In the introduction of Transform's 2009 publication 'After the War on Drugs, Blueprint for Regulation' (p.7) the nature of the war on drugs is discussed:

"...the presentation of drugs as an existential ‘threat’ has gener­ated a policy response within which unevidenced and radical measures are justified. Drug policy has evolved within a context of ‘securitization’, characterised by increasing powers and resources for enforcement and state security apparatus. The outcomes of this strategy, framed as a drug ‘war’, include the legitimisation of propaganda, and the suspen­sion of many of the working principles that define more conventional social policy, health or legal interventions. Given that the War on Drugs is predicated on ‘eradication’ of the ‘evil’ drug threat as a way of achieving a ‘drug free world’, it has effectively established a permanent state of war. This has led to a high level policy environment that ignores critical scien­tific thinking, and health and social policy norms. Fighting the threat becomes an end in itself and as such, it creates a largely self-referential and self-justifying rhetoric that makes meaningful evaluation, review and debate difficult, if not impossible.

transform-drugs.blogspot.com
Blueprint for Regulation
old zack

Prisoners who have beaten their drug dependency while incarcerated are being given substances such as methadone – the highly addictive heroin substitute – before their release, according to reports.

telegraph.co.uk

While some of the technology industry's brightest minds were inventing the first PCs and developing groundbreaking software, they were also feeding their heads with LSD. Here's a look at nine tech visionaries who's mind-blowing adventures on acid have forever influenced the direction and ethos of the computer industry.

cio.com

"I say decriminalize it," Leno added about marijuana. "I don't want to be inducing young people who really don't want to smoke to, through trick advertising or peer pressure, to get into it. Anybody who wants to do it is fine with me. I just don't want it to become a Madison Ave. product."

celebstoner.com

Here is my latest update of the medical marijuana map I’ve been creating for years. I feel like this is my most comprehensive map yet.

norml.org

Crime branch which is auditing drugs stocked at the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) malkhana found 260 kg of charas,worth crores of rupees, missing. The missing drug had been released by a local court to ANC cops for destruction in 2005, following the disposal of a narcotics' case.

"Of the 280 kg charas seized by the ANC, about 20 kg was sent to the forensic laboratory at Hyderabad for examination to the confirm whether the drug returned from the court for destruction was charas. Of the 280 kg charas, there is a record of about 20 kg. The rest of the quantity is missing. We are now trying to trace if the same has been kept at the court godown. It is a serious matter and we are trying to find how the lapse occurred," crime branch sources said.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Egypt's market for the illegal drug hashish is going through a shortage that is stoking a wide variety of theories, many of them coloured by a sense of widespread distrust towards the government.

The authorities have very little tolerance for hashish, and are happy to take the credit for curbing the trade in a series of busts since the beginning of the year that have netted at least six tonnes of the drug.

A report on Saturday in the official Al-Ahram newspaper, headlined "The Interior Ministry imposes its control over the drug market," announced the end of the hashish trade.

aawsat.com
afp
france24.com
iol.co.za
middle-east-online.com

The Dutch cabinet wants to discourage foreigners from coming to the Netherlands to buy drugs by limiting the amounts permitted to be sold and by only allowing debit card payment, the government said last week.

The Netherlands has one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies with legal use of marijuana but some cities at the border near Belgium want to close down marijuana-selling coffee shops because they are drawing too many foreign visitors.

edmontonjournal.com