Drug War Chronicle

Coming off a summer symposium that brought together experts in criminal justice and sentencing issues, the US Sentencing Commission has announced that it is making alternatives to incarceration one of its priorities for the coming year. With a record 200,000-plus people in federal prison -- more than half of them drug offenders -- that is a good thing.

We have cops and prison guards getting into drug war trouble from coast to coast this week, from San Diego to Chicago and from Florida to Maryland.

In November, California residents will vote on a massive, complicated "treatment not jail" initiative known as the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA) and appearing on the ballot as Proposition 5. Battle lines are now being drawn.

Anti-drug vigilantism is not unknown in India or some other parts of the world, but it's not usually cheered on by the press. This week, it was in India's Orissa state.

Washington's war of words against Venezuela over its anti-drug interdiction efforts continued this week, as John Walters called the country a "global threat" because it does not cooperate in US anti-drug efforts.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón staked his political reputation on doing battle with the drug cartels. Now, with prohibition-related violence at record levels and violent common crime also on the rise, he is looking for more money to save his legacy.

An Irish judge has dismissed drugged driving charges against a young man based solely on the presence of marijuana in his system. That's not sufficient to prove impairment, he ruled.