Feature: Is Addiction a Brain Disease? Biden Bill to Define It as Such is Moving on Capitol Hill
A bill that defines addiction as a brain disease is moving in Congress. Treatment professionals and recovery advocates laud it. There are skeptics too.
Addiction Treatment
Southeast Asia: Singapore Gives Treatment Option to Marijuana, Cocaine Users
If you get caught smoking marijuana or snorting cocaine in Singapore, be prepared for forced drug treatment and a long prison term. Authorities there announced this week they will begin applying the sanctions used against hard drug addicts to pot smokers and coke heads as of August 1.
Presidential Politics: Democrat Mike Gravel is Latest to Say Legalize
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel made a splash at the first Democratic presidential debate last month in South Carolina. That's drawing attention to his drug policy platform and recent statements supporting the regulation and control of drugs.
Drug War Chronicle Book Review: "The Heroin Solution" by Arnold Trebach (2nd ed., 2006, Unlimited Publishing, 330 pp., $19.99 pb.)
Arnold Trebach wrote "The Heroin Solution" in 1982. That it is still relevant and relevatory is a sad commentary on how far we've come since then. We review it on the occasion of its republication.
Feature: In Britain, Labor's Decade-Long Drug War a Failure, New Report Finds
As Britain's 10-year drug strategy comes up for renewal or replacement next year, the latest in a long line of reports assailing it has come out.
Canada: Vancouver Mayor Pushes Stimulant Maintenance Plan
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan wants to start a pilot stimulant maintenance program for up to 700 hard-core cocaine and meth users in the city's Downtown Eastside. Now he has released a poll showing strong support for the idea among Vancouver residents.
Second National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV, and Hepatitis Underway in Salt Lake City
The 2nd National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV and Hepatitis got underway in Salt Lake City Thursday. Here's a report from the first day.
Canada: Vancouver Mayor Calls for Large-Scale Methamphetamine, Cocaine Maintenance Trials
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan has called for stimulant maintenance trials for more than 700 hard-core methamphetamine and cocaine users as part of a broad plan to improve the quality of life in the city before the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Treatment Not Jail: California Governor Proposes Cutting Proposition 36 Drug Treatment Funds
In his new state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has under-funded for the popular and successful treatment-not-jail program Proposition 36. He's in for a fight.
Europe: Scottish Labor Politician Fights for Harm Reduction as Party Turns Hard-Line on Drugs
The Scottish drug debate heated up this week as a Labor Party MSP attacked her party for heading in the wrong direction, and more than 250 senior police, health officials, academics, and others interested in drug policy pondered the future.