Feature: Venezuela, US Governments Spar Over Drug Fighting
Washington and Caracas traded barbs over Venezuelan cooperation (or the lack thereof) with US drug fighters this week.
John Walters
Latin America: US Accuses Venezuela of "Colluding" with Cocaine Trade
US drug czar John Walters accused Venezuela of "colluding" in the cocaine traffic, an accusation Venezuela did not take lying down. Meanwhile, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he chews coca, much to the dismay of the Miami Herald.
Feature: Latest Teen Drug Use Numbers Out -- White House Claims Success, Critics Say Not So Fast
The latest annual Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use is out, and the Bush administration is claiming the numbers vindicate its anti-drug strategy. But a host of critics disagree.
Feature: In Strategy Shift, US Troops to Join Battle Against Opium in Afghanistan
Nearly six years after the US invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban is back and opium production is going through the roof. Now, the US government has announced it is ready to let the US military join the Afghan drug war.
Marijuana: Drug Czar Calls Pot Growers Dangerous Terrorists
Drug czar John Walters suffered a severe bout of rhetorical excess last Thursday at a press conference in Northern California, claiming that marijuana growers are violent criminal terrorists who would not hesitate to help foreign terrorists enter the country and inflict mass casualties.
Drug Use: One in 12 US Workers Uses Drugs, SAMHSA Says
One out of 12 full-time workers in the US reported using drugs within the past month, according to survey data released by SAMHSA.
Feature: In Spreading Scandal Over White House Political Operations, House Panel Head Accuses Drug Czar's Office of Electioneering
Citing smoking-gun memos between White House political staffers and the drug czar's office, the head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday accused the Bush administration of politicizing the Office of National Drug Control Policy. And they're deposing witnesses.
Feature: ONDCP Kicks Off Annual Summer Marijuana Scare Campaign With Report Linking Drugs to Gangs, Violence
With the summer season now underway, the drug czar's office has released a scary new report linking youth marijuana and other drug use to gang membership and violence. Critics say there is less there than meets the eye.
Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy," by Matthew Robinson and Renee Scherlen (2007, State University of New York Press, 268 pp., $27)
At one time or another, all of us have sputtered into our coffee cops over some outrageous claim made by the drug czar's office. Now, a pair of academics have systematically deconstructed those claims, and the results are highly illuminating.
Feature: Afghan Opium Dilemma Sparks New Calls for Alternative Development, "Normalizing" the Poppy Crop
While the US using tried-and-failed eradication schemes on the Afghan opium trade, others including the UN and World Bank are calling for smarter alternative development. Others are going even further.