Thursday, September 28, 2006

Legalization Endorsement Via Great quote from the Reno News and Review: The fact is, the prohibition against marijuana has to end in this country, and that's why we endorse Question 7 (Regulation of Marijuana Initiative), which will make possession of up to one ounce of Mary Jane legal in Nevada for people over 21 years old. (OK, there's more to it than that, check out www.regulatemarijuana.org.) With all the important things we have to worry about, it doesn't make sense to spend one more cent of resources persecuting a mostly innocuous and private activity. Don't prohibit it, regulate it. American citizens have been irreparably harmed by the so-called War on Drugs. There are dozens of reasons for ending prohibition and not that many for keeping it. This is going to be interesting. Recent polls show it to be getting very close. 8:14:04 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Cory Maye off death row This is old news to many of you by now, yet it is an essential and critical moment in American criminal drug war history that rivals the exposure of the Tulia, Texas drug sting scandal. Blogger Radley Balko got things going. A lot of other wonderful people stepped up to the plate, and now a man who was on death row for protecting himself and his daughter from home invasion is now getting a new trial. It's not over, of course. But at least it's on a path that could lead to a more sane future for Cory and his daughter. You can get the background to the story here and read Radley's full archive of Cory Maye posts here. And be sure to read Sure beats getting Dan Rather fired, huh by Jim Henley, and The Cato policy analyst who may have saved a man's life by Gene Healy. 7:46:45 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

I'm back... Open Thread Well, I had an incredible adventure exploring Prague and the Czech Republic, the mountains of Slovakia, Budapest, and Vienna. And I didn't even have to go through body cavity searches at customs -- the very nice customs lady looked at my passport and warmly said: "Welcome home, Peter!" A lot of people have asked me about the fact that the Czech Republic has very lax laws regarding marijuana. While I don't know the specifics of the laws, as far as I can tell, it's somewhat the equivalent of decriminalization -- they just don't bother arresting people for it. And, quite frankly, it was a total non-issue. Nobody cared. I didn't see any drug dealers or drug problems. Society hadn't gone crazy. Some people smoked pot. Most didn't. (Most, in fact, drank beer, which is very big there.) Anyway, I've been wading through all my emails and phone messages and everything since I got back and now I'll be back to regular posting again. A few posts will be catch-up, but I won't be able to get to everything that happened while I was gone. A special thanks to all the regulars who kept Drug WarRant active in the comments and through the community messageboard while I was away! 7:08:18 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []