Monday, August 13, 2007

The end of medical marijuana harassment? Alex at Drug Law Blog commenting on a post at Wired blog... Wired News noted something important this weekend: that all the Democratic presidential candidates have said they will end federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries if elected, presumably by appointing someone to head the Department of Justice whose priorities are different than those of the current administration. [...] Which means that January 2009, if a Democratic president actually were to take power, would be an important time for the medical marijuana movement: it would be the moment when the vast majority of the federal pressure on dispensaries would stop. I like the optimism, but lest we forget... Candidate George W. Bush on medical marijuana (quoted in the Dallas Morning News, October 20, 1999): "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose." Don't get me wrong, I like hearing candidates talk about ending medical marijuana raids, but I'll believe it when I see it. 7:49:56 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Plan Mexico gathering steam Since the details are being negotiated in secret, we'll have to wait a bit to find out what our leaders have cooked up with our tax money to escalate the drug war and corruption in Mexico. One thing seems sure -- they're going to have a very difficult time with their efforts to avoid the "Plan Mexico" label (and it's a bit telling that they're trying to -- why would you avoid the label if it was indicative of success?) Anyway, people seem to like the term -- both on the web and in the news. Of course, it is the Mexican government in particular that's anxious to avoid the label because they see Plan Colombia as a de facto usurpation of Colombia's autonomy. (Gee, I wonder why?) [Mexico's Attorney General] further emphasized that the expected pact is not really comparable to the U.S.-Colombia accord, since "under no circumstance will [there be] outside meddling in responsibilities that the Mexican state cannot delegate [to non-Mexicans]." Right. 8:55:19 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []