first-round draft pick Erick Barkley was suspended by the Greek Basketball Federation after he tested positive for cannabis, sporting authorities said Wednesday."

Cop Who Believes In "Regulating" Drugs Riding Horse Into Town (Nov. 29, 2002)
"He is associated with LEAP: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He states, 'After three decades of fueling the U.S. war on drugs with over half a trillion tax dollars and increasingly punitive policies, illicit drugs are easier to get, cheaper, and more potent than they ever were."

Don't put pot in the joint (Nov. 29, 2002)
"George Washington, raising support in France for the American Revolution, gave this excuse for cutting his visit short: 'I wouldn't miss the hemp harvest in Mount Vernon for all the tea in China.'"

Departing Governors Face Next Steps (Nov. 29, 2002)
"New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson hopes to climb Mount Everest in the spring, and then start a foundation aiming to end the war against drugs."

Former drug czar says smarter policy needed (Nov. 29, 2002)
"In an interview last week, McCaffrey was unflappable in his belief that the nation's counter-drug policy has worked effectively - despite a public perception that the so-called 'war on drugs' is an utter failure."

Double Jeopardy (Nov. 29, 2002)
"A long-ago bust gets a city staffer fired and raises questions about drug policy."

Some Call New Drug "Legal Marijuana" (Nov. 29, 2002)
"Last month a bill was introduced in congress to outlaw salvia divinorum. But on the streets of Southwest Florida, law enforcement agencies are just now learning about the drug."

GJ man, 57, pleads guilty to trafficking marijuana (Nov. 29, 2002)
"Jose Pedrego-Lugo pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and money laundering, both felony crimes."

Australia- Liberal MP claims SA Magistrate offered him marijuana (Nov. 29, 2002)
"Mr Brindal made the claim during debate on the bill to remove hydroponically grown marijuana from the cannabis expiation scheme."

Britain 'bombed itself to fool Nazis' (Nov. 28, 2002)
But leaders in the US would never, ever behave like this, right?

Kissinger lied about East Timor (Nov. 28, 2002)
"Disinfo Editor's Note [Russ Kick]: To remind everyone of just one reason why Kissinger's appointment to head the 9/11 probe is such a cruel, hideous joke, we're posting this excerpt from Appendix A of Everything You Know Is Wrong. It presents the smoking-gun memo that proves Kissinger and Ford greenlighted Indonesia's genocidal invasion of East Timor, something that Kissinger has always denied."

Dirty Dozen? The FBI May Have Dragged Its Feet on Investigating the Saudi Money Trail (Nov. 28, 2002)
"Although the CIA had a secret list of 12 prominent Saudi businessmen accused of continuing to funnel millions to Osama bin Laden, ABCNEWS has learned that the FBI may have dragged its feet in following the Saudi money trail." Does it sound to anyone else like someone is setting up Saudi Arabia as the next target in the War on Terror? Or, are stalwart allies of the US really supporting terrorists who want to bring down the United States? Either way this is not cheerful news.

Canada- Why drug education doesn't work (Nov. 28, 2002)
"Community groups usually pay for police officers to be trained as DARE instructors; while Ottawa does not contribute, the U.S. government has given $750,000 to pay for the training of Canadian instructors." As a Canadian subscriber to the DrugWar.com list wrote when alerting us to this article, "So let me get this straight: to use American language, an alien power is spending money to subvert our sovereign drug policies and influence our police."

Medical marijuana activist wins round one (Nov. 28, 2002)
"In Sechelt court on Monday, charges of cultivating and possession for the purpose of trafficking against Steve Kubby were dropped, and the judge ordered the return of his growing equipment and the marijuana seized by the RCMP."

Intelligence experts pan call for domestic spying agency (Nov. 28, 2002)
"A new domestic spying agency would neither serve the interests of police or spying agencies nor ameliorate Americans' fears about enhanced electronic surveillance by the government, a panel of intelligence experts largely agreed, for different reasons, on Friday."

Senator lies — to protect us, of course (Nov. 28, 2002)
"I woke up Friday morning listening to a U.S. senator lie through his teeth....U.S. law does not treat leaks of defense information as a criminal act, nor should it. But leaks of business information will now be a crime. We have our priorities."

Whistleblower's payout (Nov. 28, 2002)
US-based military mercenary outfit Dyncorp has been ordered to pay one of their fired whistle-blowers, who informed authorities of rampant criminality and the buying of prositutes by Dyncorp employees in the Balkans, more than $100,000.

Kissinger To Head 9-11 Commission (Nov. 28, 2002)
In one of the most insulting and egregious examples of disregard to truth, justice and accountability, (besides the fact that John Poindexter holds a Pentagon job spying on American citizens instead of a spot on a prison bunk somewhere) George W. Bush has appointed Henry Kissinger, a real, honest-to-goodness war criminal who helped plot the Sept. 11, 1973 overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvadore Allende of Chile, illegally bombed Laos and Cambodia way back into the most primitive of stone ages, and helped perpetrate a whole bunch of other murderous crimes against humanity, to "un" cover the truth about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Our own President Bush is Not Likely to Testify in any Sept. 11 Probe.

Professional Spinners Called in for Canadian House of Commons Drug Report (Nov. 28, 2002)
"The Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs met in camera at 4:15 p.m. this day, in Room 701, La Promenade Building, the Chair, Paddy Torsney, presiding." Read the minutes of this meetings here.

Australia- Marijuana-related suicide an epidemic, says MP (Nov. 28, 2002)
Yet another totally bizarre and destructive prohibitionist theory right out of the the Reefer Madness handbook.

Man gets life term over 3 lbs. of mailed marijuana (Nov. 28, 2002)
Life in prison for just over 3 pounds of flowers. What in the hell is happening here? Oh yeah, there's a War going on, and the prohibitionists are not playing games, they're intent on committing as much evil as possible before it ends.

Marijuana is smuggled both ways (Nov. 28, 2002)
"'Alaska marijuana holds the national record for THC content,' said Zoran Yankovich of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. 'Mat-Su bud is known throughout the West Coast. We've seen it exchanged pound for pound for cocaine in L.A. in operations there.'"

Teen kicked out for pot ordered back into school (Nov. 28, 2002)
"The most exclusive private schools in the Twin Cities area can have their pick of students. But apparently, they can't always choose whom they kick out."

Canada- Marijuana 'grow houses' booming (Nov. 28, 2002)
"Authorities say more than 50,000 houses now used exclusively for plant cultivation."

Hagel says he's never smoked marijuana (Nov. 28, 2002)
Nebraska's senior Senator Chuck Hagel tells students he's never smoked pot, and opposes legalization.

The Office of Strategic Influence Is Gone, But Are Its Programs In Place? (Nov. 28, 2002)
"The Federation of American Scientists has pointed to a startling revelation by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that mainstream media have missed: In remarks during a recent press briefing, Rumsfeld suggested that though the controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) no longer exists in name, its programs are still being carried out."

pi911- The People's Investigation of 9/11 (Nov. 28, 2002)
"We declare a national emergency in uncovering what really happened on 9/11/2001 through an immediate call for an independent collaborative investigation worldwide. The U.S. government could help us but instead is doing everything it can to stop any investigations into 9/11."

Pasadena narcotics officers seize $216,000 of marijuana (Nov. 28, 2002)
"Baird said the men arrested had the marijuana with the intent to sell it, thought it is not known where they planned to sell the dope."

Rail firm rap over Amsterdam ad (Nov. 27, 2002)
This is an article taken right out of the Reefer Madness handbook.

Cops Grab Cannabis in Raid on Isle Office (Nov. 27, 2002)
Maggie Fyffe, who lives on the office, "confirmed the plants taken by police were cannabis. She added: 'It's not news. Most people here wouldn't bat an eyelid. I told police I thought the law had been relaxed.'"

Cannabis use rises sharply among teenagers (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Increasing numbers of British teenagers are using cannabis, a survey revealed."

Hemp embassy to record cannabis raid accounts (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Nimbin's hemp embassy says an independent report is to be compiled into an expected pre-Christmas police operation to eradicate cannabis crops."

The Killer Among Us (Nov. 27, 2002)
"What state officials aren't telling you about chronic wasting disease -- the politics and blunders behind its spread and the true dangers."

The Drug and Terror Connection (Nov. 27, 2002)
"What we can control, however, is the money in drugs. Due to prohibition, $1,000 worth of coca base from Colombia sells for $25,000 here. If this market were turned legit, the profit margin would drop like a stone, eventually driving out the criminal element. (Remember alcohol prohibition?)"

Supreme Court Slated to Reconsider Miranda (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Two officers, Andrew Salinas and Maria Pena, had stopped to question a man they suspected, wrongly it turned out, of selling drugs. When they heard the squeaky bike approach in the dark, they called for the rider to stop." They wound up shooting this guy almost to death, then aggresively interrogating him while he lay screaming in agony with bullet holes through his face and other body parts."

Marijuana debate heats up (Nov. 27, 2002)
"John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, has been appointed by President Bush as deputy drug czar. Walters believes he can help Americans by fighting the war on drugs, but many pro-pot supporters say a czar who claims he has never smoked pot cannot fully understand the pro-pot movement."

Dead Man's Bluff (Nov. 27, 2002)
"For almost 15 years, Fidel [Castano] was at the center of Colombia's chaos, enmeshed in its massacres, land grabs and cocaine deals. He was the founding father of the country's right-wing paramilitaries, which financed their fierce war against the leftists with drug money. He was a self-made millionaire, amassing a cattle empire and trafficking in illegal drugs and stolen art. He was the man who had taken on one of the world's most fearsome drug lords, Pablo Escobar, and helped snuff him out."

Methadone treatment more than heroin replacement (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Freda is one of hundreds who line up in front of a county-owned building for a daily drug fix. But this fix is legal."

The Declaration of a Renewed American Independence (Nov. 27, 2002)
"There is a ‘War on Crime’ being fought in our country today, and while a portion of this war is fought to protect us, in many forms, including the ‘War on Drugs,’ it is also used as an excuse to unbearably disrupt the lives of inoffensive Americans."

Bush signs homeland bill (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Asa Hutchinson always said the war on drugs had a lot in common with the war on terrorism. He will soon find out just how much."

Balkans: Officials Pledge To Tackle The 'Cancer' Of Organized Crime (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Officials attending a European Union-led conference on organized crime in Southeastern Europe have agreed to step up cooperation in fighting corruption, smuggling, and illegal immigration in the Balkans."

Swiss join EU efforts to combat Balkan crime (Nov. 27, 2002)
"Experts see the Balkans as the main gateway to Europe for drug trafficking, people smuggling, money laundering and weapons smuggling."

But Conspiracy, Folks … Don't gut conspiracy laws when we need them most (Nov. 27, 2002)
"In Recio, a Nevada police officer stopped a truck driven by two men—Manuel Sotelo and Ramiro Arce. The officer discovered several million dollars' worth of marijuana and cocaine in the truck."

THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT OF REVIEW CREATES A POTENTIAL END RUN AROUND TRADITIONAL FOURTH AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN CRIMINAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WIRETAPS (Nov. 27, 2002)

All Charges Against Kubbys Dismissed in Sechelt Court (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Steve and Michele Kubby were in court today to ask for the return of their growing equipment and medicine, but the ended up with more than they had bargained for."

UK- Cannabis smoking by teenagers surges by 50 per cent (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Cannabis, which is being downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug, was the only illegal drug not considered to be "always unsafe" by older children, the unit found."

Get serious about drugs (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Now if you mention 'legalize hemp' you can be tossed into the group called 'South Dakota Farmers Union.' Last week, the SDFU voted to support the legalization and production of hemp."

What’s he smoking? (Nov. 26, 2002)
"The White House drug czar’s ludicrous pot potency claim" is looked at Daniel Forbes, again linked here at DrugWar.com due to it's clear headed shredding of the Drug Czar's latest malarkey about pot.

Weed Killer (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Is the end near for Sonoma County's besieged medical marijuana clinics?"

Police Dog Boris 'Nose' His Stuff (Nov. 26, 2002)
Poor dog.

Top cop takes policing personally (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Barely two weeks after becoming police commissioner in late April, Johnson launched his multi-million dollar, overtime-driven cleanup of the city's 300 worst drug corners by keeping cops on the corner up to 24 hours a day."

The new drug war (Nov. 26, 2002)
"In recent weeks, Dr. Harry Kipperman of the Milford Pediatric Group said he has repeated warnings to 20 to 30 patients each day that the prescriptions he writes may or may not be approved when they get to the pharmacy."

A powerless pawn in Colombia's war (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Imagine a presidential campaign in which a leading third-party candidate is kidnapped, just as the campaign begins. The campaign continues without her, and her major political opponent is elected to office by a landslide."

Bottlenecks arise in mock attack Bioterror 'event' checks readiness for high school (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Officers with assault rifles and paramedics armed with hypodermic needles invaded Mesa's Westwood High School on Thursday."

Lesser of two 'evils' can save US a lot of trouble and lives (Nov. 26, 2002)
"Ever since the September 11 attacks, Republicans have used the terrorist threat as a pretext to push a right-wing political agenda," write Noam Chomsky. "For the congressional elections, the strategy has diverted attention from the economy to war. When the presidential campaign begins, Republicans surely do not want people to be asking questions about their pensions, jobs, healthcare and other matters."

A one-way information highway (Nov. 26, 2002)
"The homeland security bill shows a government that wants to learn more and divulge less."

Subverting the UN (Nov. 26, 2002)
"These protesters realize that they do not want the United States to initiate a pre-emptive and illegal war, but perhaps they do not yet realize that they are also fighting to retain an international order based on multilateralism, the rule of law and the United Nations itself."

Pray for the Homeland (Nov. 26, 2002)
"I find it incredible no one has really pointed this out; that no one is expressing fear, or at least wariness, of this monstrous new federal bureaucracy, which already has sweeping secret powers."

Civil liberties on hold lately (Nov. 25, 2002)
"The power granted by this ruling basically states that all criminals may be tied to terrorists, so we need to eavesdrop on them. Most notably would be drug dealers and drug traffickers, who are painted as funding terrorist activity by many TV ads. This ruling allows Ashcroft to now wiretap these traffickers and use any information, whether terrorist or non-terrorist related, to incriminate them."

City, county war on drugs to be merged (Nov. 25, 2002)
"'There is competition between the Police Department and Sheriff's Department on different individuals sometimes making bigger busts,' Gulledge said. 'Sometimes we work against one another instead of pulling the force together and work as one unit.'"

Legitimate reasons to legalize cannabis (Nov. 25, 2002)
"If marijuana were to become legalized, it would have three main functions: industrial use, medical use and personal/recreational use. Before I get into the reasons I support its legalization, I'll list a brief history of cannabis in the United States."

Two arrested in large marijuana-growing operation (Nov. 25, 2002)
"The size and scope of a marijuana operation in Putnam County shocked even the authorities who made the drug bust."

Cape police report more marijuana cases this year over last (Nov. 25, 2002)
"'We'll ask people to leave if they start talking about that because we don't want any trouble,' he said, standing next to issues of High Times magazine on the counter. 'I've heard third-hand that some people are calling us the 'drug store,' but we don't sell anything illegal here. The pipes are a tool that buyers could use for illegal things, but that doesn't mean they will.'"

Pentagon Papers' Ellsberg Sees Deja Vu in Iraq (Nov. 25, 2002)
"A week after the October release of his [Ellsberg's] book, "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers," Congress authorized President Bush to wage war if necessary to disarm Baghdad. Ellsberg is busy doing what he wishes he had done earlier during the Vietnam War -- sounding the alarm."

Lucio Wins in Ecuador The Colonel of the People, President-Elect (Nov. 25, 2002)
"The people have chosen the new president of Ecuador. The winds of change have arrived to sweep the garbage away...."

Marijuana continues to be a hazy topic (Nov. 24, 2002)
"Another reason marijuana might be dangerous is because it shuts off the vomiting center in a person's body, McCracken said. She said this could be dangerous when a person consumes high quantities of alcohol and then smokes marijuana. The person may be suffering from alcohol poisoning while they are unable to vomit." This person has never tried to smoke pot while drunk on alcohol at the same time, resulting in the spins, a common cause of vomiting.

Ruling forces dismissal of medical marijuana case (Nov. 24, 2002)
"A new California Supreme Court ruling that enhanced medical marijuana users' and growers' rights has, for the first time in this county, resulted in dismissal of a court case."

Marijuana arrest snares police officer (Nov. 24, 2002)
"A Philadelphia police officer on administrative leave was indicted on conspiracy and drug charges in Portland for allegedly trying to buy marijuana from two men who were under surveillance by federal drug agents."

Police Skeptical About Medical Marijuana (Nov. 24, 2002)
Should this really surprise anyone, when such a high percentage of police department budgets are derived from waging war on pot and other drugs? Of course there are police who are unhappy with the idea of medical marijuana.

Stoudamire, Wallace charged with marijuana possession (Nov. 24, 2002)
"Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace of the Portland Trail Blazers were cited for possessing marijuana after the car they were in was stopped for speeding early Friday."

Drugged Driving Hopes (Nov. 23, 2002)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Jeffrey Runge "should be pulled over for hyperventilating under the influence of false and misleading statistics" reports Steven Milloy for FOX News on the new Drug Czar Walters touted Drugged Driving Initiative, under a page heading, "Junk Science." He also noted that "NHTSA's press release for the 'drugged driving' initiative claims, 'Over eight million persons aged 12 or older reported driving under the influence of illegal drugs during 2001.'" Aged 12 and older? Driving?

Infinite Jest- Rodney Dangerfield's Life Long Romance with Marijuana (Nov. 23, 2002- Free LA Times registration required)
"He can no longer drink, because alcohol interferes with his various medications. Ever the warhorse, Dangerfield will appear on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' tonight, his birthday," writes Paul Brownfield. "This was where he was a year ago, on his 80th, when Dangerfield suffered a mild heart attack backstage. Admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he smoked some pot in his room and ran afoul of the staff.:

Colombian President Urges Drug Tests (Nov. 23, 2002)
The US is giving this raving lunatic billions in US taxdollars and military aid. He wants all European and US citizens drug tested on a mass scale, all of us, in order to win the War on Some Drugs and dry up drug production in his country, where possession of small amounts of both heroin and cocaine for personal use is legal. He does want US and European executives to be the first tested though, which is actually a great idea in that the War on Some Drugs and Users would probably end immediately.

DEA Recruits Prepare to Enter Frontline of War on Drugs (Nov. 23, 2002)
"They are the group in charge of making sure cocaine, heroin and ecstasy stay out of our cities." If that is really what the DEA has been doing, they've utterly failed for over three decades now, wasting billions of taxdollars that could be spent on actually helping the taxpayers themselves in some way.

Governor: Financial crisis hurts drug fight (Nov. 23, 2002)
Never mind that the War on Some Drugs and Users is futile and causing nothing but destruction and angst, and that there's a severe lack of money in the state, Kentucky Governor Patton "urges agencies to boost [anti-drug] programs despite limited funds," while babbling on about Oxycontin.

Complete Interview with Jack Glaser (Nov. 23, 2002)
Attention being paid to racial profiling "really came into prominence in the 80's and 90's with the advent of the drug war and the aggressive police efforts to try to catch drug users and dealers, especially people who were trying to deliver drugs along American highways," notes Glaser in this online interview.

Toward Drug Legalization (Nov. 23, 2002)
"That is the thesis maintained for almost ten years by Gustavo de Greiff, former Attorney General of Colombia and former ambassador of the same country in Mexico, who says that legalization doesn’t have to produce a rise in the consumption of drugs and, in fact, will end the violence, corruption and the progressive breakdown of society caused by narco-trafficking."

Drug war or vigilante rampage? (Nov. 23, 2002)
Another glaring result of prohibition is violence, in this case the murders of these suspected dealers.

Saudi Arabia links to Sept. 11 attacks went unexamined by FBI, CIA, reports say (Nov. 23, 2002)
"In its draft report, the joint congressional committee staff said investigators should have followed up on the meetings of the four men to determine whether there was a Saudi connection to the hijacking plot."

Apple 'It' Girl Breaks Silence (Nov. 23, 2002)
Ellen Feiss, the stoned looking Apple Computer commercial star, has finally given an interview, apparently disclosing to a Brown University newspaper just what drug she was on while filming, which apparently was not pot.

The Week Online with DRCNet, issue #264 (Nov. 23, 2002)
Green Aid starts a defense fund for Ed Rosenthal, a California town won't rat out medical marijuana users to the DEA, the Arkansas Drug Car resigns after his DUI bust, and a whole lot of other stories and articles can be found in this week's issue, as well as that ever helpful and informative Reformers' Calendar.

Akha Childrens' Books are Now Finished (Nov. 23, 2002)
Matthew McDaniel has finished the printing of 20 thousand childrens' books for the Akha people in Thailand.

Safeguard civil liberties (Nov. 23, 2002)
When even the USA Today begins editorializing about the dangers of a government surveillance system run amok, it seems things are getting really serious. "Even the courts, traditional bulwarks against overzealous law enforcement, offer little protection when the nation is battling a foreign enemy, as Chief Justice William Rehnquist pointed out in a 1998 book. Courts, he wrote, are reluctant to 'rule against government on an issue of national security during wartime.'"

Our big brother, John Ashcroft (Nov. 23, 2002)
"Now, the U.S. federal government may be listening in, making sure you aren't cooking up a batch of Anthrax or building a pipe bomb. They don't need proof you are a terrorist, they don't have to tell anyone about it and anything they hear is fair game for possible arrest."

Marijuana Linked to Schizophrenia, Depression (Nov. 22, 2002)
These people have just got to be kidding, right? Unfortunately no, the prohibitionists are dead serious about pushing this sort of fallacious malarkey in trying to justify their insane War on Pot and Pot Users.

‘Drug Nation’ (Nov. 22, 2002)
Charles Bowden's new book "Down by the River," according to this review at MSNBC, "is a wondrous feat of both reporting and writing. In it, Bowden tackles the 1995 shotgun murder of Bruno Jordan, the younger brother of Patrick Jordan, one of the DEA’s rising stars."

Pot Raids Spur Calls to Quit Working With DEA (Nov. 22, 2002- Free Los Angeles Times registration required)
"Reacting to raids of California medical marijuana cooperatives by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, several cities around the state are pushing local police to stop cooperating with federal agents."

Case dropped, money kept Brunswick hangs on to funds from drug raids (Nov. 22, 2002)
Acting in true prohibitionist insanity, "Money confiscated by Brunswick County officials during a drug raid in which charges were later dismissed does not have to be returned to the suspects, according to a decision made this month by the N.C. Court of Appeals."

John Walters Project (Nov. 22, 2002)
Head of the ONDCP, US Drug Czar John Walters got a lot of press coverage during his recent visit to Canada to lecture the Canadians on reform issues. His reception, as well as most of the press coverage, was not exactly the polite, lap-dog response the prohibitionists have grown used to here in the US. Included in this selection is an interview with a guy who was smoking hash just feet from Walters in a Vancouver cafe. Great stuff here.

Stop marijuana trade, U.S. drug czar urges (Nov. 22, 2002)
"$6-billion worth of highly potent B.C. product flows south each year, director says."

Propaganda Techniques (Nov. 22, 2002)
How to utilize propaganda to further one's aims.

U.S. Hopes to Check Computers Globally (Nov. 22, 2002)
More news from the Big Brother saga currently underway.

New York State Creates Its Own "Operation TIPS" Snitch Hotline (Nov. 22, 2002)
"Although some in Congress realized the chilling implications of this Stasi-esque snitch line, the politicians of New York State apparently lack that insight."

Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases (Nov. 22, 2002)
"A massive database that the government will use to monitor every purchase made by every American citizen is a necessary tool in the war on terror, the Pentagon said Wednesday."

Surveillance tactics used by FBI remain 'mysterious,' 'quiet' (Nov. 22, 2002)
"They have broken into homes, offices, hotel rooms and automobiles. Copied private computer files. Installed hidden cameras. Listened with microphones in one couple's bedroom for more than a year. Rummaged through luggage. Eavesdropped on telephone conversations. It's the FBI, operating with permission from a secretive U.S. court in a high-stakes effort pitting the nation's premier law enforcement agency against the world's spies and terrorists."

Unsolicited U.S. advice on defence irks McCallum (Nov. 22, 2002)
"Defence Minister John McCallum says Washington should mind its own business and let Canada decide how much to spend on its military." So how about all that advice on how Canada wages the War on Some Drugs and Users?

Comedian has his own signs for the times (Nov. 21, 2002)
"In the following interview, [Bill] Maher answers questions about his tour, the government's war on drugs and missing 'Politically Incorrect.'"

Free trade in drugs (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Marijuana and cocaine are economic mainstays on the Paraguayan-Brazilian border." DrugWar.com reposts this link to Mike Ceaser's recent graphic report on serious border troubles between Brazil and Paraguay due to rampant, prohibition empowered cartels waging their own bloody Drug War battles, against each other.

Met warns London on cusp of drugs war (Nov. 21, 2002)
"The head of drugs strategy at the Metropolitan police warned yesterday that the capital was "on the cusp" of turf wars between gangs from rival communities who are wrestling for control of the heroin and cocaine trade."

Funds help Hmong teens (Nov. 21, 2002)
Children of the CIA's "secret" opium-producing Laotian soldiers during the Vietnam war now transplanted to the US are suffering many problems trying to fit in to American society.

Zaragoza Bridge tests contraband detector (Nov. 21, 2002)
"A new high-technology system that uses fast moving subatomic particles to detect contraband, ranging from illegal drugs to explosives, will be in place by summer at the Zaragoza Bridge."

U.S. may punish Colombia air force unit -paper (Nov. 21, 2002)
"The U.S. has contributed nearly $2 billion to Colombia over the last several years to wage war on drug trafficking and rebels in the Andean nation."

Afghanistan adrift politically, economically (Nov. 21, 2002)
"But drug use, pedophilia and prostitution, almost non-existent under the Taliban, have re-emerged with the market economy."

Ideas fly in war against drugs (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Decriminalizing illegal drugs is not an option, Carnevale said. For one reason, the federal government will not allow it. Carnevale said decriminalizing drugs is akin to surrendering to the problem instead of addressing it."

Seminar to Bolster Free Expression in Colombia (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Columbia is considered one of the worst places to be a journalist, with 29 journalists murdered in the last decade. The Colombian press has been under siege for reporting on drug trafficking, corruption and violence, and many now are going into exile as the country's civil conflicts intensify and government support for the press is wavering."

Falsely Accused Former Officer Speaks Out (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Imagine this: The War on Drugs adversely effects innocent police officers too."

Drug arrest at San Luis downplayed as isolated (Nov. 21, 2002)
"The arrest of the top immigration official at the San Luis port of entry has been called an isolated case - one sad story of a slide into drug addiction."

Too Many Secrets (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Why does the White House sometimes seem so determined to close the door on the people's right to know what their government is doing?"

Bush's War on the Sick and Dying (NOv. 21, 2002)
"As most of you know by now, my photo went all over the country as the first patient to receive medical cannabis from the city officials of Santa Cruz on September 17; I assume the organizers pushed me up front because of my age, my white beard, my wheelchair and my general resemblence to a colorful Gothic ruin," writes Robert Anton Wilson.

Breaking on Through Again (Nov. 21, 2002)
"Ram Dass wraps his expanded mind around the last of the truly taboo subjects--death and dying."

The Homeland Security Monstrosity (Nov. 21, 2002)
"The list of dangerous and unconstitutional powers granted to the new Homeland Security department is lengthy," writes US Representative Ron Paul, (R- Tx).

The Truth About Forced Vaccinations (Nov. 21, 2002)
The US government, responsible for secretly testing illegal drugs and horrendous biological agents on its own people again and again, has now given itself the right to force us all to accept vaccinations they decree to be necessary or the people will face repressive legal repercussions.

Information Awareness Office Goes Primetime (Nov. 21, 2002)
The Guerrilla News Network takes a hard look at the new Information Awareness Office.

WAR, WHATEVER (Nov. 21, 2002)
"George Bush's top security adviser last night admitted the US would attack Iraq even if UN inspectors fail to find weapons."

Amendment to Homeland Security Bill Defeated (Nov. 21, 2002)
"The provisions targeted by the Democrats would benefit businesses in a number of ways, including limiting legal liability for companies that produce vaccines, provide airport security equipment and services and develop anti-terrorism technologies."

Another Coup Failed in Venezuela (Nov. 21, 2002)
Yet another coup against oil producting Venezuela has been exposed.

True Majority- Your Eyes and Ears in Congress (Nov. 21, 2002)
Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's fame has put together one of those websites that give some hope in the American Way, offering news and alerts to Congressional and other government actions.

Police seize millions in marijuana (Nov. 20, 2002)
"Several trucks were needed to remove millions of dollars worth of cannabis plants seized by police during raids in the NSW Blue Mountains."

Pine Bluff trio arrested for possession of marijuana (Nov. 20, 2002)
"Three Pine Bluff men have been charged with possession with intent to deliver. Their arrest stems from a traffic violation on I-30."

Digeridoo maker jailed for possessing marijuana (Nov. 20, 2002)
"A 49-year-old man described as one the most recorded indigenous musicians in Australia has been found guilty of possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis." Arms dealing by rich white guys is cool, but indigenous musicians dealing pot is not?

Fewer N.S. teens smoking tobacco, but marijuana use constant: study (Nov. 20, 2002)
So once again, proof that real education works, while lying doesn't.

Another medical marijunana user arrested, for having too much pot (Nov. 20, 2002)
"Todd Gellman, 40, was arrested last week after a sheriff's deputies' raid. They said 33 pounds of packaged marijuana were found along with 70 plants growing in two homes under lamps."

Sebastopol passes medical marijuana proposal (Nov. 20, 2002)
"The city council here passed a resolution making it police department policy not to report medical marijuana cases to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and affirming the council's support of the use of medical marijuana by authorized patients."

The Function of the Drug War (Nov. 20, 2002)
"The function of the Drug War is to create the Drug Crisis. The Drug Crisis involves billions of dollars in hidden cash flow. Addicted to this flow of money are law enforcement agencies, drug producers and distributors, covert agencies who use it as a source of black funding, and politicians and bankers who are hired to protect the drug revenues. Addiction to drug revenues requires that the drug war be fought so as to be lost. Failure thus becomes the criterion of success," write J. Orlin Grabbe in this astute and well stated explaination as to why the War continues endlessly.

CCLE Publishes Updated Report on Salvia Divinorum (Nov. 20, 2002)
Find out what Salvia Divinorum is, and what is going on with prohibitionist plans to outlaw this unique and special plant.

The Myth of Potent Pot (Nov. 20, 2002)
"The drug czar's latest reefer madness: He claims that marijuana is 30 times more powerful than it used to be," reports Daniel Forbes in this shredding of the US Drug Czar's latest bologna about marijuana.

Innocent Drivers Could Suffer from White House “Drugged Driving” Initiative, Say Leading Drug Policy Experts (Nov. 20, 2002)
"Under the initiative, a driver who tests positive for illegal drugs, regardless of when they were taken, could lose his driver’s license and face severe criminal penalties, even if not actually driving under the influence."

Former JAG: Military Aid in D.C. Sniper Pursuit May Have Broken Law (Nov. 20, 2002)
"A longtime expert in military jurisprudence contends Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld likely violated the law last month when he directed U.S. Northern Command -- the military headquarters for homeland defense -- to help track down the Washington area snipers."

Chipping Away at Liberty (Nov. 20, 2002)
"The decision does not actually make it any easier for the government to conduct wiretaps or searches. But it grants the government one more sphere in which it gets to unilaterally choose the rules under which it will pursue the war on terrorism." Which has lead Attorney General John Ashcroft to Praise the Surveillance Ruling.

War crimes arrest blow to Iraqi opposition (Nov. 20, 2002)
"Danish police arrested last night an exiled Iraqi general tipped as a possible replacement for President Saddam Hussein. He faces charges that he was responsible for killing thousands of Kurds in a chemical weapons attack 14 years ago."

'Catch' for this crew is bales of cocaine (Nov. 19, 2002)
"'During this tumultuous time in our nation's history, as our battle against terrorists moves forward, an equally important yet less-publicized war continues thousands of miles from our shores -- the war on drugs,' Raimondo said." How about we simply quit wasting money and lives in this idiotic, wasteful, destructive War, a war that causes ever so much damage to ourselves and society as a whole that any use of any drug has ever done? It seems that tactic is just too sensible and intelligent for prohibitionists to even consider.

DEA plans to work with community groups (Nov. 19, 2002)
"Along with enforcement of drug laws, the DEA will provide personnel to help local agencies work with churches and community groups to combat drug use before it starts and try to cut off the supply line for the addicts who buy drugs. This is certainly a different approach for the DEA, which just two years ago got a new face of its own when Congressman Asa Hutchinson of northwest Arkansas resigned to take over its reigns."

Cannabis kit shop opens (Nov. 19, 2002)
"Marijuana seeds and cultivating equipment are being sold over the counter in Cambridge, just yards from a drug addiction clinic."

Boise brothers arrested in marijuana case (Nov. 19, 2002)
"Two Boise brothers were arrested this past weekend on marijuana charges after detectives seized 25 plants and a half pound of pot from their Cassia Street home."

Agents find marijuana hidden in tractor tires (Nov. 19, 2002)
"The bust was made Friday as the truck driven by Jose Manuel Arreola-Marron, 48, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was being inspected at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo."

Brother convicted of murder in long-term marijuana enterprise (Nov. 19, 2002)
"A 36-year-old man accused of running a large marijuana enterprise with his four brothers was convicted Monday in federal court of murder, weapon possession and drug conspiracy." Prohibition obviously helps keep the trade out of the hands of cut-throat criminals.

Four years after player's positive to marijuana, FIFA ends up looking dopey (Nov. 19, 2002)
"Australian soccer officials covered up a player testing positive to marijuana four years ago because the drug was not on FIFA's list of banned substances."

So, you thought you were safe settling for the decaf (Nov. 19, 2002)
"Decaffeinated coffee can give the heart every bit as big a jolt as the full-strength equivalent, according to new research which suggests a mystery ingredient of coffee has yet to be discovered."

Ruling expands surveillance powers of Justice Department (Nov. 19, 2002)
But don't worry, they'll never abuse these "new" powers, and will only spy on terrorist criminal types.

CIA on Campus (Nov. 19, 2002)
The CIA has spent one heck of a lot of time on US campuses.

Pursue the Truth About Sept. 11 (Nov. 19, 2002)
"The White House sure was stalling on this one, citing concerns about possible leaks that could compromise ongoing intelligence work. An investigation, it claimed, would distract authorities from the fight against terrorism. Isn't that just a touch convenient, not to mention suspicious? Or am I just being paranoid?" So asks Antonia Zerbisias in this blunt editorial.

CIA tried in 1999 to recruit associate of 9-11 hijackers in Germany (Nov. 19, 2002)
But the CIA knew nothing of the impending terrorist attacks. Hmmm.

Drug dealer who admitted smuggling cannabis resin from Spain to sell here set for sentencing (Nov. 19, 2002)
Poor guy.

On the border (Nov. 18, 2002)
"It is naive to think that corruption stops at the border or that the problem is merely American demand for drugs and Mexican willingness to supply it. The Mexican police are notoriously corrupt, but drugs wouldn't get through without complicit American officials."

Colombian Town Rises Up in Outrage (Nov. 18, 2002)
"The townspeople who went on a rampage here hold the AUC responsible for killing Eugenio Escalante, 47, a favorite son whose body turned up soon after he met with several paramilitary leaders who wanted him to get out of next month's mayoral elections. The AUC has deep ties to Colombia's political and financial establishment."

Bribery a threat at border (Nov. 18, 2002)
"The arrest of the top immigration official at the San Luis port of entry has been called an isolated case - one sad story of a slide into drug addiction. But the arrest of Lisa Stubbs last week adds to a growing list of corruption cases in San Luis, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office."

Suffering in Camelot JFK Hid Health Problems, Took Drugs For Pain (Nov. 18, 2002)
"President John F. Kennedy's medical records reveal that he had suffered health problems since childhood, and used an arsenal of drugs, including painkillers and stimulants, to treat various medical conditions during his presidency...The medical records reveal that Kennedy variously took codeine, Demerol and methadone for pain; Ritalin, a stimulant; meprobamate and librium for anxiety; barbiturates for sleep; thyroid hormone; and injections of a blood derivative, gamma globulin, a medicine that combats infections."

Prescription drug abuse on the rise nationwide (Nov. 18, 2002)
"Prescription drug abuse has been likened to a modern-day plague, affecting more than 6 million Americans. The homemaker next door or the high-profile politician can fall prey to medications perceived to be safe."

Bush’s double standard: protecting corporations, victimizing workers (Nov. 18, 2002)
"These provisions were added to the bill after the November 5 election, when the White House decided to use the revived bill as a vehicle for rewarding some of its most important corporate supporters, such as the drug manufacturers."

Goal of drug summit is to develop strategy to fight meth in Missouri (Nov. 18, 2002)
"Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe agreed that drugs, especially meth, can't be tackled by police alone. Rowe says that without a plan for reducing demand, police are put 'in the unenviable position of locking up people that can't get off an addiction cycle' and that 'we'll never be able to arrest our way out of this problem.'"

Nazis on speed - new report says drug could have changed history (Nov. 18, 2002)
This article seems to be asserting that some kinds of speed-taking lead to positive results, at least in terms of war and soldiers being able to carry on killing byond all normal endurance levels.

Czar Wars (Nov. 18, 2002)
"In the end, it didn’t matter what we serfs believed. The czar had not come to debate drug policy. He doesn’t believe debate is even possible. He thinks the government’s side — which I would argue is mindless, hysterical, absolutist, puritanical, inconsistent, cruel, totalitarian and embarrassing — is always right and the other side’s arguments have no credibility," writes Bill Steigerwald of the uselessness of debating with the dogmatic prohibitionist Drug Czar John Walters.

Economic highs in a coffee joint (Nov. 18, 2002)
This is a look at the High Times Cannabis Cup competition, coming up in Amsterdam in a week's time.

No high, no fly in Drug War (Nov. 18, 2002)
"An airline is cancelling flights to Britain - because not enough seats are being filled by DRUG smugglers!"

Savage speaks on sex, drugs and politics (Nov. 18, 2002)
"'The U.S. has spent over $75 million on the drug war to decrease the availability of pot,' he added. 'Anyone here having a hard time getting their hands on pot in Madison?'"

Home marijuana growing operation discovered (Nov. 18, 2002)
"A search warrant executed Thursday at the home of a Scott County couple uncovered the largest indoor marijuana growing operation seen in Southeast Missouri in more than a dozen years, according to Kevin Glaser of the SEMO Drug Task Force."

Police charge two in Jersey City marijuana deal (Nov. 18, 2002)
Cops grab almost $400 worth of pot. Wow.

Pentagon creates a Big Brother so Uncle Sam can keep his eye on us (Nov. 17, 2002)
"In a development which has provoked outrage across America's political spectrum, the IAO has begun work on a global computer surveillance network which will allow unfettered access to personal details currently held in government and commercial databases around the world." And even worse, it will be headed by John Poindexter, one of the traitorous felon masterminds who thought up selling missiles to Iran for the Iran-Contra criminal enterprise.

Ibogaine Conference Updates (Nov. 17, 2002)
Check out the upcoming conferences on the topic of Ibogaine and its use in treating addiction.

The Week Online with DRCNet, issue #263 (Nov. 17, 2002)
Lying cops, pain doctors raided and prosecuted, more lying cops, the MPP drug law reform conference in Anaheim, more lying corrupt cops, and lots more stories, as well as the ever useful Reformers' Calendar, can be found in this week's issue.

Uribe Urges Tighter Border Security (Nov. 17, 2002)
"Colombia's president urged the leaders of neighboring countries Saturday to help tighten security and deny access to drug traffickers and guerrilla fighters."

Cocaine inroads damage Peru forests (Nov. 17, 2002)
So what do all the toxic poisons the US and others are spraying in the region to combat the coca plants do to the the forests?

Columnist makes fallacious claim (Nov. 17, 2002)
"Pakistan's military secret service invented the idea of using drug money for terrorist activities. In 1994, Pakistani newspapers published numerous accounts where the secret service and Pakistan army were involved in drug trafficking," writes Saboor Raheel in this commentary. He has GOT to be kidding. Think LAOS in the 60s and 70s for crying out loud, where US CIA planes, (from Air America) shipped opium all over the freakin place so their private army could wage illegal war, or the CIA working hand in glove with cocaine and other drug shipping cartels in Central and South America, way back in the 80s. This is ignoring the benefits of legal opium. Legalize it all and remove the power and profits from the hands of cartels. How simple can it be?

Cannabis claims go up in smoke (Nov. 16, 2002)
"The claim that smoking three cannabis joints a day would damage the lungs as much as 20 cigarettes a day needs its own health warning."

Tox lab says brownies contained ‘cannabis substance’ (Nov. 17, 2002)
"The seventh grader brought the brownies to school and was passing them out to several classmates when the school police officer intervened and confiscated them, said Vance."

Marijuana movement rolls into the mainstream (Nov. 17, 2002)
"Antidrug activists say they've noticed that the marijuana movement has gotten a makeover and has seen widespread success among mainstream voters, but they warn the public should still be wary."

Ex-Stone Wyman: Stop Using My Name (Nov. 17, 2002)
Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones has apparently lost his mind.

The deceit on Wall Street reaches right to the top (Nov. 17, 2002)
"As the latest in a long line of Wall Street morality plays, the one involving Sanford I. Weill, the chairman of Citigroup, and Jack B. Grubman, his firm's former star telecommunications analyst, is unfolding in depressingly familiar fashion." But no arrests so far it seems. Pot smoking and selling is really bad, ripping off thousands of investors and taxpayers is not so bad.

Bolivian president reaffirms commitment to coca eradication, seeks trade agreement with U.S. (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Sanchez de Lozada said his government is examining its drug strategy, but that it was still seeking to convince coca growers 'to do something else, like produce T-shirts for the United States.'"

No mom-and-pop outfit (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Enid Police Chief Rick West recently declared war on drugs and has increased the size and personnel of the narcotics unit to enforce drug laws."

Free trade in drugs (Nov. 16, 2002)
The War on Some Drugs and Users is endlessly waged, "the drug trade, however, shows no sign of slowing down" in Paraguay and Brazil.

Central Asia: Russia Urges Cooperation In Fight Against Drug Trafficking (Nov. 16, 2002)
More War on Some Drugs, more power to the cartels.

Legalize heroin: End the war on drugs (Nov. 16, 2002)
Alan Randell is not happy with the War, and says so in the letter to the editors at the Montreal Gazette.

Sell Out? Me? (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Elton is so practiced at his art that he is then able to launch effortlessly into an old sketch about the terminology of his own 'drug of choice:' 'For the last twenty-five years I have been experimenting with lager; I am a lager user. If you use enough lager, if you 'do' enough pints you see this dazzling display of colour and shape in front of your eyes. But unlike with other drugs, with lager the display's still there on the carpet in the morning.'"

The human cost of our fruitless war on drugs (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Nearly 30 years into the 'war on drugs,' drug abuse has not decreased. And now, the destructive effects of drug abuse on individuals and communities have been compounded by the devastating effects of mass incarceration. Incarceration is not only an inhumane response to drug abuse, but also an ineffective one."

Our approach in drug war makes abuse more likely (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Ecstasy is the latest illegal drug to be making headlines, but it won't be the last until politicians acknowledge the drug war's inherent failure."

CIA's Cash Toppled Taliban (Nov. 16, 2002)
"According to 'Bush at War,' the CIA spent $70 million in direct cash outlays on the ground in Afghanistan, a figure that also included money for setting up field hospitals. 'That's one bargain,' the president said in an interview with Woodward last August. The money was handed out by about a half-dozen CIA teams spread through the country, starting with a 10-man paramilitary team code-named 'Jawbreaker' that landed in Afghanistan on Sept. 27, 2001. The team leader carried $3 million in a single attache case." But heaven forbid our government gives us our own money to pay for health care here at home. That might be considered socialism, but handing over our hard-earned money to poppy-growing terror-supporting maniacs and killers is a-ok.

Flashback- the White House Hires an Axis of Evil (Nov. 16, 2002)
It is very important to know exactly what sort of evil, veritable criminal-type people are working within the Bush administration, people who faced no confirmation process, such as John Poindexter, one of the architects of Iran-Contra, (illegal missile sales to Iran), who is about to head the US Defense Department's Homeland Spying program.

Congress Approves Independent Sept 11 Probe (Nov. 16, 2002)
"The White House had initially opposed the idea, but struck a deal with congressional leaders late on Thursday. The measure was attached to a spending bill for intelligence agencies."

Free Speech & G.W. Bush (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Sometimes in history, as in daily life, - too often, for many -- there is no one and nothing to whom to appeal. Powerful wrong-doers grab power and retain it, their lies running in the rivers from which we must drink. Those wronged remain unheard and uncompensated, living in an underworld of reverberating silence and pain. This, in my opinion, is not far from what is happening in the United States today."

A Joint Conference (Nov. 16, 2002)
"The mission of the conference was to 'bring about change – to end policies harmful to drug users and their families.' The four-day event offered informative and inspirational speakers, booths featuring representatives from a wide variety of groups, and entertainment."

1 in 3 say Bush is biggest threat (Nov. 16, 2002)
"President George Bush is seen by a third of Britons as a bigger threat to world safety than Saddam Hussein, according to a new poll conducted by a senior US Republican and due to be broadcast today."

German documentary charges US used biological weapons in Korean War (Nov. 16, 2002)
DrugWar.com is reposting this link due to the following disturbing allegations surrounding the death of a US scientist, Dr. Frank Olson, who was murdered while working no a US/CIA operation utilizing LSD on former US POWs and private citizens among others, spraying biological and other agents over US cities, and lots more hellish behavior, codenamed Artichoke: "A memorandum dated July 11, 1975 and printed in the book strongly indicates that the CIA has something to hide. Addressed to the White House chief of staff, the memo urgently recommended an official apology by the president so as to forestall any trial or official hearing on the Olson case. Otherwise, the memo said, “it might be necessary to disclose highly classified national security information.” Ten days later President Ford met with the Olson family in the White House. The addressee and the author of this memo are still active and hold prominent positions in government. The former is Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who was then White House chief of staff, and the latter is Vice President Dick Cheney, who was then Rumsfeld’s deputy. The following year, after delays in the payment of the promised compensation to the family, another well-known political figure intervened: then-CIA Director George Bush, who himself went on to become US president and whose son is George W. Bush." But don't worry, our government would never do evil to us little people, they only murder and cover-up the murders of the insiders. They'd never do such thing to us.

Leading homeland security (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Homeland security adviser Tom Ridge is expected to be named the department's secretary, and Secretary of the Navy Gordon England is expected to be named as his deputy. Administration sources further say that, among the larger portfolios, former CIA Deputy Director John Gannon will head up the new agency's intelligence branch, and DEA Director Asa Hutchinson will handle border security."

Iglesias, Band Among Heartthrobs In Anti-Drug Calendar (Nov. 16, 2002)
This is brilliant- shoot a cheesecake calander designed to get teenage girls' (and gay boys') hormones pumping while telling them about dangers of drug use.

Sonderleiter Pleads Guilty To Marijuana Possession (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Iowa basketball player Sean Sonderleiter has pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana. Iowa Coach Steve Alford says Sonderleiter will not be disciplined by the team."

Marijuana safer than opiates (Nov. 16, 2002)
"As one of the reported "new" patients of the marijuana program, I welcome the news that more people are discovering the value of medical marijuana," writes Wayne Bryan Smith in this letter to the editor at the Oregonian.

flashback- pot unlikely to cause cancer (Nov. 16, 2002)
It is amazing how one study (this one reported in 2000) can say pot isn't cancer causing, and the next say the exact opposite, such as the study being trumpted here.

Can marijuana use during pregnancy harm the baby? (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Research has shown that babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased tremulousness, and a high-pitched cry, which may indicate problems with neurological development." "A high pitched cry?" What are these maniacs at NIDA not smoking?

What treatments are available fro marijuana abusers? (Nov. 16, 2002)
Get caught smoking marijuana and you may find yourself facing unwanted and unnecessary Treatment. This is yet more silliness and stupidity from the folk at NIDA. "Another study suggests that giving patients vouchers for abstaining from marijuana can improve outcomes. Vouchers can be redeemed for such goods as movie passes, sports equipment, or vocational training." And here is information from NIDA on How marijuana effects the brain.

Marijuana Found Thriving in Forests (Nov. 16, 2002)
"Almost every day through the marijuana harvest season, which recently ended, federal agents and the local police descended on the increasingly large pot farms in California's national forests, looking for the growers and their possible connections to Mexican drug traffickers." Every year the prohibitionists drag out the same tired stories drawing on racist fears: Oh, it must be those darkie Mexican cartels growing all this pot! Won't they ever learn that all kinds of people from all walks of life not only use pot, but grow it too?

Customs agents seize more than a ton of marijuana in Douglas (Nov. 16, 2002)
"U.S. Customs Service special agents seized more than a ton of marijuana Thursday while searching two homes in Douglas."

Search nets hundreds of marijuana plants (Nov. 16, 2002)
Wasting taxmoney, these prohibitionist cops discovered the largest indoor grow operation they've seen in a dozen years.

Medical marijuana ruling aids users (Nov. 16, 2002)
"A ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Oct. 29 repealed a 2-year-old law that prohibited doctors from discussing the possible therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana with their patients."

How does marijuana use affect school, work, and social life? (Nov. 16, 2002)
Oh my goodness, more destructive silliness from the prohibitionists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And there's more. See Marijuana Abuse, also from the prohibitionist folk at NIDA.

Marijuana thief gets 5 years in prison (Nov. 16, 2002)
"One of four men charged with stealing marijuana buried by sheriff’s deputies in the Chatham County landfill was sentenced Friday in U.S. Middle District Court to five years and one month in prison."

Ashcroft's Nephew Got Probation After Major Pot Bust (Nov. 15, 2002)
This article originally came out in Jan. 2001, but deserves to be read and re-read again and again. Then read Ashcroft's Narco-Terror War.

Terror Flight School Owner Implicated in 'Protected' Drug Trafficking Ring (Nov. 15, 2002)
"Mohamed Atta snorted coke; Seized Learjet came from same source as Barry Seal's."

You Are a Suspect (Nov. 15, 2002)
"If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you," writes William Safire before launching into a litany of repercussions that sound more than vaguely un-American.

Arnold's Marijuana Moment (Nov. 15, 2002)
"Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraged the director of 'Pumping Iron,' the documentary that launched him in Hollywood 25 years ago, to re-release it unedited - including a marijuana-smoking scene."

Anonymity A Myth For Toking Judge (Nov. 15, 2002)
Traverse City District Judge Thomas Gilbert is in trouble for taking two tokes from a joint at a recent Rolling Stones concert.

Mother charged with smoking pot in daughter's dorm room (Nov. 15, 2002)
The title pretty much explains the article.

Tobacco-smuggling case incinerates career (Nov. 14, 2002)
"By this time, contraband busts had become a staple of TV news. Company executives feared embarrassment or worse if the footprints led to RJR-MacDonald's door. So, Thompson said, they created a separate company, Northern Brands International, to feed the contraband market."

UK- Customs hit by new corruption claims (Nov. 14, 2002)
"Customs - Britain's oldest law enforcement agency - was already reeling under wide-ranging inquiries by Scotland Yard and West Midlands police after fears that officers had set up bogus drug deals, committed perjury and misled judges," reported the Guardian UK last week.

Hope dwindles that Toledo can right Peru (Nov. 14, 2002)
"Toledo's personal life hasn't helped his cause. His popularity began to slide even before he was elected amid unproven allegations of drug use and consorting with prostitutes."

Police target no-show officers (Nov. 14, 2002)
"Between 1999 and June of this year, the report said, drug officers had 7,269 unexplained absences from court. The report said a pattern of such absences is a well-known 'indicator of misconduct and corruption.'"

Taking the cream off the crime (Nov. 14, 2002)
Check out this new Australian cop show, a true-to-life cop drama which stars two ultra-corrupt cops.

Donna police chief indicted on drug, bribery charges (Nov. 14, 2002)
"It's not the first time the police force of this small city some 15 miles from the Mexican border has found itself the subject of a narcotics probe. A 1997 sweep took out five former officers, including two chiefs, after investigators proved they were aiding as well as ripping off drug dealers. Each received prison time."

Addiction or Self Medication? (Nov. 14, 2002)
"Let me start this little essay on the uses of marijuana with an idea. A very simple idea. An idea that strikes at the very heart of the drug war and it's moralistic foundation. The very idea that those who use unapproved drugs are the lawful subjects of religiously motivated government persecution. What we call addiction is in fact self treatment of undiagnosed pain," writes M. Simon in this blunt commentary.

Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization (Nov. 14, 2002)
The propaganda here comes across as desperate to anyone who knows anything at all about prohibitionist lies and drug use itself. What are police doing telling us about drugs anyway? Do they get medical training at some point in the academy?

Vermont Study Endorses Medical Marijuana (Nov. 14, 2002)
"A Vermont legislative study committee studying the legitimacy of medical marijuana announced Wednesday that marijuana does possess medical value when it comes to relieving pain and suffering of severely ill people."

Authorities Seize Ton Of Marijuana (Nov. 14, 2002)
"The pot was found after the occupants of a Suburban drove into the desert and fled on foot. Two men were eventually taken into custody following a search."

Students Charged With Selling Marijuana (Nov. 14, 2002)
"Two UMass students have pleaded not guilty to charges involving the sale of marijuana."

85yo 'needs marijuana to live' (Nov. 14, 2002)
"An 85-year-old former French Foreign Legion soldier suffering from cancer says he may take his own life if he cannot get the marijuana he needs to ease his pain." Guess he didn't know that self-treating one's self for pain is simply illegal.

Harlem Ibogaine Conference and Community Forum (Nov. 14, 2002)
For all in and around the NYC area, there will be a forum to educate the masses about this ancient plant tool for helping kick addictions.

The Haunted House Party (Nov. 14, 2002)
Cops go berserk and try to make themselves tons of money as they trample anything even remotely resembling Constitutional rights.

Father's pot use irks OPP who coached son (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Nicolas Neron of Hearst, a town of 1,000 in Northern Ontario, had been selected in a blind draft to play for a team sponsored by a committee that runs the local Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. D.A.R.E. is an Ontario-wide initiative used by police to alert children to the dangers of illegal drugs...The D.A.R.E. team is coached by OPP officers whose sons are also players. The head coach, Constable Mario Hautcoeur, thought he spotted trouble when Mr. Neron arrived in the dressing room to lace up his son's skates." So they asked the kid, whose father uses medical marijuana legally in Canada, to move to a different team, fearing animosity might "erupt" in the Little League dressing room.

Breeders' bet lands three friends in federal court (Nov. 13, 2002)
Arrested but not yet tried, much less convicted, two of these three men have been ordered to undergo drug testing 3 times a week and face immediate imprisonment if they fail one while waiting trial due to having been automatically tested when arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

German documentary charges US used biological weapons in Korean War (Nov. 13, 2002)
This film also covers the death of Dr. Frank Olson, who within days of being dosed with LSD-25 by the CIA, either fell, or more likely was thrown, to his death from a NYC hotel window.

Jerrell Watts charged with marijuana possession (Nov. 13, 2002)
"The son of former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts has been charged in Cleveland County District Court with a felony count of unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute."

Orwellian Tendencies and Strange Factions in the Medical Marijuana Movement (Nov. 13, 2002)
Bill Carol of NORML Canada has some contentions with a recent item posted at DrugWar.com, so we post his letter while noting that further comments on this and any other article posted here are always welcome. That said, we make no promises about publishing them.

The Intrigue Behind the Drone Strike (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Then came Ambassador Hull's intelligence coup," writes Philip Smucker in this article about the recent extra-legal US missle strike in Yemen. "Yemeni tribesmen are notorious for not being able to keep a secret and with their palms crossed with silver, they just could not resist telling the Americans what they knew about al Harethi, say sources. As they chewed on narcotic khat leaves, and filled their silver spittoons, the tribesmen also spit out the details on al-Harethi's new haunts." This seems really blatant and faintly nauseating propaganda to the editor of DrugWar.com.

U.S. Looks To Expand Covert Forces (Nov. 13, 2002)
"The study called for the Pentagon and CIA to develop a new capability to 'evoke responses' from terrorist groups so they can be attacked pre-emptively. Covert action, psychological operations, computer attacks, special operations forces and 'deception operations' would be combined in that role."

Marijuana haulers sentenced (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Two men who were found guilty of hauling 548 pounds of marijuana in a tractor-trailer loaded with fruit were each sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison."

William Webster Resigns from SEC Accounting Board (Nov. 13, 2002)
Former FBI and CIA director William Webster's resignation "follows that of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, who came under fire for allegedly failing to tell the four other SEC commissioners of Webster's connection to U.S. Technologies Inc., a nearly bankrupt Internet company under investigation for fraud."

International law cannot be ignored (Nov. 13, 2002)
"International law is a relatively new, emerging code of conduct, but to dismiss it as irrelevant, as the attack-Iraq cabal does, is dangerous foolishness."

Federal court says yes, you can talk about pot (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Although the California case deals with medical marijuana, it has broader implications for frank discussions between physicians and patients."

N.Y.C. Detectives to Work Overseas (Nov. 13, 2002)
"New York City detectives will be assigned to intelligence and law enforcement agencies in Britain, Germany and Israel next year to strengthen anti-terror cooperation."

U.S. to Randomly Check Cars in Michigan (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Federal agents in Michigan began stopping people Tuesday at surprise checkpoints near the Canadian border to look for illegal immigrants, potential terrorists and drug and weapons smugglers."

Drugs-for-weapons suspect claims CIA ties (Nov. 13, 2002)
"A Danish-born Houston-area resident accused in a drugs-for-weapons deal involving Colombian terrorists is a former informant who believed the U.S. government backed the operation, his attorney said Tuesday."

F.B.I. Attacks A.T.F. in Draft Report (Nov. 13, 2002)
"The F.B.I. has initiated an unusual behind-the-scenes attack on another law enforcement agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as part of an effort to protect its turf and responsibility for domestic security, law enforcement officials said today."

US warns war on Iraq may start before Christmas (Nov. 13, 2002)
"President Bush issued a tough new warning to Saddam Hussein yesterday as administration officials said that a war could begin before the end of the year."

Bin Laden Warns Against Backing U.S. 'Butchers'-TV (Nov. 13, 2002)
Hold on a cotton pickin' second here. The editor of DrugWar.com thought the whole "bomb Afghanistan into an even stonier stone-age" was precisely to stop Osama bin Laden. So if he is still alive, why is the Bush Administration going after Iraq? Or is there something other than catching and bringing to justice the terror mastermind who allegedly attacked NYC and the Pentagon in the minds of the Bush Administration?

Turkey pressed to stop sale of anti-nerve drugs to Iraq (Nov. 13, 2002)
"Iraq has ordered, mainly from a Turkish company, a million doses of the drug atropine, and the 7-inch autoinjectors that inject it into a person's leg, they said." Remember, Iraq is not the only one with US-made and supplied chemicals and biological agents. The US itself has all sorts of nasty US-made and supplied nerve gases and other chemical and biological agents to use against the Iraqi people.

Iraq war 'could kill 500,000' (Nov. 13, 2002)
"A war against Iraq could kill half a million people, warns a new report by medical experts - and most would be civilians."

Challenge to civil forfeiture law to go before judge (Nov. 12, 2002)
"A Superior Court judge will hear oral arguments here today in a case that will weigh the fate of New Jersey's troubled civil forfeiture law...Thomas, 46, a former part-time member of Cumberland County's narcotics task force and a seven-year veteran of the county Sheriff's Department, raised the challenge in 1999 after her son, then 17, used her Ford Thunderbird without her knowledge to sell marijuana to an undercover officer."

Broad police powers in conspiracy cases contested (Nov. 12, 2002)
"An Idaho drug-conspiracy case may greatly complicate the war on terrorism if the US Supreme Court affirms a federal appeals court ruling."

Federal Rx: Marijuana (Nov. 12, 2002)
"Afflicted with a rare neurological condition, George McMahon, age 51, is the fifth United States citizen to receive legal medical marijuana from the United States Government. He receives 300 joints a month, courtesy of the little-known Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program, run since 1978 by the Food and Drug Administration."

Pot not a good thing (Nov. 12, 2002)
If pot is not "good" why is the US federal government supplying a very limited number of Americans with their monthly ration of government grown marijuana, already rolled into individual cigarettes. This rant is typical prohibitionist hysteria, almost funny if it weren't supporting such a damaging War.

Neighbors on watch for crime (Nov. 12, 2002)
"For the residents of Julious Drive, the drug arrest was long in coming."

Bush Lies, Media Swallows (Nov. 12, 2002)
"George W. Bush does not lie about sex, I suppose -- merely about war and peace," points out Eric Alterman for The Nation.

'Science' vs. 'goverment propaganda' (Nov. 12, 2002)
A letter to the editors at the Washington Times.

Post Election Update for New York (Nov. 12, 2002)
Chris Pan, activist and musician, gives us a look at what happened in NY, where all the independent candidates called attention to medical marijuana and the destructiveness of the War on Pot.

Ten Reasons Why Many Gulf War Veterans Oppose Re-Invading Iraq (Nov. 12, 2002)
"Because of these significant differences, here are 10 reasons why, as a Gulf War combat veteran, I oppose a second Gulf War as a costly and preventable mistake," writes this anonymous Gulf War vet.

New marijuana studies and proposals revisit old debate (Nov. 12, 2002)
A commentary on the pros and cons of marijuana laws reform.

FBI Urged to Protect Whistleblowers (Nov. 12, 2002)
"An FBI manager suffered humiliating retaliation from his superiors after publicly airing allegations about uneven discipline at the agency, according to two senators who are urging greater FBI protection for whistle-blowers."

I Have a Drug Problem... (Nov. 12, 2002)
The serious complications of pot smoking.

Nations urged to rescue stalled talks on germ warfare treaty (Nov. 12, 2002)
"US officials said last year that they felt intrusive, independent inspections at defence laboratories or private biotechnology laboratories would jeopardise national security, and provide little in return," unless it were US teams inspecting Iraq say. The talks have been stalled since the US government vetoed the treaty nearly a year ago as it does not want other countries to inspect their germ warfare programs. The official hypocricy is so thick it can be cut with a knife.

MI6 'halted bid to arrest bin Laden' (Nov. 12, 2002)
"British intelligence paid large sums of money to an al-Qaeda cell in Libya in a doomed attempt to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi in 1996 and thwarted early attempts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice." Yet more evidence that Western intelligence agencies were working with people connected to Osama bin Laden not all that long ago.

Upcoming Legal Hearings for Medical Marijuana Cases (Nov. 12, 2002)
Find out which hearings are approaching and volunteer your time to support to help these victims of prohibitionist insanity.

2nd Annual Drug War Vigil Film Festival (Nov. 12, 2002)
"The Drug War Vigil Memorial Group is a social justice think tank that was founded in the fall of 2000. We are five medical cannabis users, dedicated to ending the War on Drugs...We are proud to announce the 2nd Annual Drug War Vigil Film Festival to be hosted again in May 2003." Enter your film in this international film festival by March 14, 2003.

Bechtel Strikes Back at Bolivia (Nov. 12, 2002)
"Sometime in the next few weeks, behind closed doors at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., panelists in a secret trade court will decide if the people of South America's poorest country will have to pay $25 million to one of the world's most wealthy corporations." Madness is spreading across the globe, and the poor are once again the victims of gross corporate greed.

Latin American bishops' conference chief is kidnapped (Nov. 12, 2002)
"Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped the president of the Latin American Bishops' Conference, Jorge Jimenez, a local official said."

Hempy Veterans Day (Nov. 12, 2002)
"Today I'm remembering, with great honor, the living and fallen warriors of Prohibition Reform."

Release of Detainees' Photos Is Probed (Nov. 11, 2002)
Images of men arrested in Afghanistan being flown in chains and hoods to Cuba were sent to Art Bell recently. Remember as you gaze at these photos that the US is taking the moral high ground here, acting for the George W. Bush's forces of Good, that our soldiers are not "with" the terrorists. Pentagon officials deny these men are being abused, and wants to catch whoever it was who released these photos in a typical move to punish the whistle-blower instead of fixing a problem. Anyone who can look at these and justify what is being depicted here should scare the hell out of the rest of us. They do the editor of DrugWar.com.

Colombia to Stiffen Penalties as Drug Lord Freed (Nov. 11, 2002)
"Colombia's government will seek to stiffen prison sentencing after failing to prevent the early release of the former head of the multibillion-dollar Cali Cartel cocaine empire, President Alvaro Uribe said on Friday."

Police seize 150 kgs of opium in Tehran suburb (Nov. 11, 2002)
"More than 3,100 members of Iranian armed forces have been killed in cross-border clashes with drug traffickers during disorder in neighboring Afghanistan in the past 20 years. According to official estimates, Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country US dlrs 800 million each year."

Area has more than its share of ecstasy use (Nov. 11, 2002)
"Ecstasy sales and use -- once confined largely to all-night rave parties in isolated areas -- are spilling into eastern Connecticut towns at a greater rate than anywhere else in the state, new studies show."

Victory for the suburban mentality (Nov. 11, 2002)
"Similar measures had succeeded in previous elections, and while unprecedented personal campaigning by DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson and Drug Czar John Walters undoubtedly contributed to their defeats, it also suggests that voters remain rather ambivalent on the issue," notes this Washington Times commentary.

Cannabis club loses its lease, shuts down (Nov. 11, 2002)
"The Shelter from the Storm cannabis center operated by medical marijuana activist Steve McWilliams has closed, the casualty of a real estate transaction unrelated to a federal crackdown on such clubs. McWilliams, who was arrested by U.S. drug agents after his pot garden was uprooted in late September, said he lost the lease on the Normal Heights storefront when the building was sold."

Cannabis 'coffee shops' said to be coming to NZ (Nov. 11, 2002)
"National Organisation for Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) spokesman Chris Fowlie said yesterday it was not a case of 'if' cannabis coffee shops would open in New Zealand, but 'when'."

'I'll still open my cannabis cafe' (Nov. 11, 2002)
Despite the report alledging stronger pot of today causes risks of cancer, Kevin Williamson still plans on opening a cannabis-cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland. Why are reports alleging harms from smoking pot so trumpeted but not those that show how stupid prohibition is? Because the prohibitionists making tons of money off prohibition are in control.

Cancer warning put on smoking joints (Nov. 11, 2002)
The Editor of DrugWar.com might say "uh-oh" from reading this, except for the anti-pot propganda buried within this piece, such as the assertion that today's pot is so much stronger than that of yesteryear.

Farm chemicals may affect male fertility, MU researcher says (Nov. 11, 2002)
Drug are bad, but using toxic chemicals on fields where our food grows are good.

Australia- Man turns Safeway seeds to opium (Nov. 10, 2002)
"A Victorian judge was shocked yesterday at how a drug addict was able to grow 230 opium poppies at home from seeds bought from the herbs section of a supermarket."

Pressure Mounts on U.S. Over Germ War Pact (Nov. 10, 2002)
"A group of mainly rich states backed on Thursday a plan for greater international cooperation against biological weapons, but the United States remains to be convinced, diplomats said."

Colombia extends state of emergency for 90 days (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Friday extended for 90 more days a state of emergency as he steps up a military campaign against illegal armed groups fighting in the country's 38-year-old war."

The botany of desire (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Our relationship with the plant world is something we don't think about much. But plant life has played a key role in our evolutionary development. The relationship is one that emphasizes unity and how we all connected: we're not separate from the environment, it is our 'extended body,'" writes Brian Farley in this review of Michael Pollan's book, "The Botany of Desire."

Medical Marijuana Connection Growing in Curry County (Nov. 10, 2002)
"When Bob Walker decided two-and-a-half years ago to organize a support network for members of Oregon's medical marijuana program, he found doctors he spoke to were unwilling to cooperate," reports David Courtland on the changing acceptance of marijuana as medicine in Curry County, Oregon.

Proponents of easing marijuana laws brace for legal battles (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Stung by the defeat of marijuana law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles."

Conspiracies, Plots and Other Anti-democratic Notions (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Conspiracy theories abound in America and are directly related to the lack of investigative reporting by the mainstream corporate media."

Corporate fraud worries US investors most: survey (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Advertisement: Explore Within This Space Stock market investors in the United States rank corporate accounting fraud ahead of the loss of wealth and 'the state of the US economy' as reasons for losing confidence in Wall Street over the past 2.5 years, a new investor survey shows."

No Child Unrecruited (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Should the Military be Given The Names of Every High School Student in America?" But not only is the US military going after all private info of US students, but the Pentagon Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans. (Free NYTimes registration required.)

Drug Industry Poised to Reap Political Dividends (Nov. 10, 2002)
"Few industries campaigned harder than pharmaceutical manufacturers to elect Republicans to the new Congress, and few industries are better positioned to reap the rewards of the election returns, analysts said Thursday."

The War on the War on Drugs (Nov. 9, 2002)
"This year 12 states had ballot initiatives on drug issues, and regardless of their success or failure, the War on the War on Drugs will continue," writes James Lileks in this pro-War on Some Drugs and Users commentary.

Drug war causes more crime (Nov. 9, 2002)
"Benson provided data which pointed to the emphasis on the war on drugs program during Reagan's administration in the 1980s as the leading cause in a substantial increase in non-drug related crime," writes Sarah Bolan.

Search and seizure (Nov. 9, 2002)
"Veteran Leroy Stubblefield fights to grow medical marijuana plants despite contradictions in state and federal laws," reports Caron Alarab.

Fixty-six pounds of marijuana found (Nov. 9, 2002)
Cops find a heck of a lot of pot lying by the side of the road.

Judge Admits Smoking Pot at Stones Concert (Nov. 9, 2002)
"'I broke the law by twice puffing on a marijuana cigarette during a rock concert,' Gilbert said in a statement. 'I deeply regret this error in judgment.'"

European Anti-War Rally Streams Through Florence (Nov. 9, 2002)
"More than 450,000 anti-war protesters from across Europe marched through this Italian Renaissance city on Saturday, denouncing any U.S. plans to attack Iraq," reports Luke Baker for Reuters.

The People's Investigation of 9-11 (Nov. 9, 2002)
Refusing to depend on the same folk who either through ineptitude or much worse allowed the September 11 attacks to occure to now tell the public exactly how it happened, these folk have taken it upon themselves to investigate the many unanswered questions themselves.

Law? What Law? Dallas Cops Don't Need No Stinkin Law! (Nov. 9, 2002)
"Allow me to offer this two-bit caution: Disregard for the law is disregard for the law, and if it can work against defendants in big cocaine cases, it can work against you, too, when you go to put out the trash," writes Jim Schutze in this fightening tale about an out of control police department.

Bobby Brown Arrested For Drug Possession, Speeding (Nov. 8, 2002)
Cops found less than an ounce of pot.

Cops and Fans Riot After Guns N' Roses Kickoff Show Cancelled (Nov. 8, 2002)
"Even as the crowd began to disperse, police continued to chase and hit and kick individual stragglers. As one young woman who claimed to have had no involvement in the rioting told a local TV news crew, "I thought, 'Oh my God, they hate every single one of us,'" reports MTV News.

Letter from Election Systems & Software: WE DEMAND RETRACTION (Nov. 8, 2002)
"In this surprising letter, they acknowledge that the Ahmanson family [right-wing, radical political activists] financed what is now the USA's largest voting machine company." Read the lawyers' demand for retraction and the reply from the reporter.

What's a Veteran's Family Worth? (Nov. 8, 2002)
Celerino Castillo is not happy with US government priorities when it comes to how it treats the men and women it sends off to kill and die in its name.

Court says magic mushrooms must be fresh (Nov. 8, 2002)
Maybe they think fewer people will eat moist mushrooms as opposed to dried ones? Otherwise this ruling makes exactly zero sense.

Naked City- Medical Marijuana Victory (Nov. 8, 2002)
"In a 36-page opinion delivered Oct. 29, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a permanent injunction preventing the U.S. government from threatening doctors with a loss of prescription-writing privileges if they discuss the use of medical marijuana with their patients."

Liberal Party and Others Fall Short of Votes to Stay on Ballot (Nov. 8, 2002)
"The Green Party, the Right to Life Party, the Libertarian Party and the Marijuana Reform Party all fielded candidates for governor who received fewer than 50,000 votes, according to returns from the 99 percent of districts reporting." (Free NYTimes registration required)

Pasture not so green for marijuana activists (Nov. 8, 2002)
"The hopes of activists trying to soften anti-marijuana laws across the country went up in smoke Tuesday night, as drug reform measures were turned down in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio."

Pound wants U.S. to pay debt to WADA (Nov. 8, 2002)
"The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency will travel to Washington next week to urge the United States to pay its debt to the organization. Richard Pound, WADA president and a top International Olympic Committee official, will meet Nov. 13 with U.S. antidrug chief John Walters to discuss the $800,000 (U.S.) owed by the United States."

San Francisco to explore growing cannabis (Nov. 8, 2002)
"San Francisco could become the first city in the US to enter the business of cannabis growing after the passing of a proposition at this week's election."

Soros faces trial for 'insider trading' (Nov. 8, 2002)
"The billionaire turned philanthropist George Soros has been put on trial for alleged insider trading," reports the BBC. Soros helped get many of the medical marijuana initiative passed in this country, and now he's in trouble. Read an interview conducted last Summer with Soros here. Remember that GW Bush also engaged in what for all the world appears to have been insider trading while at Harken Energy.

Cali Cartel Boss to Be Freed from Colombian Prison (Nov. 8, 2002)
"A Colombian judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release from prison of one of the country's most notorious drug lords, former Cali cocaine cartel boss Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, despite strenuous government efforts to keep him."

CIA undermines propaganda war (Nov. 7, 2002)
"The CIA Director George Tenet has become the unlikely source of embarrassment to President George W Bush, undermining Mr Bush's warning of catastrophic threats from Saddam Hussein and exposing disagreements within the intelligence world about the nature of the danger."

PM insists CIA 'not terrorists' (Nov. 7, 2002)
"The Prime Minister will not be approving a plea from the Greens to label the world's leading intelligence agency as a terrorist organisation."

Marijuana Questions Win Across Massachusetts (Nov. 7, 2002)
Not all the marijuana reform news was bad Tuesday, as Massachusetts proves.

Suppressed Gov't Documents on Chemical, Biological, and Nonlethal Weapons (Nov. 7, 2002)
"Despite the fact that these documents are not classified and are supposed to be freely available to the public, the NAS refused to release them, instead placing a "security hold" on them, without explanation." But Russ Kick and the Sunshine Project have posted them online for everyone to read.

On the 2002 Midterm Elections... (Nov. 7, 2002)
This is Michael Ruppert's take on the situation now that the Republicans have total control. This is not the most cheerful reading material this Thursday morning, but then there's not much cheerful news anywhere as of late.

US tried to develop mood-altering weapons, science panel admits (Nov. 7, 2002)
"The United States made an attempt to develop mood-altering weapons similar to the gas used in a recent hostage crisis in Moscow but abandoned the programme because it could not be reconciled with international law, a US government-sponsored scientific panel acknowledged."

Rave promoter’s drug trial begins (Nov. 7, 2002)
"The lawyer for a Boise man accused of conspiring to sell club drugs to kids while hosting 'rave' dance parties said Tuesday prosecutors have no real evidence in the case."

Top 10 fugitive brought to city (NOv. 7, 2002)
"Four years after a federal grand jury issued an indictment with allegations involving tons of cocaine, millions of dollars, shootouts with police, prison escapes and an execution of a suspected informant, the alleged ringleader with a series of aliases and a chameleonlike ability to alter his appearance was captured in Venezuela on Tuesday afternoon." Now he is in jail in Agusta, Georgia.

Local Police Can Rise To The Occasion (Nov. 7, 2002)
"It is true that the FBI cannot be everything to everybody but in some localities officials are worried that law enforcement will be left shorthanded, particularly in drug investigations."

Drug ring busted, feds say (Nov. 7, 2002)
150 state and federal agents collected paychecks arresting these 12 suspects.

Spokane Drug Task Force Grows (Nov. 7, 2002)
"Spokane's drug fighting task force is bigger than ever, with six agencies rolled into one. The new unit combines the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs, Internal Revenue Service, Washington State Patrol, Spokane Police and Sheriff's Office." Lessons in how to waste US taxdollars while denying at least 40 million of us health care, though the DEA is claiming this new arrangment actually saves taxpayers money.

Colombia Appeals to U.S. for Help (Nov. 7, 2002)
"The Colombian government has enlisted Washington's help in its efforts to prevent the early prison release of two brothers who once ran the world's most powerful drug trafficking gang." Why are we US citizens handing over our hard earned tax-dollars to wage war in Colombia when at least 40 million of us have no health coverage?

Feds Bust Colombians in Drugs-For-Guns Deal (Nov. 7, 2002)
More allegations of drug traffickers trying to buy arms, this time right-wing paramilitary types from the AUC, which commonly works with the Colombian government to wage war on the leftist FARC and ELN.

Religious groups support marijuana legalization (Nov. 7, 2002)

U.S. Marijuana Laws Focus of NORML Talk (Nov. 7, 2002)
"Ann Druyan, author, writer and television producer agreed with Stroup on the benefits of legalizing marijuana and continues to struggle with the task of bridging the gap between the public's support of its legalization and with public policy."

Police Bust Marijuana Operation (Nov. 7, 2002)
"From Texas to Indiana, authorities have stopped millions of dollars worth of marijuana from hitting the streets."

Marijuana backers pledge continued effort for pot reforms (Nov. 7, 2002)
"Backers of a failed Nevada initiative to legalize up to 3 ounces of marijuana blamed voter fear and government propaganda for the defeat but pledged continued efforts to pursue pot reforms."

Don't Put Up With Pot (Nov. 7, 2002)
The maniac Bill Bennett, Reagan's first Drug Czar, is at it again in this anti-pot column from last Friday. This guy really needs to sit down and smoke with someone, anyone. Failing that, a bit of real education might do him some good.

Media Meltdown: The Jason Leopold Saga (Nov. 6, 2002)
Thomas White, Secretary of the Army, seems to have engaged in some book cooking of sorts while at Enron, just prior to taking his government post. The reporter who broke the story is now under attack.

Harlem Builds NYC Support for Ibogaine and Iboga Access- A Forum and Slideshow (Nov. 6, 2002)
There will be a day long conference in Harlem, NYC, on this ancient sacred plant, a plant which can be extremely useful in kicking addictive and abusive drug habits. Learn where the research and legal issues stand today.

A Call for Drug War Democracy (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Colombians Want Same Referendum Rights as U.S. Citizens."

FBI uncovers terror - drug scheme (Nov. 6, 2002)
Two Pakistani men and one US citizen originally from India were allegedly busted in Hong Kong trying to use heroin profits to buy US-made Stinger missiles for use in terror attacks.

20 busted in trans-Atlantic Ecstasy crackdown (Nov. 6, 2002)
"The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, vowing to stamp out any misconception that Ecstasy is a "risk free frolic," announced 20 trans-Atlantic drug-smuggling arrests on Tuesday," reports Newsday.

Voters approve Question 4: Initiative instructs Rogers to support marijuana legislation (Nov. 6, 2002)
"The question was put on the ballot with help from the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, Inc., an affiliate of the National Organization for the Reform of the Marijuana Laws. Teddy Kessler of Precinct 5 was one of several volunteers to get petitions signed to put the question on the ballot."

Idea of 'nonlethal' chemical weapons is a myth (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Last week, the Pentagon said the U.S. military is not now involved in 'programs or research related to development or procurement of incapacitating agents,' and hasn’t stockpiled any. But given the war on terrorism and the fact that the United States has done research in the past on immobilizing gases and aerosols, that may not be the case for very long." But United Press International is reporting that the National Resource Council had put out a study suggesting more Non-lethal weapon research is needed.

Bush Crew Fomenting Terror, for Real? (Nov. 6, 2002)
"In other words -- and let's say this plainly, clearly and soberly, so that no one can mistake the intention of Rumsfeld's plan -- the United States government is planning to use "cover and deception" and secret military operations to provoke murderous terrorist attacks on innocent people. Let's say it again: Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and the other members of the unelected regime in Washington plan to deliberately foment the murder of innocent people -- your family, your friends, your lovers, you -- in order to further their geopolitical ambitions," writes Chris Floyd for the Moscow Times. There's more here as well, so be sure to check out just what sort of people are now in total control of the US government.

Drug kingpin may do less time than cohorts (Nov. 6, 2002)
This guy is being made out to be a Drug Kingpin, yet testimony quoted has the guy driving from Houston to Atlanta to sell just 20 kilos, a lot for a small time user, but a pittance compared to what is smuggled across the border everyday by the real Drug Lords.

Drug Ballads Hit Sour Notes (Nov. 6, 2002)
"This is Mexico's latest culture war, unfolding on its newest front: the cradle of the Tijuana drug cartel."

Colombia Defends Halting Drug Lords' Release (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday defended his decision to halt the release from prison of two of the country's most notorious drug lords on grounds of 'national dignity,' despite criticism that he was interfering with the judicial system."

San Francisco Voters Approve City Cannabis (Nov. 6, 2002)
"The city of San Francisco may soon begin cultivating their own lush crop of world-renowned California marijuana. Voters here have enthusiastically supported a ballot measure directing their city officials to consider growing and distributing medical cannabis."

Confused about drug war (Nov. 6, 2002)
This self-described Republican is wondering why his party supports the War on Some Drugs and Users.

U.S. Civilians Wage Drug War from Colombia's Skies (Nov. 6, 2002)
"They are private U.S. citizens but work on the front lines of America's war on drugs. Under a little-known program, more than 100 pilots, mechanics and others work for the U.S. State Department in Colombia as part of a program to eradicate Colombia's coca and opium poppy fields."

Drug Trafficking is a Threat to National Security, Mexican President Says (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Mexican President Vicente Fox has announced an ambitious plan to fight illegal drugs in his country."

203, decriminalizing pot, snuffed out (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Voters have twice OK'd medical use, but draw line here."

Bush Leads GOP to Control of Congress (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Curtis Gans, director of the independent Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, said turnout on Tuesday may have been a percentage point or two higher than it was in 1998, when 35.3 percent of the voting age population cast ballots - the lowest midterm turnout since 1942." Just minutes ago, the preceding paragraph was the final one on this Associated Press report by Sandra Sobieraj, but now it is gone. The only reference to the low voter turnout that remains is this, buried in the middle of the article: "Tuesday's off-year ballot appeared to draw little more than a third of eligible Americans to the polls, where widely anticipated technical problems amounted to a few hiccups."

Marijuana Legalization Backers Suffer Defeats (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Advocates of marijuana legalization had a bad night at the ballot boxes yesterday as voters in several states appeared to reject proposals to relax or eliminate the prohibition on pot smoking. The only place to buck the trend was the District, where voters strongly backed a plan to send marijuana smokers to a clinic rather than to jail."

Marijuana fails, gay marriage ban passes in Nevada (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Nevada voters showed their conservative side Tuesday, defeating a ballot proposal to allow adults to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana while giving a ban on gay marriages the added protection of the state's constitution."

Decriminalize marijuana: Runciman (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Ontario's law-and-order minister adds his voice to call for a softer approach to cannabis possession."

Nevada Just Says 'No' to Legalizing Marijuana (Nov. 6, 2002)
"In a sharp rebuff of the drug-reform movement, Nevada voters refused Tuesday to make their state the first to legalize possession of marijuana, and reform measures also failed in Ohio and Arizona."

'Ecstasy' gives a new generation the highs--and lows--of the '60s (Nov. 6, 2002)
"What is the appeal of Ecstasy? The simple answer is that it makes one feel good about self and others while being part of a larger community."

Fourth party-drug bust (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Local cops say that despite this string of big cases, they fear they are making little headway in arresting the really big dealers -- the ones who bring tons of cocaine and ecstasy into the country. San Francisco narcotic cops say they are making 'dents' in the trade but more must be done."

Cannabis medicines could hit UK next year (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Cannabis-based medicine could be on the UK market as early as 2003, according to GW Pharmaceuticals, the UK company developing cannabis-based prescription medicines, which this week released results from four Phase III clinical trials."

U.S. warns Eli Lilly animal unit on reporting (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Eli Lilly and Co.'s animal health unit did not promptly submit some reports of adverse events in pigs given the drug Paylean, a feed additive used to boost the animals' weight, U.S. regulators said in a letter released Tuesday."

Pupils expelled after smoking cannabis on Somme battlefields trip (Nov. 6, 2002)
Smoking pot on a history battlefield while on a field trip must be an interesting experience, made all the more so when caught by teachers and expelled.

FAMM Victory (Nov. 6, 2002)
"On November 1, 2002, a federal sentencing guideline amendment to 'cap' sentences for the least culpable drug offenders became law."

Mexico to launch war on drug trade (Nov. 6, 2002)
"President Vicente Fox pledged Monday to launch an all-out war on the drug trade, saying his administration would go beyond nabbing drug lords and take on drug consumption and production in Mexico."

Antidepressants: Too Much of a Good Thing? (Nov. 6, 2002)
"Experts debate whether they're being prescribed too quickly, too often."

District Attorney praises 'Rolling Thunder' (Nov. 6, 2002)
Twenty-seven people are arrested in Alabama for methamphetamines.

Reformers' Voter Guides 2002
Joshua Tinnin has set up a very useful set of links to a whole bunch of cannabis related voter guides. Want the War to end? Do Not Vote for ANYONE who promotes prohibition.

Machine Gun Delivery Government gets in on dope dealing (Nov. 5, 2002)
"Whatever you may think of Faulkner's prediction, or his choice of weaponry, his argument does point to a larger issue in the now-nationwide confrontation over medical cannabis and marijuana decriminalization: Do we really want to have the government running the weed stash?" So asks Tim Cavanaugh. "Happily, a battle of ideas can be waged without machine guns. But you never know what current drug czar John Walters might have up his sleeve."

Crack down on pot growers: Runciman (Nov. 5, 2002)
"Ontario security minister says industry endangers U.S. relations."

Pot raid nets tribal council member (Nov. 5, 2002)
"A councilwoman for the Yavapai-Apache tribe in Camp Verde, who complained that police took away her 'best stuff' during a drug search, has been accused of growing marijuana in her back yard." Wouldn't you know it, the cops found copies of High Times magazine in her home too.

Retired State Police detective: 90 percent of teens get high (Nov. 5, 2002)
"'Marijuana is a dangerous drug,' he said. 'It was a dangerous drug 35 years ago, and it's a much more dangerous drug today.' Commonly called pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, Acapulco Gold or reefer, marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States. When smoked as a cigarette, it's called a 'joint.' When smoked in a hollowed-out cigar, it is called a "blunt'," writes Sue Kramer, brining to mind that District Attorney's conference Hunter S. Thompson wrote about in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

'I knew they would be coming' (Nov. 5, 2002)
"OPP raids business of man who helps users of medicinal marijuana."

Nevada; right back in the state of sin (Nov. 5, 2002)
"What may be a shock, however, is how close this debate really is. In a CNN.com poll, nearly 40 percent of Americans agree with legalizing marijuana and about 80 percent agree with legalizing it for medicinal purposes," notes Nick Alajakis about the issue hitting voting booths

Americans to cast ballots on ever-prickly marijuana issue (Nov. 5, 2002)
"More than three decades after the start of the pot-powered hippie revolution, voters in six US states will vote Tuesday on the still-smouldering issue of whether to ease laws on marijuana use."

Nevadans vote for gov, House, decide ballot measures (Nov. 5, 2002)
"Nevadans vote Tuesday for governor and a batch of other statewide officeholders, pick three U.S. House members and decide ballot measures that would allow possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana and ban gay marriages."

Pot case has lawyers spewing insults (Nov. 5, 2002)
"A judge being figuratively fired, attorneys spitting venom at each other outside the courtroom, discussions about "shake" and "bud," a dread-locked man in shackles."

Large-scale pot cultivation on the rise, DEA says (Nov. 5, 2002)
"Law enforcement officials report seeing much larger efforts to domestically cultivate marijuana outdoors in a 'corporate' setup, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration," reports Colby Adams.

Marijuana farmer wants his crop back (Nov. 5, 2002)
"Arguing that drug enforcement agents had no authority to raid a Davenport medical marijuana farm, an attorney on Monday asked a federal judge to order the 167 plants be returned to the operators," writes Janice Rombeck about Mike and Valerie Corral.

Dad upset with governor's drug law stance makes threat (Nov. 4, 2002)
Typical of the not-so-bright prohibitionist mindset, when finding his son had been exposed at school to a rational and honest discussion with Governor Gary Johnson about the real effects of both drugs and prohibition, this Father immediately reacted with threats of violence, actually calling up Gov. Johnson and leaving a message saying if he saw Johnson on the street he was going to "kick his ass."

Dog Shot in Botched Drug Raid (Nov. 4, 2002)
And this is the dog that got teeth knocked out then was shot and killed by rabid prohibitionist stormtroopers who gave themselves the right to kick in anyones' door they suspect might have drugs, even if they screw up and raid the wrong apartment. The Chief of Police wrote a letter asking for public understanding. One bonehead actually asserted in a letter to the editor that people should "get over it" as the police didn't mean to raid the wrong apartment and didn't mean to shoot the dog.

Scout leader caught at border with marijuana (Nov. 4, 2002)
"A Rhode Island Boy Scout leader has been convicted of carrying marijuana while trying to enter Canada through Highgate with some of his young troops."

Navy sonar linked to whale deaths banned (Nov. 4, 2002)
"The United States Navy went up against whales and, for the moment at least, it lost. A federal judge on Thursday prohibited the navy from combing the world's oceans with a powerful new sonar, ruling that the booming sounds meant to detect enemy submarines could cause irreparable harm to whales." Amazingly, the Navy lost a round in their efforts to continue utilizing this nasty, destructive and murderous sonar system.

Tobacco sponsorship banned in Belgium (Nov. 4, 2002)
"Next year's Belgian Grand Prix is set to be scratched from the Formula One schedule in a controversy over restrictions on tobacco advertising, team sources have said."

Jumblatt urges ‘medicinal’ rethink on banned crops (Nov. 4, 2002)
"Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt has called for legalizing poppy cultivation, but only for medicinal purposes."

Certain coffee could be banned (Nov. 4, 2002)
"With a smile on his face and comfortable shoes on his feet, caffeine crusader Rick Young is campaigning the old-fashioned way, hanging up doorknob fliers for his ballot measure requiring that every cup of coffee sold in town come from beans grown and sold responsibly."

The Week Online With DRCNet, issue #261 (Nov. 4, 2002)
The 9th Circuit Court's pro-medical marijuana ruling, the corrupt cop of the week, more than 7 hundred thousand marijuana arrests in the US last year while violent crime saw increases, these stories and lots more are covered in this week's issue, plus the reformers' calendar.

Journey for Justice Makes Stop in Washington DC (Nov. 4, 2002)
Read brief reports by Sanho Tree and Kevin Zeese, and see photos of the demonstration.

Why I Oppose The US War On Terror (Nov. 4, 2002)
"I put 'terrorist' in quotes because its definition is subjective, and I myself used to be in the Marine Corps, part of the most powerful 'terrorist' organization on the planet: the U.S. government. Of course, we never call our operations 'terrorism' because every operation is considered legitimate to us. When found guilty by the World Court for violence in Nicaragua, we ignore the decision. Too bad the nations we hurt can't just ignore what we do to them. When the planet condemns us for killing between 2,500-4,000 people in Panama, we're too busy planning the next invasion of a country that can't fight back," writes ex-US Marine Chris White in this scathing editorial on US hypocricy and warmongering indoctrinations.

Cop Chokes Unresisting, Handcuffed Man (Nov. 4, 2002)
Take a good look at this pig...I mean, officer of the law, as he glares into this kids eyes while purportedly choking the kid into unconciousness.

Q&A: What is Fentanyl? (Nov. 4, 2002)
Find out what it was the Russians used to kill those Chechen terrorists and their hostages.

At the Intersection Of Bravado and Fear (Nov. 3, 2002)
"Lozado said members of an up-and-coming Salvadoran gang that had broken away from a larger gang were moving in on the area, and he surmised that I had gotten caught up in some kind of turf warfare," writes Brian Barger in this very interesting and dramatic report about his being fired upon in Washington DC recently by someone wielding a .45 caliber weapon.

ROWLAND: Heroin Message Caught Up In Politics (Nov. 3, 2002)
"How does Gov. John G. Rowland view the heroin problem in Willimantic? It seems to depend on his audience."

Social issues fill election ballots (Nov. 3, 2002)
"On almost all of the ballot questions, the federal government has stayed on the sidelines. Not so with Nevada's marijuana measure and an Arizona proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a non-criminal offense comparable to a traffic violation. The federal drug czar, John P. Walters, has visited both states to oppose decriminalization, which he calls 'a stupid, insulting con.'"

The Drug War Going Nowhere Fast (Nov. 3, 2002)
"Washington's crusade against terrorism is pushing the drug war to the sidelines and causing a sharp reduction in resources and financial assistance available to many Latin American countries for whom anti-drug initiatives were the primary source of U.S. aid."

"A Guerrilla Struggle to End the Drug War" (Nov. 3, 2002)
“'I’m proud of my country,' said Ethan Nadelmann this past Wednesday at a talk at the Center for Investigation and Economic Teachings (CIDE, in its Spanish initials), a small institute on the outskirts of Mexico City. 'But do you remember that Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire? I unfortunately do regard my government as an evil empire of drug prohibition. We are a country that for almost 100 years has aggressively pursued a policy of prohibition.'”

Marijuana grower sentenced to six months in jail (Nov. 3, 2002)
"A Vero Beach man, who told the court last week he did not cultivate marijuana plants but only watered them, failed to persuade the judge he should get a more lenient sentence."

Virginia medical marijuana law seen largely as symbolic, conflicts with federal law (Nov. 3, 2002)
"Since 1979, Virginia law has allowed doctors to prescribe marijuana for glaucoma and cancer patients, but few if any doctors do. The law is viewed as largely symbolic because it conflicts with federal policy prohibiting doctors from prescribing the drug. It was enacted in an era when supporters expected the federal restrictions to be relaxed," notes the Associated Press.

Wisconsin's Evans charged with marijuana possession (Nov. 3, 2002)
"Evans was taken into custody and fingerprinted before posting a $100 bond on the misdemeanor charge and leaving the jail around 10 p.m."

The Secret War (Nov. 3, 2002)
"Frustrated by intelligence failures, the Defense Department is dramatically expanding its 'black world' of covert operations," reports William M. Arkin.He writes that one "board recommends creation of a super-Intelligence Support Activity, an organization it dubs the Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group, (P2OG), to bring together CIA and military covert action, information warfare, intelligence, and cover and deception."

State officials say cartels replacing hippies as pot farmers (Nov. 3, 2002)
While the editor of DrugWar.com is not asserting that there are no cartels involved in some marijuana trafficking, this article reads like typical anti-drug warrior propaganda.

Agents besiege suffering patients (Nov. 2, 2002)
"Clearly, the Bush administration has changed the pattern, encouraging sadistic medical marijuana raids on dying and suffering patients complying with state laws in California and now in Oregon."

Medical marijuana use rapidly increases in Oregon (Nov. 2, 2002)
"Three-and-a-half years after the program started, 4,162 Oregonians have cards allowing them to grow and use marijuana. In February, the total was less than 1,700."

Nevada's marijuana measure gets $1.275 million in donations (Nov. 2, 2002)
And how much has the US government spent of US tax dollars trying to stop Nevada's marijuana legalization measure?

Court Slams Laredo National Bank (Nov. 2, 2002)
The bank cannot force Donald Schultz to hand over documents he has implicating the bank in money laundering and drug trafficking.

Rally in Washington Is Said to Invigorate the Antiwar Movement (Nov. 2, 2002)
"The demonstration on Saturday in Washington drew 100,000 by police estimates and 200,000 by organizers', forming a two-mile wall of marchers around the White House. The turnout startled even organizers, who had taken out permits for 20,000 marchers. They expected 30 buses, and were surprised by about 650, coming from as far as Nebraska and Florida," writes Kate Zernike for the New York Times.

Harken Board Was Told of Risks Before Bush Stock Sale Harken memo went to SEC after probe (Nov. 2, 2002)
Trust the government, trust the government, trust the government. The people in office expect the citizenry to trust them to clean up corporate crime, but these articles about George W. Bush, current US president, and his sales of Harken stock under suspicious circumstances are not encouraging.

Minnesota, The Straight Story (Nov. 2, 2002)
"There has been a lot of talk about whether it was "appropriate" to turn the service into a political rally; many said they were angry about that. Don't buy it. It wasn't anger - it was fear," writes Marc Ash.

Police Scolded as Bush Protester Acquitted (Nov. 2, 2002)
"District Justice Shirley Rowe Trkula dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against Bill Neel, 65, of Butler, without any defense witnesses having to testify. Neel was arrested because he refused to move to a fenced-in area for protesters before Bush's Labor Day appearance at a union picnic in Neville."

Russia to Monitor American Elections (Nov. 2, 2002)
"Amid the worldwide outbreak of Schadenfreude that accompanied America's chaotic presidential showdown in 2000, senior members of the Russian Communist party sarcastically offered to send election monitors to Palm Beach to help the nascent democracy find its feet. Albanian politicians echoed the joke, as did President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. But the line between jokes and reality in Florida has always been a blurred one: now, America has accepted the offer."

Court Deadline Looms for Cheney Energy Papers Judge Admonishes White House for Slow Review Process (Nov. 2, 2002)
"Seven days before a court-imposed deadline, the Bush administration said Tuesday that it has fully reviewed only two out of 12 boxes of documents at issue in lawsuits over Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force," reports the Associated Press.

Pilot 'Was in MI6 Plot' (Nov. 2, 2002)
"A pilot on £22million drug smuggling charges claimed yesterday he was hired by British secret services to collect a captured Russian missile." The StraightTimes asks "Are non-lethal knockout drugs possible?"

U.S. Finds Hurdles in Search for Nonlethal Gas (Nov. 2, 2002)
"The quest for an effective 'nonlethal' chemical agent like the one that killed more than 100 hostages in Moscow last weekend has tantalized U.S. military and law enforcement officials for years," reports Guy Gugliotta for the Washington Post.

Harvey Pitt SEC Chairman admits withholding info amid fresh calls for his resignation (Nov. 1, 2002)
Foxes guarding and looting the hen house, over and over again.

U.S. tested nerve gas in Hawaii in 1967: Pentagon (Nov. 1, 2002)
So far this year the news reports about US military testing of chemical and biolgical agents on our own citizens far outnumbers the one or two chemical attacks Saddam Hussein is accused of comitting on his.

Politics On The Not-So Fringe (Nov. 1, 2002)
"So you're going to the candidates' debate. Laugh about it. Shout about it — when you've got to choose. Every way you look at it, you lose," notes the quote from Simon and Garfunkles' Mrs. Robinson at the beginning of this article by Lisa Sorg.

Crackdown costs officials U.S. visas (Nov. 1, 2002)
"The U.S. has revoked visas in 10 countries in Latin America due to corruption concerns. After decades of being accused of turning a blind eye to foreign corruption, the State Department is cracking down on U.S. visa holders suspected of crooked financial dealings in their home countries."

High Honors to Cannabis Constipation Cure (Nov. 1, 2002)
"The concoction of rhubarb, cannabis sativa (marijuana) and elecampane 'gives no harmful effect to internal organs but activates their functions and promotes digestion by dissolving bile well,' the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said."

Campaigners Support Pro-Cannabis MEP (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Campaigners fighting for a change in British drug laws have pledged their support for convicted Cheshire MEP Chris Davies. The Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) has congratulated Mr Davies on his 'principled viewpoint' following his conviction for possessing cannabis during a demonstration in Stockport last December."

Eradicating Afghan opium could take 10 years - UN (Nov. 1, 2002)
"The prediction, delivered yesterday by Lakhdar Brahimi, followed a report last week by the UN drug control agency citing Afghanistan as the world’s largest opium poppy producer. The report said growers and sellers had taken advantage of a power vacuum during the US-led war and the collapse of the Taliban regime, to kick-start opium production after a two-year lull."

Man charged with selling drugs via the Internet (Nov. 1, 2002)
"An alleged peddler of 'Special K,' a horse tranquilizer popular among all-night ravers, yesterday was charged with selling the drug illegally over the Internet, in one instance to a Northborough man who fell into a coma after an overdose."

Assisted Suicide Supporters Attack Ashcroft, Promote Democratic Senate (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Ashcroft responded to the Supreme Court ruling by invoking the power of the DEA to regulate the use of narcotics under federal law. The Justice Department determined that terminating a human life is not a 'legitimate medical purpose' under the law, and that physicians may lose their DEA licenses to prescribe narcotics if they engage in the practice," writes Jeff Johnson about another instance whereby US citizens living in one state vote to legalize something only to have the feds say to them, "Where do you think you live, in a Democracy?"

Windham man to spend year in jail for sale of drug accessories (Nov. 1, 2002)
"U.S. District Court Judge Joseph DiClerico gave Kenneth Dushane, of 10 Edgewood Road, a sentence of one year and a day on Monday for selling bongs and other items allegedly used for illegal drug activity from his now-closed store."

Sheriff's operation results in 30 warrants (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Over the next week, more than 30 individuals will be served arrest warrants charging them with the distribution of illegal drugs, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday." So, if you sold drugs to anyone in Oconee County recently, you'd better think about leaving the county soon.

Ecstasy 'hot drug' sold at dance clubs (Nov. 1, 2002)
Instead of Reefer Madness, call this one Ecstacy Madness. How much longer will the prohibitionists get away with spreading misinformation, endangering the children with half truths and flat out lies?

Taking the Initiative (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Will the feds let states try new drug policies?" That's what Jacob Sullum wants to know.

Federal agents investigating allegations that police, prison guards took bribes (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Federal authorities are investigating whether Bridgeport police officers and state correction officers accepted bribes from a former top drug dealer to smooth the way for his distribution ring, the Connecticut Post reported Friday," reports the Associated Press.

Local View: Reefer madness strikes again (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Sixty-five years later 'reefer madness' is back, this time promoted by our current "drug czar," John Walters, who is repeating some of the same warnings that Anslinger used, such as marijuana being a highly addictive and a 'gateway' drug. Both of these claims have been repeatedly refuted by hundreds of scientific studies," writes Randall G. Shelden, a professor of criminal justice at UNLV.

Holding on to the dream (Nov. 1, 2002)
This is a perverse use of this drug agent's murder the editor of DrugWar.com feels, for these prohibitionist police officers to go in and scare the bejesus out of elementary school children with what passes for drug education.

25 Charged In Heroin Trafficking Ring (Nov. 1, 2002)
"An alleged Colombian-based drug leader was among 25 people charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, officials announced Thursday" in Chicago.

Police make 40 arrests in drug trafficking sting (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Hartford police and state and federal law enforcement officials said they made a major dent in drug trafficking in the Capitol city with the arrests of 40 Hartford area people, including three local men," reports Heather Nann Collins.

Federal law enforcement (Nov. 1, 2002)
Want to be a federal prohibitionist enforcer? Now's your chance to land that dream job with the Bureau of Prisons and the BATF, among other federal employment opportunities offered at this job expo.

Ohio to Vote on Drug Treatment Issue (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Mansour Bey credits a drug treatment program for helping him kick a crack cocaine addiction. Nola Tinkey says a tough love approach that briefly sent her to jail got her off drugs. The two are on opposite sides of an Ohio ballot initiative pushed by three billionaires - and strongly opposed by the Republican governor and much of the criminal justice establishment."

Drugging Our Children The Legal Way (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Chalk up another profitable victory for those promoting the legal drugging of America's children -- also known as the good folks of the pharmaceutical industry. Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down a Food and Drug Administration regulation that required drug makers to test medicines routinely given to children. As a result, America's legal drug pushers are once again free to offer their potent concoctions for our kids' consumption without having to prove that they are safe or effective for pediatric use." Arianna Huffington once again puts things into perspective.

ACLU Applauds Medical Marijuana Ruling (Nov. 1, 2002)
"The American Civil Liberties Union says Tuesday's ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco preserves state medical marijuana laws. The court ruled the government can't revoke the prescription drug licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to sick patients."

Jailed Mexican drug lord says U.S. has lost war on drugs: Report (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Reputed Tijuana drug cartel boss Benjamin Arellano Felix, in an interview with U.S. reporters from the Mexican prison where he is incarcerated, said the United States has lost the war on drugs, The Washington Post reported Thursday."

Jockeys Fail Cocaine Test (Nov. 1, 2002)
"Racing was hit by a new drugs scandal last night when it was revealed two jockeys have tested positive for cocaine."

Hopkinsville man pleads guilty in federal drug case (Nov. 1, 2002)
"James Livingston, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute five or more grams of methamphetamine and possessing five or more grams of methamphetamine."