Policy and Legislation

Though many perceive marijuana to be relatively harmless, researchers from the APA urge those considering legalization to keep cannabis away from underage consumers.

• Transgenerational Effects of Drug Use: Teen Pot Use Ups Addiction Risk for Future Offspring
• Marijuana and Motivation: Marijuana Use Tied To Low Work Motivation
• Marijuana Abuse: Heavy Marijuana Use Causes Brain Changes

© Thomas Hawk

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie calls the drug war a failure and uses a pro-life argument to call for treatment instead of jail.

• Thailand Gets Set to Bring Back The War on Drugs.

© Franco Folini

The Global Commission on Drug Policy says war on drugs style policies fuel the spread of HIV. The GCDP is a think tank comprised of 6 former world leaders, a former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, British entrepreneur Richard Branson and other notables.

© Thomas Hawk

In a speech at The Betty Ford Center, US Drug Car Gil Kerlikowske called for an end to laws and statutes that continue to punish people already striving for recovery.

© Casey Serin

Addiction doctors say that it’s not fair to imprison people for the actions of addiction, not provide adequate addiction treatment and then continue to penalize for drug use and possession.

© The U.S. Army

Defense Department to reverse an insurance coverage ban on long term methadone maintenance therapy for military personnel.

• Suboxone: Study Says Relapse Rates High after Suboxone
• Suicide: Low Omega 3 Levels Linked to Military Suicides
• Suicide: Army Suicides Spike in July

© Big Grey Mare

Medicare will extend coverage, at no additional cost, to provide screening services for depression and for alcohol abuse disorders and to provide behavioral counseling to Seniors with alcohol abuse problems.

• Benefits of Quitting Alcohol: 20 Things People Realize When They Quit Drinking
• Minimum Alcohol Pricing: Raising Minimum Alcohol Prices Cuts Death Rate
• Alcoholic Brain Damage: Abstinence: Substantial Brain Healing after 2 Weeks

© Kenfagerdotcom

Old Dominion Freight Line in Arkansas is facing a federal lawsuit for violating the disability act rights of a driver they fired for being an alcoholic (the driver had never violated the company’s alcohol policies).

• Anti-Smoking: In Iceland - Prescription Only Cigarettes?
• Scotland Considers Mandatory Minimum Price Per Drink to Curb Alcohol Abuse
• Lowered Drinking Age Increases Rates of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

© Heanster

Although Governor Rick Scott had claimed that cancelling benefit payments to drug users on welfare would more than pay for the cost of the testing program – it looks like he was wrong.

• Urine Tests for Smart Drugs before University Exams – Coming Soon?

© J o rdan

Crack users in Vancouver will soon have access to new free crack pipes, courtesy of Vancouver Coastal Health which will hand out the crack pipes to those that want them in Vancouver’s notoriously drug plagued Lower Eastside neighborhood.

• Cocaine Addiction: Aripiprazole Might Double as Cocaine Addiction Med
• Cocaine Addiction: Nicotine Ups Cocaine Addiction Risk
• Cocaine Effects: Use Cocaine Now - Go Blind Decades Later?

© John Steven Fernandez

On Tuesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) passed a strong resolution that calls for an end to the 40 year long war on drugs, citing grossly imbalanced application of drug laws on the African American community and the war’s total ineffectiveness as compelling reasons for a change.

• Health Care : Study Says Black Men Live Longer in Prison
• Russia: Russia to Send Drug Dealers to Forestry or Mining Labor Camps
• Drug Trafficking: Pigeons to Smuggle Drugs into Prison

© Morgan200

Nine years after being asked to consider the possible merits of medical marijuana, the DEA has ruled to continue classifying marijuana as a drug of abuse with no approved medicinal value.

• Medical Marijuana: New Medical Marijuana – No High, No Munchies
• 40% of Medical Marijuana Patients Use Cannabis to Control Alcohol Cravings
• 85% of Online Pharmacies Sell Controlled Drugs Without Needing a Prescription

© Thomas Hawk

Changes to sentencing laws will effect 1 in 17 inmates in the entire federal corrections system.

• Poll: Do Drug Users Deserve to Go to Jail?

© Smokershighlife

In Connecticut, getting caught with up to a half ounce of real marijuana will get you no more than a ticket and a small fine. Getting caught with ‘legal-high’ fake marijuana type drugs or salvia divinorum, however, could land you in jail!

© Impossible Queens

A consortium of past and present world leaders and other influential figures call the drug war a total failure and say it’s time for the US to stop treating drug users like criminals and to open up to debate about other ways to handle the drug problem.