The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged war on drugs

Drug Czar: Just Say No to ‘War on Drugs’

By | 05.14.09 | 9:44 am

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Gil Kerlikowske, the newly minted head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is calling for a radical refocus of the nation’s efforts to fight drugs — beginning with the elimination of the Nixon-era term, “War on More…

Obama (Passively) Wants Parity for Crack Sentencing

By | 04.29.09 | 3:23 pm

This morning’s Senate panel hearing on the wide discrepancy between sentencing for crack and powder cocaine-related crimes offered the Obama administration its first official opportunity to weigh in on the contentious issue. And while the White House announced its support for closing the gap, it also appears to be leaving More…

Got Hemp?

By | 04.01.09 | 1:32 pm

Well, you might have a bit more if Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) get their way. The two lawmakers have plans to reintroduce legislation to legalize the domestic farming of industrial hemp, a genetic but non-psychoactive relative of marijuana.

Hemp advocates (yes, there are hemp advocates out More…

‘Harm Reduction’ Addendum

By | 03.13.09 | 3:57 pm

Here’s the final chapter on the months-long controversy over the United Nations’ efforts to establish the next decade’s global drug policy guidelines.

As we noted yesterday, language adopting “harm reduction” strategies didn’t make the cut, largely because the Obama administration opposed it. But that wasn’t quite the More…