Drug News You Can Use
New drug czar says war on drugs a national health issue
“The office may only be 20 years old, but the war it has waged was declared four decades ago, when President Richard Nixon outlined the federal government’s illegal drug prohibition campaign. No one claims the war has been won. While fewer high school seniors say they’ve been offered marijuana or amphetamines than they were a generation ago, nearly 2 million people are arrested every year for nonviolent drug offenses.”
Police say Harvard killing was ‘drug rip’
Student tied to suspect barred from graduating
By John R. Ellement and Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff May 23, 2009
“A plot to rob a marijuana dealer inside a Harvard residence hall Monday went badly awry and ended with the shooting death of a 21-year-old Cambridge man, authorities said yesterday, as details began to emerge about two female Harvard students who knew both the victim and his alleged assailants. There “are important lessons to learn from this sad episode,” Evelynn M. Hammonds, dean of Harvard College, wrote in a letter posted on the school’s website. “I intend to work with student leaders and others to address the nature and risks of illicit drug use on campus . . . and to examine the adequacy of existing policies relating to student life.”
But students say the reality is that those who choose to smoke marijuana do so with little fear of getting caught, calling the drug something that scarcely registers on the radar of university officials.”
View Article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/23/police_say_harvard_killing_was_drug_rip?mode=PF
Take the War to the Drug Lords
By GRETCHEN PETERS
Published: May 18, 2009
“So far, Western-led efforts to fight the opium trade in Afghanistan have focused mainly on eradicating poppy crops, a policy that has done little to hamper the drug lords and simply victimized poppy farmers and poor sharecroppers who work the land. As the Obama administration overhauls strategy in Afghanistan, installing Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the top commander, the focus of antidrug efforts should be on the smugglers and drug processors. “
View Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/opinion/19peters.html
Feds accuse sheriff of Ill. county of drug dealing
“SHAWNEETOWN, Ill. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are accusing the longtime sheriff of a county in southeastern Illinois of selling marijuana, often while on duty.”
View Article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8abW12QSaJArx3XzIb4r8JRGwKwD989A0E80
Guards held over Mexico jailbreak
“Mexican authorities have detained a prison governor and some 40 guards after an armed gang managed to free 53 inmates from a jail in central Mexico. The attackers, some dressed as police officers, gained entry to the prison in Zacatecas state and freed the prisoners without firing a shot. Many of those on the run are believed to be drug gang hitmen.”
View article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8055318.stm
