Legalization

US federal drug prohibition began with the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914 -- close to a century ago. And yet the Taliban last year could earn a hundred million dollars from the opium trade, and there's not a single drug free high school in our country. When will the failed and not very noble experiment be ended, so we can start to clean up the mess it's left for us?

Some well-known Puerto Ricans are calling for the legalization, taxation, and regulate sale of marijuana in a bid to reduce the prison population and keep kids away from unsavory elements.

Colombia's vice-president went to London to attend events related to a new British campaign against cocaine consumption, but while he was there, he suggested maybe legalization should be part of the discussion.

Culiacán, Sinaloa, is the home of one of Mexico's most feared drug trafficking organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel. This week, it was also home to a groundbreaking conference on alternatives to the drug war. As that conference ended Wednesday evening, cops, soldiers, and narcos went at it on the streets of Culiacán, leaving two cops and two narcos dead, and providing poignant punctuation to the conference.

The head of the Dutch police union says it's time to just legalize cannabis, and a Dutch mayor wants to start regulating growing.

For more than 30 years, Alaska's courts have held that the state constitution's privacy provisions protect citizens who want to smoke and possess small amounts of marijuana in their homes. Last week, the Alaska Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the state's latest effort to undo the status quo.

The dean of contemporary American conservatism, William F. Buckley, died Wednesday at age 82. His was a pioneering conservative voice in favor of drug legalization.

A bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession in New Hampshire is hitting some bumps. Last week, a subcommittee slashed the quantity from one ounce or less to one-quarter ounce or less, and this week a committee voted not to recommend the bill. But it will still go to the House floor and a possible roll-call vote.

As part of a series of regional forums in advance of next month's meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Vancouver this week hosted a forum where participants sent a clear signal that prohibition is not working.

While we take on the drug war's many different currents, it's important to remember our moral and intellectual roots. One of those is the role prohibition plays in fueling poverty. Understanding of this will one day dawn, and legalization will be seen as the wiser course.