Stories by Phillip Smith
Phillip Smith is an editor at DRCNet.
When Walter Cronkite spoke out against current drug war policies, Bill O'Reilly -- predictably enough -- launched an attack.
Posted on Mar 3, 2006
With "Saying Yes," Jacob Sullum has penned a reasonable, easily readable and well-researched response to decades of knee-jerk anti-drug sentiment
Posted on Jun 11, 2003
During his State of the Union address, President Bush announced a new $600 million drug treatment initiative -- but used it to promote his faith-based initiatives program.
Posted on Feb 9, 2003
As coca-related strife in Bolivia continues, armed rebels emerge -- or do they?
Posted on Jan 27, 2003
Philip Smith interviews former Argentine Solicitor General Jamie Malamud-Goti about his involvement in the upcoming conference, 'Out from the Shadows: Ending Drug Prohibition in the 21st Century'.
Posted on Jan 12, 2003
Much to the dismay of the Bush Administration, The Canadian House of Commons recommended this week that Canada decriminalize the possession and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis, among other reform measures.
Posted on Dec 20, 2002
State Budget Crises Begin to Hit Home, Moves Afoot in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Virginia to Set Some Free
Posted on Dec 6, 2002
What could have been an extended wake for a drug reform movement badly chastened by the November 5 election results instead became an occasion for reinvigoration as activists gathered at Marijuna Policy Project's conference in Anaheim, CA.
Posted on Nov 22, 2002
Though Question 9, the Nevada marijuna decriminalization initiative, was defeated in last week's election, marijuana-related votes elsewhere were more encouraging.
Posted on Nov 11, 2002
In 'Addict in the Family: How to Cope With the Long Haul,' Australian physician and author Dr. Andrew Byrne speaks directly to the families and friends of heroin addicts, outlining an accessible approach to coping with addiction in the family.
Posted on Nov 7, 2002
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Posted on Oct 25, 2002
The Canadian Senate's Special Committee on Illegal Drugs issues a report recommending the legalization of marijuana and hashish.
Posted on Sep 6, 2002
The executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition explains his transformation from drug warrior to drug war critic.
Posted on Aug 26, 2002
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Posted on Aug 22, 2002
As if urine screenings in schools were not humiliating enough, a school in South Dakota is accused of allowing a suspicionless drug search by a canine that resulted in terrified children.
Posted on Aug 13, 2002
To win the drug war, we first need to win the war of public opinion. If the editorial reaction to the British decrim move is any indication, end of pot prohibition maybe around the corner.
Posted on Jul 29, 2002
Caught between a clamor for an end to cannabis prohibition and the grumblings of reactionaries on the other, David Blunkett is making a mess of what was supposed to be a straightforward move to decriminalize marijuana possession in Great Britain.
Posted on Jul 12, 2002
The U.S. drug war in Bolivia took a severe blow this week as results trickled in from last Sunday's presidential elections.
Posted on Jul 11, 2002
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Posted on Jul 3, 2002
Steven Silverman, the head of a newly formed group,
Flex Your Rights, teaches Americans how to protect
themselves from illegal drug arrests.
Posted on Jun 25, 2002
Britain's third political force, the Liberal Democrat Party, is moving to put its policy where its platform is with a plan which would effectively decriminalize hard drug possession in the London borough of Southwick.
Posted on Jun 20, 2002
The FBI's cutback on drug war agents has law enforcement officials hollering that they need even more money to take up the slack.
Posted on Jun 13, 2002
A recent DEA joint campaign with a group of female legislators is being touted as educating youth and parents about the dangers of "club drugs" but could have more serious political ramifications.
Posted on Jun 6, 2002
The latest addition to the ever-growing debate over British drug policy came this week as the parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee studying current policy released its long-awaited report, "The Government's Drugs Policy: Is It Working?"
Posted on May 29, 2002
Philadelphia is now into its second week of Operation Safe Streets, a massive police crackdown on some 300 identified open-air drug markets in the City of Brotherly Love.
Posted on May 21, 2002
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Posted on May 21, 2002
Raphael Perl, an international terrorism and narcotics specialist, recently spoke about the correlation between drug use, crime rates and decriminalization. His remarks indicate that serious drug analysts are beginning to understand the trade-off between prohibition and crime.
Posted on May 16, 2002
Former British cabinet minister Mo Mowlam, who ran Prime Minister Tony Blair's drug policy until less than a year ago, has called for the legalization of all drugs.
Posted on May 8, 2002
At its national convention in Seattle last weekend, the US branch of Amnesty International, the world's largest human rights organization, voted to have the organization investigate the links between US drug policy and human rights abuses at home and abroad.
Posted on May 1, 2002
Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department is digging in its heels over proposed changes to federal cocaine sentencing guidelines.
Posted on Apr 1, 2002
Officials at Colorado State University in Fort Collins announced recently that CSU has become the first college in the nation to operate a drug court for students accused of campus drug and alcohol violations.
Posted on Mar 28, 2002
Britain's move away from US-style drug policies took on added momentum this week, with three developments heralding change for the better.
Posted on Mar 21, 2002
A flurry of newspaper headlines in the Scottish press over the weekend announced a pending drug policy shift in Scotland, but there may be less to the move than meets the eye.
Posted on Mar 14, 2002
The editor of DRCNet's Week Online interviews Sasha Abramsky, author of a new book on our prison system, focusing on the non-violent and petty criminals that fill America's prisons and the drug war connection.
Posted on Mar 7, 2002
Finally calling the bluff on a new government study titled "The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States, 1992-1998".
Posted on Feb 28, 2002
Bolivian coca farmers and the government arrived at an agreement which might end the blockades and violence -- for now.
Posted on Feb 21, 2002
America's leading radical intellectual speaks on the fallacy of the drug war, terrorism and the evolution of anarchist and libertarian ideology.
Posted on Feb 14, 2002
Philip Smith of the Drug Reform Coordination Network interviewed San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters about his new book on drug law reform and corruption in the Colorado police force.
Posted on Feb 12, 2002
not yet done
Posted on Feb 8, 2002
Reinstating the ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is music to the ears of dealers in Kandahar, one of whom gleefully reacted by telling the press, "We'll be rich!"
Posted on Feb 1, 2002
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