The Drug Debate

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, the son of a man once imprisoned on drug charges in the US, has called for pardons for low-level drug mules serving long sentences in his country's prisons.

The 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference took place last weekend in New Orleans. Here is a taste of what is was like.

Some candid remarks from a Republican Senator this week suggest that our leaders understand more about the drug issue than they are willing to admit to most of the time.

A leading New Zealand drug policy think tank is trying to jump-start a national conversation on marijuana policy, and it looks like it's working.

The leading of the main opposition party in Trinidad & Tobago called last week for a reassessment of marijuana prohibition. Too bad that after losing Monday's election, the party will have five years before it has another shot at power.

The Massachusetts Bar Association has decided to form a drug policy task force with an eye toward sentencing reform in the Bay State.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is trying to dumb down the debate over drugs with simplistic sloganeering this week.

Mayor Gavin Newsom has criticized the nation's political leadership -- including his own party -- for continuing a drug war that causes crime and doesn't work.

Canada's ruling Conservative Party has unveiled a US-style drug strategy with mandatory minimums and without harm reduction. It's not getting a friendly reception.

The national Red Cross/Red Crescent organizations in nine Asian countries have joined a growing number of such groups that have signed onto a consensus statement calling for humanitarian drug policies.