More than 35 years after their passage, New York's Rockefeller drug laws appear to be on their last legs. But it's not a done deal yet, and the battle over what the final reform package will look like continues in Albany.
Those field drug test kits police use to test for the presence of illegal drugs are so unreliable they should be banned, researchers said Tuesday. A Hershey's candy bar, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, and Tylenol are just a few of the common items that generate false positives. Air was another.
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that there would be no more DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in states where it is legal. That is a huge victory, but the victory will not be complete as long as a single person remains in or threatened with federal prison for helping sick patients.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has released its latest annual report on the global drug situation. It calls for increased efforts against marijuana, warns of an increasingly violent drug trade, and worries about the Internet. Critics charge the agency is stuck in the last century.
The Michael Phelps bong photo story has taken on a life of its own. It has garnered huge media coverage, much of it openly critical of the marijuana laws and official attitudes toward pot smokers. Now, drug reformers, sensing an opportunity to advance the cause, have organized a boycott of Kellogg cereals for refusing to renew his endorsement contract.
The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy issued a report Wednesday calling for harm reduction, treating drug use as a public health issue, and decriminalizing marijuana. The report was an intervention aimed as much at Washington as at Vienna, where the UN meets next month to plot global drug strategy.
With a budget crisis and a change in New York leadership, a politically perfect storm for reform of the state's draconian drug laws seems to be brewing. With the Rockefeller drug laws finally be repealed, after 35 years?
On the campaign trail, President Obama pledged repeatedly to end the DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in California. The DEA hit four more in the LA area Tuesday, and the administration responded in the media Wednesday night.