• Legalizing pot in California would hardly dent cartels' revenue, report says

    Drug researchers say Proposition 19 would do little to curtail the violent Mexican cartels that smuggle marijuana across the border
    John Hoeffel
    Los Angeles Times
    Wednesday, October 13, 2010

    Proposition 19, which would partially legalize marijuana in California, would do little to curtail the violent Mexican organizations that smuggle it across the border, according to a new study by drug policy researchers that takes aim at one of the main arguments proponents have made for the initiative. The report released by Rand Corp. estimates that legalized marijuana could displace the Mexican marijuana sold in California, but concludes that would erase no more than 2% to 4% of the revenues the gangs receive from drug exports.

  • Legalizing Marijuana in California Will Not Dramatically Reduce Mexican Drug Trafficking Revenues

    Rand Corporation
    Tuesday, October 12, 2010

    Legalizing marijuana in California will not dramatically reduce the drug revenues collected by Mexican drug trafficking organizations from sales to the United States, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The study calculates that Mexican drug trafficking organizations generate only $1 billion to $2 billion annually from exporting marijuana to the United States and selling it to wholesalers, far below existing estimates by the government and other groups.

  • Portuguese priorities

    Portugal’s response to drug use been the subject of much scrutiny and debate
    Nick Warburton
    Drink and Drugs News
    Monday, October 11, 2010

    portprioritiesIn July 2001, the Portuguese government introduced Law 30, setting in train a radical new approach to illicit drug use. In practice, it decriminalised the possession of certain quantities of drugs for personal use, instead referring users to one of the country’s 20 ‘dissuasion commissions’. Allied with decree 183 – which significantly expanded the network of harm reduction programmes – this meant that heroin users could seek help rather than face the wrath of the police.

  • New Report: U.S. Government Data Demonstrates Failure of Cannabis Prohibition

    Leading International Scientific Body Supports Call for Legalization and Regulation to Reduce Cannabis-Related Harms
    Press release
    Thursday, October 7, 2010

    The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) today released a new research report, Tools for debate: U.S. federal government data on cannabis prohibition, that demonstrates the clear failure of U.S. marijuana prohibition and supports calls for evidence-based models to legalize and regulate the use of cannabis.

  • The high and the mighty

    Al Jazeera
    07 October 2010

    We investigate how the legalisation of cannabis in California could impact the economy and the criminal justice system.Cannabis is California's number one cash crop. This fall, voters will decide whether or not to fully legalise the drug and transform US drug policy.

  • California Pot Legalization Wouldn't Trump Federal Law

    The Wall Street Journal
    Wednesday, October 6, 2010

    Even if Californians vote next month to legalize marijuana, possession of the drug will still be a criminal offense under federal law, which trumps state law almost every time under the U.S. Constitution. But crackdowns on users and small-scale growers could decrease if Californians pass Proposition 19, the ballot measure proposing to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.

  • Drugs are a development issue - which is why we should legalise them

    Since drug prohibition deeply affects some of the world's poorest people, the development community must back legalisation calls
    Jonathan Glennie
    Guardian blog (UK)
    Tuesday, October 5, 2010

    If there is a "war on drugs", this is it. Mexico is undergoing worse violence than has been seen in Latin America in decades. President Felipe Calderon's decision to take the fight to the narcos has been returned with drug gang brutality on a massive scale. If any good is to come out of the tragedy afflicting Mexico, it is that the misguided global approach to drug regulation will be challenged and may, eventually, be changed.

  • Pot possession in Calif now like speeding ticket

    The Associated Press
    Friday, October 1, 2010

    A new law makes possessing up to an ounce of marijuana in California no more serious than getting a speeding ticket - a development both sides battling over a marijuana legalization ballot measure hope to exploit with the vote just a month away.

  • Schwarzenegger signs bill reducing offense for marijuana possession

    Los Angeles Times
    October 1, 2010

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposes Proposition 19, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana, but he offered a consolation Thursday by signing a bill that would downgrade possession of an ounce or less from a misdemeanor to an infraction. SB 1449 was written by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who said it will keep marijuana-related cases from going to court-clogging jury trials, although the penalty would remain a fine of up to $100 but no jail time.

  • Sooner or later, marijuana will be legal

    Bill Piper (Drug Policy Alliance)
    CNN Opinion
    September 28, 2010

    It's as predictable as the sun rising and setting. Even though police made more than 850,000 marijuana arrests last year, a recent government report shows youth marijuana use increased by about 9 percent -- 76 percent of Americans recognize the drug war has failed; millions are demanding change.

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