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Mandatory Minimums: "Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act" Passes House Judiciary Committee (07/30/09)
Mexico: Mexican Officials Urge Calderon to Change Course in Drug War (07/28/09)
ONDCP Watch: Obama Administration Anti-Drug Budget Continues to Prioritize Interdiction Over Treatment (07/27/09)
Harm Reduction: House Passes Appropriations Bill With Needle Exchange Funding Ban Repeal In Tact (07/25/09)
Higher Education Act Reform: House Education and Labor Committee Removes Financial Aid Penalties for Students Convicted of Drug Possession (07/22/09)
Mandatory Minimums: House Subcommittee Unanimously Approves the "Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009" (07/22/09)
ONDCP Watch: Drug Czar Restates Federal Opposition to Marijuana Legalization at Ironically Focused Speaking Engagement (07/22/09)
Anti-Drug Ads: House Appropriations Committee Reduces ONDCP Ad Budget (07/10/09)
Afghanistan: US Announces New Approach to Drug War in Afghanistan (06/27/09)
The drug war lies on a foundation of myth. Learn the truth.
Get the facts.
Updated regularly, Drug War Facts is the premier information
source on drug policies, offering
up-to-date information with full citations to aid in further research.
Individual sections as well as full edition available at
DrugWarFacts.org. Most recently updated Nov. 5, 2008.
Countering The Lies:
Marijuana and mental illness?
Does more prison equal less crime?
Is the 'Gateway Theory' true?
Are marijuana users going to emergency rooms in record numbers?
Do syringe exchanges encourage drug use?
Several favorite drug warrior assertions are
investigated, explained and refuted in
Drug War Distortions.
Crime. Hard drugs. An unpopular war abroad. And so an American president
declares war on marijuana. The past really does repeat itself.
Nixon's Drug War has lessons for the present.
The Drug Truth Network broadcasts from the studios of KPFT in Houston, TX, to more than
69 affiliate
stations in the US and Canada. DTN's flagship program,
Cultural Baggage, airs every Wednesday at 11:30am Central time.
DrugTruth's
Century of Lies is broadcast Tuesdays at 11:30am
Central time. In
addition, DTN produces daily 3-minute newsfeeds, the
4:20 Drug War News. Past shows
are available in the DTN archive. Learn the truth about the
war on drugs, check out
the Drug Truth Network.
Subscribe to the
Cultural
Baggage, the
Century of
Lies, and the
4:20 News podcasts. Point your podcast software to these
URLs:
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=views/latest_cb/feed
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=views/latest_col/feed
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=views/latest_420/feed
Common Sense for Drug Policy now offers an RSS news feed. Keep up to date with news and information about drug control policy by subscribing to this free service.
CSDP and the DrugTruth Network are also collaborating to provide podcasts of the DTN's Cultural Baggage program, a half-hour news program focusing on the drug war. To learn how to subscribe to these services,
click
here.
One of the fastest-growing organizations working for drug legalization today is Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Learn more about LEAP and why they're now fighting to end the drug war. Check out the new
LEAP video produced by CSDP chair Mike Gray. In the words of retired
anchorman Walter Cronkite: "Anyone concerned about the failure of our
$69 billion-a-year War on Drugs should watch this
12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking police officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It is a must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this issue."
Learn more about LEAP's views and work by watching this short video, produced by Mike Gray and available for viewing below as well as on CSDPTube.
Chronic pain is a progressive disease of the nervous system.
Chronic pain victims often benefit from supplementation with
pharmaceutical opioids.
Read more about this often-misunderstood and misreported
subject in
"Chronic Pain & Opioids: Debunking the Myths," by
Frank B. Fisher, MD. Copies are also
available in PDF.
One of the most important online addiction resources
available today:
Addict in the Family by Dr. Andrew Byrne.
Use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs cuts across all political,
social and economic lines. Learn what to do if you
discover you have
an addict in the family.
Also, read a review of 'Addict' from the Drug War Chronicle
by clicking here.
Experts claim that terror groups are funded predominantly by opium profits. However, efforts to curtail those profits and thus undercut such groups' power are frequently inconsistent, ineffective, and damaging to innocent citizens not involved in terrorist activities. Moreover, were the drugs from which insurgent groups profit legal and regulated, we could take away from them a major funding source.
Click here
to find out
more.
The Directory of Drug Policy Experts was created by the
Partnership for Responsible Drug Information (PRDI). Recognizing
its value, Common Sense secured permission from PRDI to post
the Directory on its site and to periodically update it. By
consenting to be listed, the experts do not imply any endorsement
of CSDP or its positions or proposals. In turn, individuals are
listed herein based solely on the basis of their expertise.
To check out the Directory,
click here.
We can no longer afford to pour $20 billion annually into a discredited drug strategy that has made our country less healthy and less safe. Experience and research in the USA and around the world shows that
there are effective alternatives. This isn't just about saving money -- it's about protecting kids, saving families and preserving our long cherished American values.
(Also for convenience, a PDF copy of "Eight Steps" can be downloaded
by clicking here.
And you can download a PDF of the CSDP news release on the Eight Step plan
by clicking
here.
Common Sense for Drug Policy highlights research not highly publicized elsewhere and comments on official or governmental research, which is often full of misinformation and statistical spin. Read about recently released research findings and get links to source materials
here.
Also check out CSDP's
research section for additional materials.
Marijuana is medicine
for millions of patients around the US.
Federal opposition persists in spite of
successful medical marijuana programs in several states.
States, cities moving to allow medical use by those
in need. Click here for the latest
news and information about medical marijuana.
Having doubts about cannabis' medicinal qualities? Take a look at what these California retirees have to say about the drug that changed their lives (viewable below as well as on ):
While the US drug war in Mexico receives the bulk of mainstream media attention these days, other Latin American countries are also participating in and affected by the US war on drugs. Click here for more about
the US drug war in South America.
Official Corruption: an inevitable byproduct of the war on drugs? That's been the experience of many US cities
as well as globally.
Click here for more info.
US drug 'war' in Mexico results in many real casualties as Mexican citizens literally caught in crossfire. Officials in police, military, even president's office implicated in drug-trafficking, corruption, and violence.
Click
here for more about the US drug war in Mexico.
Canadians urge their government to avoid undertaking a US-style
'drug war.'
Should the US stop pushing counterproductive polices and start learning from its northern neighbor?
Millions of people within the US and around the world use marijuana, or cannabis. The drug - even when smoked - is far less dangerous than alcohol, yet it remains prohibited in the United States. Learn more about marijuana and marijuana-related policies
by clicking here.
Also visit
Drug War Facts:
Marijuana for more information.
Citizens, fed up with inaction, are enacting reforms to drug
control policies by direct vote. Several states and localities
have already passed ballot measures legalizing medical marijuana, setting rational
drug enforcement priorities, and mandating treatment instead of incarceration.
Click
here to find out more.
Harm reduction is a set of practical strategies that reduce
negative consequences of drug use, incorporating a spectrum of
strategies from safer use and managed use to abstinence.
Some aspects of harm reduction such as needle exchanges, safe
injection sites, and heroin maintenance
can generate controversy yet are effective drug control strategies.
Click here for more info.
Also, check out this CSDP public service ad,
US Meddling In Global AIDS Crisis:
"A Triumph of Ideology Over Science."
Policies in many European nations move toward reform,
harm reduction and decriminalization. Drug warrior
nations find repressive policies backfire.
Read about drug policy reform efforts as well as detrimental policies under way internationally
here.
Also check out Drug War Facts:
International Policies &
Trends.
In the US, methadone clinics face heightened restrictions in several states,
localities in spite of their record of success. Internationally,
countries discuss expansion of access to methadone, buprenorphine and heroin
maintenance. Meanwhile research
shows that access to opiate agonist therapy helps reduces HIV
transmission among injection drug users.
Click here for more
news about heroin and methadone maintenance
treatment.
Federal, state authorities move against some domestic
methamphetamine production and trafficking
yet laws seem to be backfiring
as use remains high and imported product floods market.
Click here for more news about
methamphetamine in the US.
Also, check out Drug War Facts:
Methamphetamine for more background info.
Police raids on the wrong properties, innocent citizens
victimized by overzealous enforcement, suspects shot
by over-eager agents, innocent citizens denounced by
paid informants, lives lost or threatened because of
official mistakes; these stories demand a second look.
Click here to find out more.
Pain management:
where healthcare and drug control policies intersect. Check out
ManagingPain.org, the Common Sense project specifically
addressing pain management, diversion, and related issues.
The drug war brings with it consequences that affect not only drug users and dealers but also - and perhaps most significantly - families, the poor, students, and other disenfrancished or disempowered communities.
Follow the link for news and information about the
impact of the drug war on families, students, and youth.
Also, check out Drug War Facts:
Families.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (or ONDCP) sets the agenda for U.S. anti-drug efforts both foreign and domestic. Its director, colloquially dubbed the "drug czar," acts as an advisor to the President and the public on drug-related matters, but ONDCP so frequently lies, wastes money, and hides facts from its constituents that the Office has become difficult to trust.
Click here for news & information about
the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
and the federal drug strategy.
From Syracuse, NY to King County, WA, citizens
are organizing against the war on drugs by forming
broad coalitions and getting local governments
involved in
exploring alternatives.
Mandatory minimum sentences condemn many nonviolent drug
offenders to unjustly long prison sentences.
Without rehabilitation and treatment for offenders, and
prisons become
breeding grounds of resentment and crime. Moreover, mandatory minimum sentences more broadly impact communities of color, undermining faith in law enforcement. While reformers are making headway, we're only at the tip of the iceberg. Click here for the latest news about
mandatory minimum sentences.
See Drug
War
Facts:
Mandatory Minimums and Drug War
Facts:
Prisons for more information.
Also, check out this Common Sense public service
advertisement on
prison crowding and mandatory sentencing.
As the Obama administration ramps up the US war on the world's top heroin-producing country, narcotics take center stage in both the news and strategic debates.
Treatment alternatives to incarceration
include intensive probation, drug courts, and the
Prop36/DTEF model. Rehabilitation and treatment initiatives are gaining popularity as prison
populations swell, and research proves these programs more effective than simple incarceration.
Click here for more.
The punitive drug provision of the
Higher Education Act currently
denies federal
aid
to college students convicted of drug crimes while currently enrolled at an institution of higher education. Previously, the law applied to all persons with previous drug convictions.
Support grows yearly for legislation to repeal the
HEA drug provision.
Far too often, the drug war targets communities of color.
From Tulia, TX, to New York, in Georgia and Kentucky and everywhere
in between, a few in authority create a huge problem
for society by clamping down hard on the already-disenfranchised.
Local communities,
churches and activists organize protests and demand action.
Click here for news and information on
racially biased drug control policies and practices.
Baby steps toward reform: New York reforms
Rockefeller Laws, yet
bad policies continue to plague New York state's legal
system & citizens.
Broad coalition for reform includes activists, families of inmates,
hip hop culture figures, and many others.
Although ecstasy no longer garners the same degree of media coverage it once enjoyed, its proponents continue to advocate for safer, more effective approaches to ecstasy control and pioneering researches discover new therapeutic uses for the so-called "party" drug.
Click here to find out more.
Hemp, the non-psychoactive form of cannabis, can be used to create such everyday products as rope, food, clothing, soap, cosmetics and more. However, the US Drug Enforcement Agency currently recognizes no differences between hemp and marijuana. States, hemp advocates, and even federal representatives are working to highlight that distinction and change restrictive hemp laws.
Find out more
by clicking
here
.
Research proves
ONDCP's ad campaigns consistently
fail
to have any positive impact and may, in fact, be counterproductive. Luckily, the ad campaign's budget was recently cut, but we must still keep our eyes on the agency's anti-drug efforts on TV, film, and in print.
UN moves slowly toward embracing harm reduction policies and gives a nod to reform activists in 2009 report.
For more UN reports, news, and information,
click here.
Research confirms DARE is a failure. Proven alternatives are available.
DARE program leaders concede critics are right,
DARE is a failure, and
unveil new program.
The Drug Truth Network broadcasts from the studios of KPFT in Houston, TX, to more than
69 affiliate
stations in the US and Canada. DTN's flagship program,
