Stories by Kevin Nelson
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This week, New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson strives to pass progressive drug policy legislation in his final year in public office; San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that driving under the influence of marijuana is not a crime in Idaho; the federal Supreme Court expands police vehicular search powers; and Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals nears completion of scientific trials on whole extracts of cannabis for medicine.
Posted on Jan 23, 2002, Source: AlterNet
This week, the DEAís new ban on hemp foods is about to take effect; a young Wisconsin girl commits suicide after being busted at school with a marijuana pipe; and Prince Harry receives compassionate treatment from his family, his school and the British media after admitting marijuana use.
Posted on Jan 16, 2002, Source: AlterNet
This Week, Vietnam death sentences; the UK's Guardian newspaper commends dramatic drug law reforms; the US Supreme court aggrees to hear a case about the limits of police search powers on public transportation; and hospitals in Canada's capital city of Calgary provide special medical marijuana smoking rooms for patients.
Posted on Jan 10, 2002, Source: AlterNet
Welcome to 2002, Land of the Virtually Drug-Free. We are a people unanimous in our conviction to eradicate marijuana from the face of the earth. Or are we?
Posted on Jan 7, 2002, Source: AlterNet
This week: federal officials indict four North Carolina police officers on charges of dealing drugs, robbery, and threatening to kill a deputy; the DEA allows the first medical marijuana research in 20 years; riders of San Francisco's public trains are subjected to random drug searches by police dogs; a ten-year study concludes that marijuana does not lead to hard drugs.
Posted on Dec 19, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, John Walters is confirmed as America's new Drug Czar; a California high school student commits suicide after being arrested for marijuana possession; and a Colorado sherriff speaks out against the drug war.
Posted on Dec 12, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, members of the Religion of Jesus Church in Kona, Hawaii, fight for the freedom to use marijuana as a religious sacrament; Congress readies to cut $100 million from Bush's Andes counternarcotics funding; and three Brits are arrested at the Laugh at the Law demonstration for cannabis legalization.
Posted on Dec 5, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, senior police officers in the U.K. call for a radical shift in drug policy; America's Students For a Sensible Drug Policy call for the repeal of a law limiting convicted drug offenders' access to financial aid; and a UK activist group Women in Prison calls for drug rehabilitation rather than prison for drug offenders.
Posted on Nov 28, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, the DEA prepares to examine the private records of medical marijuana patients seized during a raid on the California Medical Research Center; an Indiana teenage girl is found strangled to death shortly after signing on as a narcotics informant for local police; and the Washington DC City Council considers legislation that would automatically take babies from their mothers custody if they are born with any amount of illegal drugs or alcohol in their system.
Posted on Nov 20, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, John Walters inches closer to becoming America's next Drug Czar; the FDA approves a clinical study of the use of Ecstasy to treat victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Ken Kesey, author and 1960s LSD pioneer, dies following surgery for liver cancer; and the Austin, TX SWAT team raids the wrong house, traumatizing the homeowner. Also, dozens of newspapers around the U.S. criticize the recent DEA raid on the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center.
Posted on Nov 14, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week, undercover drug police raid the wrong house in a Virginia suburb; a Senate intelligence committee recommends the CIA stop drug interdiction flights over Peru and Colombia; and DEA agents raid the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, while city officials and local police protest the action.
Posted on Nov 7, 2001, Source: AlterNet
Britain's Home Secretary (Justice Minister) David Blunkett announces that the New Year will herald an easing of Britain's cannabis laws, currently the strictest in Europe. The news was widely welcomed throughout the UK as a follow-up poll showed 65 percent support cannabis legalization.
Posted on Nov 1, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week: FBI reveals that 734,498 were arrested for marijuana violations in 2000, a new record ... drug cops all over the world face corruption charges ... and more.
Posted on Oct 24, 2001, Source: AlterNet
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Posted on Oct 15, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A clinic that has dispensed more than 6,000 medical marijuana recommendations remained open despite a DEA raid; and other news from the frontlines of the drug war.
Posted on Oct 5, 2001, Source: AlterNet
Marijuana eases chronic pain ... two Michigan marijuana law reform activists killed by FBI ... 13 Miami cops are indicted on corruption charges.
Posted on Sep 12, 2001, Source: AlterNet
The FBI investigates Puerto Rico’s biggest police corruption scandal; Jamaica’s Prime Minister considers decriminalizing ganja; former Colombian President Ernesto Samper contemplates legalization.
Posted on Sep 4, 2001, Source: AlterNet
An influential Jamaican commission calls for marijuana legalization ... strip search lawsuit ... 100,000 attend Seattle Hempfest.
Posted on Aug 20, 2001, Source: AlterNet
The U.S. resumes spraying Roundup Ultra over Colombia, the home of a Scottish MS patient/pot user is raided by four narcotics agents, and Nevada resists its own medical marijuana program.
Posted on Aug 14, 2001, Source: AlterNet
Seattle's D.A. Norm Maleng shuts down the Green Cross Patient (Marijuana) Co-op on the same day that Canada "legalizes" medical marijuana nationwide. In separate stories, the DEA, CIA, and UN Office of Drug Control are under scrutiny for a wide range of fraudulent activities.
Posted on Aug 7, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week in the drug war: Can't grow in Colombia? Just move to Peru ... Vietnam II building in South America ... NY Cops doled out drugs to addicts ... Canada vs. United States.
Posted on Jul 31, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week in the Drug War: State prison populations booming ... major DEA informant proved a liar ... Tulia, Texas hosts "Never Again Rally" ... much more.
Posted on Jul 24, 2001, Source: AlterNet
This week in the Drug War: Mom feeds her son marijuana muffins for his behavior problems ... over 34,000 students may lose loans due to drug violations ... and much more.
Posted on Jul 17, 2001, Source: AlterNet
Britain softens its hard line on marijuana, moving closer to legalization.
Posted on Jul 10, 2001, Source: AlterNet
China executes drug offenders in mass celebration, Portland is astir after a pro-pot ad runs in local paper, and two DC men are the first to face felony charges for pot possesion.
Posted on Jul 3, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A weekly report from the frontline of the drug war. This week: medical marijuana victories offset by racial profiling debacles.
Posted on Jun 25, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A weekly report from the frontline of the drug war. This week: the Supreme Court bans unwarranted police search for indoor marijuana cultivation.
Posted on Jun 18, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A weekly report from the frontline of the drug war from our enterprising drug war correspondent. This week: drug reform at state level unabated by Supreme Court decision.
Posted on Jun 11, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A weekly report from the frontline of the drug war from our enterprising drug war correspondent. This week: Canada leads North America in the fight for marijuana decrmininalization.
Posted on Jun 5, 2001, Source: AlterNet
A weekly report from the frontline of the drug war from our enterprising drug war correspondent. This week: America allies itself with dictators to wage its war on drugs.
Posted on May 29, 2001, Source: AlterNet
The year 2000 was a landmark year for marijuana prohibition. Here is a recap of the tragedies, initiatives, trends and policy changes that occured both domestically and abroad.
Posted on Jan 16, 2001, Source: AlterNet
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