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Mexico's drug war bright spot hides dark underbelly
Reuters
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
For four years, Ciudad Juárez on the border with Texas was convulsed by daily slaughter, becoming the murder capital of the world and a shocking illustration of the Mexican government's failure to contain violence among warring drug cartels. A number of drug war experts say security has also improved because the Sinaloa Cartel of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman now has a firm hold on the city after squeezing out the Juarez Cartel, for long aligned with the local police. -
Can Obama and Peña Nieto Clear the Marijuana Smoke?
Time Magazine (US)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Like a growing number of Latin American leaders, Peña, who takes office Dec. 1, says it may be time to reassess the drug war. In an interview with TIME, Peña has made his first direct remarks on the U.S. marijuana-legalization measures and how they complicate a four-decade-old drug interdiction strategy that has been widely branded a failure in both Mexico and the U.S. -
End of the road for the fix on wheels
As wheels stop turning for Copenhagen’s mobile injection rooms, organisers find reason to celebrate and commemorate
The Copenhagen Post (Denmark)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Mobile injection rooms have been operated for the past year out of two former ambulances. Run by the private organisation Foreningen Fixerum and staffed by volunteer healthcare workers, the rooms-on-wheels offered a safe and hygienic place, off the streets, for drug users to inject. The City Council took over the project earlier this year when the long legal battle to establish stationary injection rooms was finally won. -
More states ponder legal marijuana as feds loom
National Constitution Center
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The battle over the legal recreational use of marijuana heads to several more states, as officials in Colorado and Washington wait to see how the federal government will react to their new pro-pot laws. Rhode Island and Maine seem to be the next states where pro-marijuana forces will seek referendums about the legalization of recreational use. Lawmakers in both states plan to introduce bills, modeled on the laws in Colorado and Washington, to seek the legal recreational use of marijuana. -
Marijuana’s foot in the door
EditorialThe Washington Post (US)
Monday, November 26, 2012
The Washington Post’s View: we favor decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot, assessing civil fines instead of locking people up. Also, for that reason and others, the Justice Department should hold its fire on a lawsuit challenging Colorado and Washington’s decision to behave more leniently. -
Marijuana decriminalization law brings down juvenile arrests in California
The Center for Public Integrity (US)
Monday, November 26, 2012
Marijuana is one of the primary reasons why California experienced a stunning 20 percent drop in juvenile arrests in just one year, between 2010 and 2011, according to the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice (CJCJ). The center recently released a policy briefing with an analysis of arrest data collected by the California Department of Justice’s Criminal Justice Statistics Center. The briefing, “California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low,” identifies a new state marijuana decriminalization law that applies to juveniles, not just adults, as the driving force behind the plummeting arrest totals. -
Following win, Colorado marijuana activists debate how hard to push
The Denver Post (US)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Colorado marijuana activists, empowered after backing a successful legalization effort in the state, are in the midst of a dialogue about how far to press their success. At a recent forum, advocates talked about whether the movement should continue to step lightly in Colorado politics — being accommodating toward law enforcement and welcoming of strict regulations — or act like a political powerhouse. -
The truce on drugs
What happens now that the war has failed?
New York Magazine (US)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Something unexpected has happened in the past five years. The condemnations of the war on drugs - of the mechanized imprisonment of much of our inner cities, of the brutal wars sustained in Latin America at our behest, of the sheer cost of prohibition, now likely past a trillion dollars - have migrated out from the left-wing cul-de-sacs that they have long inhabited and into the political Establishment. -
"Impossible" to end drug trade, says Calderón
The Economist (UK)
Friday, November 23, 2012
Ending the consumption and the trafficking of illegal drugs is “impossible”, according to Felipe Calderón, Mexico’s outgoing president. In an interview with The Economist Mr Calderón, whose battle with organised crime has come to define his six years in office, said that countries whose citizens consume drugs should find "market mechanisms" to prevent their money from getting into the hands of criminals in Latin America. -
Give Pot a Chance
Timothy EganThe New York Times (US)
Thursday, November 22, 2012
In two weeks, adults in this state will no longer be arrested or incarcerated for something that nearly 30 million Americans did last year. For the first time since prohibition began 75 years ago, recreational marijuana use will be legal; the misery-inducing crusade to lock up thousands of ordinary people has at last been seen, by a majority of voters in this state and in Colorado, for what it is: a monumental failure. That is, unless the Obama administration steps in with an injunction ...
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