marijuana
51% Say Legalize Marijuana in New California Poll
Yet another poll suggests that California is on the cusp of accepting marijuana. Whether that will translate to a win at the ballot this November remains to be seen.
Legalization
Detroit organizer Tim Beck (courtesy freedomactivist.net)
Election Commission Blocks Detroit Marijuana Legalization Vote
Detroit was supposed to vote on legalizing marijuana in November, but the city's election commission has blocked the vote.
Felipe Calderon attending security conference
Mexican Presidents Talk Drug Legalization
After Mexican President Calderon toyed briefly with the notion of legalization last week, his predecessor, Vicente Fox, has jumped in with a forthright call for legalization. Calderon didn't bite this week, but did show signs of recognizing he's created a disaster.
Legalizing Drugs the Only Answer (Opinion)
International affairs writer Jonathan Power opines on drug legalization against the backdrop of the history of opium in China.
Mexican President Open to Change in Drug Strategy
President Felipe Calderon said today that he is willing to change Mexico's drug-war strategy -- even legalize drugs. But, he also said that unilateral legalization is not the answer, hinting that the United States needs to join any legalization effort.
Marijuana Legalization in Mexico Gaining Support
Once a subject so taboo that college kids didn't even whisper about smoking pot, the idea of legalizing marijuana in Mexico has gained increasing favor, especially among a vocal group of academics, intellectuals and politicians. Analysts say the shift â which echoes an increasing openness to legalization in the U.S. â is both a function of changing generational attitudes toward drugs and growing public frustration with the country's drug war.
A Unique Chance to Rethink Drugs Policy (Editorial)
The Guardian (UK) editorializes that this is a moment in which a political leader could steer the drug debate out of its current dead-end track and towards something more meaningful and more likely to deliver what the public ultimately wants: safer, healthier, happier communities.
A Conversation About Drug Policy with Judge James P. Gray
Opposition to the war on drugs spans the political spectrum and often produces strange bedfellows. Join IPS Drug Policy Project Director Sanho Tree as he interviews Judge James P. Gray (Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge).
Before becoming a judge in 1983, Gray served as a Volunteer in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, a staff judge advocate and criminal defense attorney in the Navy JAG Corps, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, and a civil litigation attorney in a private law firm. In addition to being a Republican candidate for US Congress in 1998, he was also a Libertarian candidate for US Senate in 2004. He has also authored the book Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It. When conservatives and progressives agree, change can't be far away.
Please RSVP for this event by emailing [email protected]
Ex-Mexico President Calls for Legalizing Drugs
It looks like the Mexicans are finally understanding the folly of drug prohibition. Last week, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon agreed to open the door to discussions about the legalization of drugs. Now, Mexico's former president, Vicente Fox, is joining with those urging Calderon to legalize drugs in Mexico, saying that legalization could break the economic power of the country's brutal drug trafficking organizations.
Chronicle Reviews: Two Books on Mexican Drug War, One on Border
Here we look at a journalistic account of the "secret life" of the border, an academic treatise on Mexico and its drug cartels, and a polemic against Mexico's drug war by one of its leading political figures.