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Chronicle Book Review: Hostage Nation
We review a book on Colombia and US drug policy seen through a lens focused on American contractors and Colombian politicians kidnapped by the FARC.
Civil Conflict
Mexican Drug Traffickers Break Out of Jail Whenever They Want
As if you needed another reason to wince in exasperation at the total failure of each and every ongoing drug enforcement effort in Mexico, here we go again.
Feature: NATO, US Deepen Anti-Drug Operations in Afghanistan in Bid to Throttle Taliban
The drug war in Afghanistan is about to heat up. NATO has agreed to target drug traffickers and heroin labs aligned with the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgency, and the US is quietly planning to put American soldiers on the ground with poppy eradication teams and their Afghan army protectors. The question is: Will any of this work?
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Peruvian President Equates Drug Legalization with Barbarism and Euthanasia
In a bizarre denunciation of drug legalization, Peruvian President Alain Garcia warned legalizing pot would lead to euthanasia of the elderly and fascist barbarism.
Sergio "El Grande" Villarreal
Mexico Drug War Update
25 people were murdered across Ciudad Juarez last Thursday, the bloodiest single-day total in the city's history. Meanwhile the body count in Mexico's drug war in 2010 approaches the 8,000 mark.
Ending the War on Drugs
Australian barrister and former political adviser Greg Barns opines on why drug prohibition is bad for Australia and calls for an end to the drug war.
Mexican President Calls for Drug Legalization Debate
After presiding for years over the bloodiest drug war escalation in history, Mexican President Felipe Calderon is finally ready to discuss legalization.
If You Think Marijuana Legalization Helps Drug Cartels, Think Again
One of the most enduring disconnects in the legalization debate is the question of what will become of those nasty drug cartels when we end marijuana prohibition. Here's how Tim Rosales of the No on Prop 19 campaign framed it in a debate with Jane Hamsher on CNN:
Calderon: Mexico drug gangs seeking to replace state
Drug prohibition can even lead to governments being overthrown. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has warned that drug gangs are seeking to replace the state and impose their own law in parts of the country. The gangs were imposing fees like taxes in areas they dominated and trying to impose their own laws by force of arms, said Calderon.
European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies' Statement for CND Meeting in Vienna (March 12-16)
Dear delegates,
On behalf of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, a platform of more than 150 citizensâ association from around Europe, we wish to ask your attention for the following.