Today's argument in Raich (Nov. 29, 2004)
Get the details of today's medical marijuana Supreme Court hearing.

Afghan opium farmers say crop spraying made them sick (Nov. 28, 2004)
"Instead of the handful of people with skin diseases he usually deals with, Dr. Mohammed Rafi Safi says he has recently treated 30 Afghan farmers who allege their opium crops were sprayed with poison."

The Mystery of the Coca Plant That Wouldn't Die (Nov. 27, 2004)
"The war on Colombia's drug lords is losing ground to an herbicide-resistant supershrub. Is it a freak of nature - or a genetically modified secret weapon?"

Oil makes U.S. raise military stakes in Colombia (Nov. 27, 2004)
"The White House has now dropped the fiction that Plan Colombia is an anti-drug operation. A post-9/11 $28.9 billion supplemental anti-terrorism package allowed U.S. military aid to be targeted against groups on the State Department's terrorist list - including both Colombia's two leftist rebel groups, as well as the rightist paramilitary network known as the United Colombian Self-Defense Forces (AUC), which is responsible for the vast majority of massacres and atrocities, according to groups like Amnesty International."

Canadians want pot smokers 'left alone' (Nov. 25, 2004)
"A new poll for the advocacy group NORML Canada shows for the first time that more than half of Canadians effectively support legalization, with 57 per cent reporting that people should be 'left alone' if they are caught with small amounts of marijuana for personal use." Marijuana use in Canada has also doubled in the past ten years, proving exactly how effective prohibition is.

A Moral Indictment (Nov. 24, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"The open contempt for moral values by our elected officials has a corrosive effect. It is a sad day for law enforcement when Congress offers such poor leadership on moral values and ethical behavior."

Son of former CIA Opium Warlord Held in Wisonsin Mass Murder Case (Nov. 24, 2004)
While it's not fair to hold a son guilty for the sins of his father, now that Vang Pao's son has apparently murdered six other hunters in Wisconsin, it is a good time to look at who it is the US government has allowed to seek refuge in our country. Please visit Guns, Drugs and the CIA for more on one of the men the CIA and the US government have given refuge to. What with the current all out War on Terrorism as well as that old War on Some Drugs and Users, this might confuse the still flag-waving types, but since that type is already confused as it is,

Rolling Back Drug War Crime (Nov. 23, 2004)
"The U.S. government spends $33 billion annually on the War on Drugs. Yet, the Drug War has not reduced drug use, crime, or poverty as its proponents claim. In fact, the criminalization of drugs has spawned a crime wave in this country similar to the days of Prohibition."

On This Day- the Day of the Coup (Nov. 22, 2004)
"John F Kennedy was hit in the head and throat when three shots were fired at his open-topped car." While there've been efforts lately to create the impression that the Warren Commission had it right, there's little question in many minds that Oswald was not the "lone gunman" made out to be. Check out the JFK Assassination Records page for more.

Of Piercings and Protest (Nov. 22, 2004)
"Some Colorado high school kids prove that the power of protest music is, indeed, bigger even than Bob Dylan."

Marijuana dreams (Nov. 22, 2004)
"'There just seems to be a huge correlation (between) stoners and munchies,' said Josh. It's a correlation that led Josh, who's given to zip-up hooded sweatshirts and backward baseball caps, to dream of starting his own little cafe with a marijuana theme."

The Intoxication Instinct (Nov. 19, 2004)
"Since prehistoric times, humans have been seeking out and using intoxicating substances. Most people who have ever lived have experienced a chemically induced altered state of consciousness, and the same is true of people alive today."

Afghan Poppy Growing Reaches Record Level, U.N. Says (Nov. 19, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, the source of most of the opium and heroin on Europe's streets, was up sharply this year, reaching the highest levels in the country's history and in the world, the United Nations announced on Thursday."

Man With Pot Given Choice: Jail or Military (Nov. 19, 2004)
This is almost sick beyond words.

Brazil's Lula to Sign Drug Decriminalization Decree on Nov. 24 (Nov. 19, 2004)
"According to a report in today's Folha de São Paulo (subscription only), the government of Brazilian President Lula da Silva has reached a 'consensus' to step forward into a bold new era of drug policy: decriminalizing the drug user, and opening 250 safe drug use centers across the country during the year 2005."

UN warns of Afghan 'drug state' (Nov. 18, 2004)
"The UN has warned that Afghanistan could become a 'narco-state' after opium cultivation rose by two-thirds this year."

Toilet rule threat to drugs home (Nov. 17, 2004)
"A care home for recovering drug addicts in mid Wales claims it is under threat because of rules about toilet and bath training."

Peru drugs hidden in giant squid (Nov. 17, 2004)
"Police in Peru have seized about 700kg of cocaine hidden in frozen giant squid bound for Mexico and the US."

Men in pain take more drugs (Nov. 17, 2004)
"A Study on pain relief given to patients recovering from operations has reaffirmed the old maxim that women are tougher than men."

Say No To Prescription Drugs (Nov. 17, 2004)
Let the un-drugging of America begin...The results of pill dependence are insidious and devastating: billions of dollars in ever-higher drug costs; millions of people enduring sometimes highly toxic side effects; and close to 2 million cases each year of drug complications that result in 180,000 deaths or life-threatening illnesses in the elderly, one major study estimates."

Inquiry backs Gulf War syndrome (Nov. 17, 2004)
"The government must acknowledge that thousands of soldiers who served in the 1991 Gulf War are suffering serious illnesses as a direct result, a heavyweight inquiry has concluded."

Heroin, Cocaine and Española, New Mexico (Nov. 17, 2004)
"Two factors account for Rio Arriba having the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the country: entrenched generational poverty and proximity to the Interstate-25 pipeline from El Paso, Texas to Denver."

Judge Questions Long Sentence in Drug Case (Nov. 17, 2004-Free NYTimes registration required)
"In a case that has spurred intense soul-searching in legal circles, a 25-year-old convicted drug dealer, who was arrested two years ago for selling small bags of marijuana to a police informant, was sentenced on Tuesday to 55 years in prison.

Dangerous testing went beyond vets (Nov. 16, 2004)
"In April 1953, the military helped the CIA launch a Cold War program known as MKULTRA, in which unsuspecting servicemen and civilians were given LSD and other psychedelic drugs to study their use as truth serums. This cycle of government deception continued well into the 1970s, with thousands of Americans exposed to nuclear radiation, plutonium injections, chemical sprays from airplanes, open-air nerve agents and mescaline in secret tests."

Duchess's garden of cannabis, cocaine and opium (Nov. 16, 2004)
"One of the most popular tourist attractions in the North East is set to become an even bigger magnet for curious visitors next spring when they will be able to admire — but not pick — specimens of cannabis, opium poppies, magic mushrooms, tobacco and the coca plant, the source of cocaine."

Veterans kept the military's secret, some until death (Nov. 16, 2004)
"The tests that haunt Eleanore Felgendreger do not appear in her husband's Army records. Like thousands of World War II soldiers and sailors, Felgendreger's work as a human guinea pig was omitted from his file."

Drug Awareness Week (Nov. 16, 2004)
"Health promoters are urging parents to talk to their teens about the growing problem of teen drug and alcohol abuse this week. November 15-21 is designated as Drug Awareness Week."

US funds police anti-narcotics training program (Nov. 16, 2004)
"Approximately 150 members of the Sri Lankan Police graduated yesterday from a round of training courses funded by the US government."

New Push Planned to Stem Afghan Opium Trade (Nov. 16, 2004)
"Previous efforts to eradicate the crop have failed to reduce production levels. U.S. military may be playing a larger role in narcotics interdiction."

Smoking ban set for England (Nov. 16, 2004)
"England could become the latest country to ban smoking in public places, including restaurants and most pubs and bars, under a government proposal."

I've Found Atlantis: Explorer (Nov. 15, 2004)
"Deep-sea explorer Robert Sarmast said his team discovered the famed lost continent earlier this month in mile-deep Mediterranean waters between Cyprus and Syria."

AP Photographer Flees Fallujah (Nov. 15, 2004)
"I decided to swim … but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."

Tiny Antennas to Keep Tabs on U.S. Drugs (Nov. 15, 2004)
"Among the medicines that will soon be tagged are Viagra, one of the most counterfeited drugs in the world, and OxyContin, a pain-control narcotic that has become one of the most abused medicines in the United States. The tagged bottles - for now, only the large ones from which druggists get the pills to fill prescriptions - will start going to distributors this week, officials said."

Breathing life into the Smokeout (Nov. 15, 2004)
"The withdrawal from tobacco is as difficult and painful as the withdrawal from alcohol and heroin. Acute withdrawal of nicotine results in severe disruptions to the nervous system, including tremors, agitation and abnormal heart rhythms. People withdrawing from nicotine cannot properly digest their food, nor pass waste. They cannot concentrate and their fine-motor function is impaired."

Despite Warnings, Drug Giant Took Long Path to Vioxx Recall (Nov. 14, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
"...a detailed reconstruction of Merck's handling of Vioxx, based on interviews and internal company documents, suggests that actions the company took - and did not take - soon after the drug's safety was questioned may have affected the health of potentially thousands of patients, as well as the company's financial health and reputation."

Secret Service pays visit to Boulder High (Nov. 14, 2004)
Students' plans to read a Bob Dylan song for a school event rile some warmongering feathers, causing a visit from the US Secret Service..

It's Just a Plant (Nov. 12, 2004)
"A children's story about marijuana."

A Long Strange Trip (Nov. 12, 2004)
"A sprawling cultural history of illicit drug use in post-WWII America sets out to tell the whole truth about forbidden pharmacological fruit."

Our Vanished Values (Nov. 11, 2004)
"You can fool some of the people all the time, but how does it happen, in an era of instantaneous news coverage and easy access to vast information resources, that a fraud carried out on this scale can fool more than half the country?"

Music Therapy and Addiction (Nov. 11, 2004)
"Examines the power of using popular music, something people already listen to, as a way for people to express their feelings. Includes examples of therapeutic messages in popular music as well as original music by Freudian Slip, therapeutic rock band."

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates (Nov. 8, 2004-Free NYTimes registration required)
"The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday."

GIs Open Attack on Falluja (Nov. 8, 2004- Free NYTimes registration required)
God forbid the rest of the world know how many people US occupiers are maiming and killing now in Falluja. "American commanders regarded the reports as inflated, but it was impossible to determine independently how many civilians had been killed. The hospital was selected as an early target because the American military believed that it was the source of rumors about heavy casualties. 'It's a center of propaganda,' a senior American officer said Sunday."

Evidence Mounts that the Vote was Hacked (Nov. 7, 2004)
"While all of this may or may not be evidence of vote tampering, it again brings the nation back to the question of why several states using electronic voting machines or scanners programmed by private, for-profit corporations and often connected to modems produced votes inconsistent with exit poll numbers."

Sci-Fi Superheroes (Nov. 7, 2004)
"By using high technology and cutting edge biomedicine, the military hopes to create an entire army of Captain Americas – a fighting force made up of super-soldiers whose human-ness has been all but banished."

Abolish the CIA! (Nov. 6, 2004)
"Brutal, incompetent, secret operations of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, frequently manipulated by the military intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, caused the catastrophic devastation of this poor country [Afghanistan]. On the evidence contained in Coll's book 'Ghost Wars,' neither the Americans nor their victims in numerous Muslim and Third World countries will ever know peace until the Central Intelligence Agency has been abolished."

`Cosmetic neurology' drugs can elevate brain power (Nov. 5, 2004)
"As he [Dr. Anjan Chatterjee of the University of Pennsylvania] envisions it, cosmetic neurology could one day mean not just sharpening intelligence, but also elevating other dictates of the brain - reflexes, attention, mood and memory. Studying for the SAT? Take this drug to retain more of those pesky facts. About to report for duty at the fire station? These pills will improve your reflexes. Here's the 800 number. Ask your doctor."

Drugs and the Nation (Nov. 5, 2004)
"The election results show there is still substantial support for liberalizing the nation's drug laws – just not too far or too fast." Under the Influence contributor Steven Wishnia reports on the state of US drug reform efforts. "

Bush administration can't stop all terrorism (Nov. 5, 2004)
"The war on terror is like the war on drugs--no matter how much you fight it, no matter how many drug busts you make or dealers you jail, there will always be drugs. In the war on terror, you can eliminate or detain all of the Taliban or al-Qaida, and you would still have terrorism."

Editorial: Panhandle area's loss becomes Amarillo's gain (Nov. 5, 2004)
"As a result of the infamous 1999 Tulia drug sting, the PRNTTF [Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force] disbanded, leaving many Panhandle counties and cities to fend for themselves in the war on drugs. Amarillo, however, may be better off."

In the war on drugs, Europe must make a separate peace (Nov. 5, 2004)
"Give addicts a prescription and end the crime wave destroying our cities."

It’s Not Just Iraq (Nov. 5, 2004)
Don't forget the US Congress just ok'd the doubling of US troops serving in Colombia, ostensibly to wage a war on some drugs and producers, but wouldn't you know it, Colombia also has oil.

War in Colombia should not be absent from dialogue (Nov. 5, 2004)
Another reminder that US troops and US money are involved in the bloodbath in Colombia.

Karzai declares war on drugs (Nov. 5, 2004)
"Afghan Interior Minister Ali. A. Jalali told provincial security chiefs Monday that poppy cultivation must stop and future crops would be destroyed."

Liquefied Heroin Discovered In Fruit Juice Boxes In Florida (Nov. 5, 2004)
"Nearly 100 fruit juice boxes containing liquid heroin were intercepted Wednesday in a shipment from Colombia, federal officials said."

A Pot Farm May Be Coming To Your Local Park Soon (Nov. 5, 2004)
Every single year the prohibitionists raise this hue and cry about how the Mexican drug gangs are moving operations into state and federal parks. Here's this year's version.

Drug-Safety Reviewer Says F.D.A. Delayed Vioxx Study (Nov. 4, 2004-Free NYTimes registration required)
"In a series of testy e-mail exchanges with his bosses, a federal drug-safety reviewer contends that an effort to publish his study demonstrating the dangers of Vioxx was delayed and demeaned by top officials at the Food and Drug Administration."

Voters pass measures for medical marijuana, tobacco tax (Nov. 3, 2004)
"Use of marijuana for medical reasons will be legal in Montana and tobacco users will see a tax increase, voters decided Tuesday in passing a pair of ballot measures. Initiative 148 allows the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana, in limited amounts, for medical purposes. The initiative shields patients, their doctors and caregivers from arrest and prosecution."

A2 voters pass initiative to legalize medical marijuana (Nov. 3, 2004)
"The proposal also changes the current law in Ann Arbor to lower the fine for the third and all subsequent marijuana offenses for non medical users to $100. These fines include possession, control, use, giving away or selling of marijuana."

Bid to expand medical marijuana fails (Nov. 3, 2004)
"Oregon voters have rejected a ballot measure that would have expanded the state's current medical-marijuana law."

Let's remember Prohibition -- and legalize marijuana (Nov. 2, 2004)
"The Liberal government's third attempt at decriminalizing marijuana possession was introduced in the House yesterday. Whether the bill makes it into law will largely depend on whether Parliament lasts long enough to get it through. Ottawa has been considering such legislation now for a year and a half. In that time, as usual, political considerations have fallen behind reality."

Kerry's Contra-Cocaine Chapter (Nov. 2, 2004)
"In December 1985, when Brian Barger and I wrote a groundbreaking story for the Associated Press about Nicaraguan Contra rebels smuggling cocaine into the United States, one U.S. senator put his political career on the line to follow up on our disturbing findings. His name was John Kerry. Yet, over the past year, even as Kerry's heroism as a young Navy officer in Vietnam has become a point of controversy, this act of political courage by a freshman senator has gone virtually unmentioned, even though -- or perhaps because -- it marked Kerry's first challenge to the Bush family. "

Taking their eyes off the ball (Nov. 2, 2004)
"The candidates ignore the 'war on drugs.'"

Harsh Justice: Criminal Punishment and the Widening Gap Between America and Europe (Nov. 2, 2004)
"German and French prison rules require prisoners to be addressed respectfully as 'Herr So-and-So' or 'Monsieur So-and-So.' Prisoners also receive good health care and even paid vacations. Why are such practices not only nearly nonexistent in the United States, but nearly inconceivable? Why are prisoners punished much more harshly in the U.S. than in Europe? James Q. Whitman, professor of comparative and foreign law at Yale University, devotes himself to answering such questions."

Afghan Opium Cultivation Increase Warning (Nov. 1, 2004)
"The latest assessment by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will be published on Thursday and is certain to revive concerns over a flood of cheap heroin on British streets."

Hell to Pay (Nov. 1, 2004)
"Both plans depend heavily on building significant Iraqi forces to take over security. But the truth is, neither party is fully reckoning with the reality of Iraq—which is that the insurgents, by most accounts, are winning. Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks, NEWSWEEK has learned."

Report hammers Dallas police (Oct. 29, 2004)
"Botched procedures, lazy or careless supervisors, and a complete failure to test seized drugs provided a recipe for disaster in the Dallas Police Department's narcotics division...Throughout much of 2001, a group of confidential informants working with a squad of street-level narcotics officers planted 330 kilos of fake cocaine and methamphetamine on 30 unsuspecting residents."

Accused heroin dealer was also a confidential undercover police informant (Oct. 29, 2004)
"It's a case of double-dipping, after a Grandville man accused of selling heroin also acted as a confidential undercover police informant."

Token Deterrent (Oct. 29, 2004)
"By rubber-stamping rather than stamping out dubious chemical distributors, issuing flurries of warning letters without penalties, DEA mounts a mere token deterrent."

Former Interpol Chief Calls Prohibition "Obsolete and Dangerous" (Oct. 29, 2004)
"In an op-ed piece Wednesday in the Paris newspaper Le Monde, Raymond Kendall, the former chief of the international law enforcement agency Interpol, called drug prohibition 'obsolete and dangerous' and said its continuation represented a missed opportunity for reform. Prohibition has failed to protect the world from drugs, he said, and Europe must take the lead in reforming the drug laws, particularly at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on drugs in Vienna in 2008."

Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High, Far Exceed Violent Crime Arrests (Oct. 29, 2004)
"The FBI reported Saturday that the number of arrests for violations of the marijuana laws hit an all-time high of 755,186 in 2003. Despite a decade of marijuana law reforms and protestations by police chiefs across the land that marijuana is not a priority, that figure is nearly double the number of people arrested for pot in 1993. The number of people arrested on marijuana charges last year also exceeds the number arrested for violent crimes by more than 150,000."

On the Ballot: Marijuana, Medical Marijuana, Sentencing Reform (Oct. 29, 2004)
"With national elections now just days away, it is time to review one last time the drug policy-related initiative measures that have managed to make it to the ballot in various states and localities. Organizers in a handful of states and cities have managed to overcome the hurdles facing grassroots efforts, and voters in those locales will have a chance to vote directly on aspects of the war on drugs."

Respected Leaders and Families Launch 9/11 Truth Statement Demanding Deeper Investigation into the Events of 9/11 (Oct. 28, 2004)
"An alliance of 100 prominent Americans and 40 family members of those killed on 9/11 today announced the release of the 911 Truth Statement, a call for immediate inquiry into evidence that suggests high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the September 11th attacks to occur."