Executive Branch

The US and European Union are threatening to stop helping Iran fight to stem the tide of Afghan opium and heroin -- heroin destined not only for the Islamic republics but also for the veins of users in places like Berlin and London. It's part of the high-wire pressure act aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear program.

The Taliban is profiting from prohibition. The Islamic insurgents made $100 million last year taxing poppy farmers, UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa said this week.

Attorneys for Dr. Stephen Schneider, a Kansas physician indicted by the feds as a "pill mill" operator, have now filed a motion seeking dismissal of the indictment and challenging the constitutionality of the Controlled Substances Act.

High US officials hit the road for Latin America this week in a series of trips to lobby for passage of Plan Mérida, the $1.4 billion anti-drug aid package for Mexico. But at a forum on drug policy in Culiacán, Sinaloa, there was little but objections to the plan, especially its emphasis on using the Mexican military in the drug war.

The US Sentencing Commission announced that changes in the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines would be retroactive, allowing current prisoners a chance at a sentence cut. In the month since prisoners began to be able to apply for cuts, some 3,000 have received them.

Federal prosecutors had no qualms about going to the press when they indicted Haysville, Kansas, physician Dr. Steven Schneider for his pain medication prescribing practices. But it's a different matter when Schneider and his allies want to get their side of the story out. Now, the feds are seeking a gag order.

Although the Bush administration has tried repeatedly to zero out funding for the Justice Department grant program that funds state and local anti-drug task forces, Congress keeps trying to put it back. Last week, the Senate voted to restore more than $900 million in funds in the FY 2009 budget, but there's a long way to go yet.

The Second Chance Act passed the Senate Tuesday night. It passed the House last year, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law shortly. It will provide $360 million for prisoner re-entry services in a bid to reduce recidivism.

With pressure mounting on Congress to do something about the disparities in sentencing for federal crack and powder cocaine offenses, a House committee held a hearing Tuesday, and activists took to the Hill to lobby for change.

The Bush administration's proposed 2009 budget includes some significant cuts in drug treatment, prevention, and recovery spending. A chorus of critics, including some former federal drug fighters, say there has to be a better way.