Crime & Violence

Drug reform journalist Dean Becker has an impassioned new book out, and this week, he's in Washington, DC, to deliver copies to elected officials for their "summer reading assignment." What better time to take a look?

With tens of thousands of Central American children and adolescents arriving at the US border, the roots of the crisis tend to be obscured by partisan bickering over what is to be done and who is to blame. There's a good argument the war on drugs deserves some credit.

Happy Bastille Day! And speaking of which, the US Sentencing Commission is reporting heavy public response to its proposal to make some sentencing reforms retroactive. Meanwhile, marijuana remains on the move, the good burghers of New York will pay for another drug war killing, millennials loosen up on drugs, and more.

The UN's annual anti-drug day is Thursday, but this year, it is going to be met by a counter-campaign calling for drug decriminalization, harm reduction, and human rights in the drug war. "Support, Don't Punish" protests are being held in 80 cities worldwide. Is yours one?

We can watch the marijuana policy landscape shift before our eyes, with legalization initiatives and decrim measures popping up around the country and even Oklahoma Republicans arguing over legalization. There is also action on the opiate front, the Senate will vote on defunding the DEA's war on medical marijuana in states where it is legal, and more.

Marijuana reform is exciting some third-party activity, New York's medical marijuana bill is still alive amidst ongoing last-minute negotiations, the New York Senate has passed a package of anti-opiate bills that will bring on more drug war, a high-level commission calls for radical drug policy changes in West Africa, and more.

Operation Gideon, in which the ATF,and sometimes, the DEA, set up fake drug stash house robbery stings, is raising questions about entrapment and racially-targeted law enforcement. Here's part one of a series on it from Clarence Walker.

The organized opposition in Alaska gets a donation, medical marijuana is finally moving in the New York Senate, the Fair Sentencing Act picks up another sponsor, there's more violence in Mexico, and more meth in Asia, and more.

Elderly senators grumble about new-fangled rules allowing legal marijuana businesses to use the financial system, there are more legalization polls, an Oklahoma US Senate candidate is talking marijuana reform, there is medical marijuana initiative news, Minnesota passes asset forfeiture reform and the governor signs it, and more.

A report from the London School of Economics released Monday night outlines the enormous negative outcomes and collateral damage from the war on drugs and calls for new, evidence-based approaches to drug use and the drug trade.