From the BBC: “Mrs Clinton said there was ‘no alternative’ to confronting the cartels, despite rising violence that left more than 15,000 dead last year.” Actually, there is an excellent alternative. The US government just won’t consider it. “Under a security cooperation programme called the Merida Initiative the US is spending around $1.7bn (£1bn) on helping Mexico and Central America…
The headline says: “Portugal’s drug policy pays off; US eyes lessons.” Of course it should probably say, “US ignores lessons.” I like pseudo neutral editor’s note: “This is part of an occasional series by The Associated Press examining the U.S. struggles in its war on drugs after four decades and $1 trillion.” The story is here. I haven’t read it…
First, as my wife sits near me working on a guidebook to the Yucatan (that’s Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and the Mayan Riviera for you tourists in Mexico), I feel obliged to point out that the Yucatan has a lower homicide rate than Canada. And Canada is safer than America. So not going to Cancun because of violence in Tijuana…
This is counter-intuitive thinking I love. The “Wet House.” They drink more. You pay less. Just give addicts what they want. You want to save their soul or protect the rest of us? Sometimes you have to pick between the two (and I’m picking the latter!). If I remember correctly, there was an article (perhaps in the New York Times…
It’s a headline you don’t see much. These guys were Columbia University students. Notice, if you will, the only real crime–the crime with a potential victim–is entirely the result of prohibition. So much of drug violence revolves around getting people to pay debts. That’s what happens when the business is illegal. And just one more plug for Dorm Room Dealers…
Happy Repeal Anniversary! I just learned through a friend on Facebook that it’s Prohibition Repeal Day. No better time to think about vice and the virtues of individual freedom. But remember that the end of Prohibition brought despair, crime, more drinking, and criminals. Oh no, wait, that’s the wrong press release. That’s what prohibitionists saidwould happen after we legalized a…
Drug Czar Kerlikowske said, “drugged driving is a much bigger public health threat than most Americans realize and unfortunately, it may be getting worse.” [Cue evil music!] Except, of course, it’s not. Kerlikowske is talking about this, which estimates that one-third of those who die in motor vehicle fatalities test positive for drugs. The problem, at least in context of…
But we all know that. He doesn’t keep it secret and thinks it should be legal. But since it’s not, he’s been arrested for it. Again. Of course it’s silly a supposedly free country wastes our money and law enforcement resources arresting senior-citizen for smoking a pretty harmless substance. Of course it’s probably not a big deal for him. For…
Of course that’s meant to be a sensational headline… but it’s actually true. And God only knows how the DEA would flip the tables if some anti-drug-war group was guilty of the same thing. According to the Times: [The DEA] sent David C. Headley, a small-time drug dealer and sometime informant, to work for them in Pakistan months after the…
“The presumed slaughter of 20 tourists in Acapulco — apparently has been solved by thugs who captured the alleged killers, posted their confessions on the Internet, then murdered them and directed police to the crime scene.” From the Houston Chronicle.