The plan is to get all the kids to stop smoking and drinking, which will result in the elimination of all drug use within 6 years:

KUCHING, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- The International Federation of Non-governmental Organisations for the Prevention of Drug and Substance Abuse (IFNGO) has targeted a drug-free Asean by 2015 to counter the widespread abuse of "gateway drugs" among the region's younger generation, who are susceptible to the lure of alcohol and tobacco.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said today children and the youth who were addicted to such "gateway drugs" provided the recruitment base for addiction to illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

"Fighting the war against drugs is a formidable and difficult task. I am certain that with concerted effort from all members of the Asean IFNGO network, we can bear down on the problem of gateway drugs and achieve our goal of a drug-free Asean by 2015," he said. [Bernama.com]

And I am certain that by 2015 I will have, through deep concentration, mastered the art of levitation and learned to shoot laser beams from my eyes. If I fail, it will be everyone’s fault but my own.

Here’s the perfect illustration of how not to handle an encounter with police:

WHEELING -- The Ohio County Sheriff's Department initiated a traffic stop early this morning at the Mount de Chantal Kroger.

After getting permission to search the vehicle, deputies found nearly a half a pound of marijuana, a digital scale, baggies and blunt wraps, along with some cash.

25-year-old Andre Smith of Wheeling, 20-year-old Jeff McGhee of Wheeling and 18-year-old George Oliver were arrested and taken to the Northern Regional Jail.

One of the suspects later admitted to deputies that the marijuana was purchased out-of-state, and he planned to sell it. [WTRF]

Of course, there’s no guarantee that refusing the search will prevent it from happening, but it often will, and if police search you anyway, you’ll at least have a shot at getting the evidence thrown out in court. I’ve discussed this exact issue with dozens of defense attorneys and the answer is always the same: if the suspect refused consent, the charges are frequently dropped.

I recently met a defense attorney from Kansas who called Flex Your Rights to order a copy of our video. Doing criminal defense in Kansas, this guy deals with traffic stop arrests all day every day. The drug war in Kansas is initiated on the highways and then fought out in court, and this lawyer is the guy you want to know if you get jammed up in a traffic stop. He said he gets very few clients who refused consent, and as a result a lot of his work involves negotiating plea bargains for drug cases. On the rare occasion that he gets someone who actually had the presence of mind to refuse the search, they walk. He’s a badass and he knows how to annihilate improperly seized evidence.

Every case is different and police misconduct is a virus, but the bottom line is that giving consent will always destroy you if there’s anything in the car. It’s just that simple. Don’t play their game.

When a new president takes office, it is typical for all U.S. attorneys to submit their resignations. Yet, one of our nation’s top prosecutors says she’s just not going to do that, and it happens to be Mary Beth Buchanan, whose career is defined by outrageous drug war grandstanding, flagrant assaults on free speech, and countless other acts of vindictive and unethical conduct.

Radley Balko chronicles Buchanan’s disgusting legacy and notes the likelihood that this is all a big ridiculous stunt to leverage herself into future positions of political power. Fine, I say. Obama should still give her the axe. If she subsequently plays the victim card in a run for governor or senate, so be it. Such a campaign would finally provide a long-overdue referendum on all the despicable crap she’s done.

Apparently, Albania is Europe’s 2nd ranked marijuana producer, due in small part to the desperation of elderly Albanians who grow pot because they can’t work and their children have moved away and they can’t afford their prescriptions.

So, as you might guess, the Albanian government is waging total war on the elderly, which is ridiculously easy under Albania’s crazy marijuana laws. The result is a bunch of impoverished old ladies going into hiding, while the real drug traffickers remain the only people in Albania who make any money.

Meanwhile, with Amsterdam bowing to international pressure and closing some of its coffeeshops, perhaps the Albanian government should consider turning this mindless marijuana policy on its head and raking in those mischievous "drug tourism" dollars nobody seems to want. Seriously, you live in Albania. You can’t afford a U.S.-style drug war, so don’t try.