Supporters of B.C. marijuana activist Marc Emery failed in their last-ditch attempt Friday to stop his extradition to the U.S. They wanted a British Columbia court to order that he face Canadian charges first.

It is a quirk of the Canadian justice system that individuals can swear criminal charges against another person or group. In recent years, such private prosecutions have been used by activist groups to take corporations to court when government regulators are reluctant to lay charges.

cbc.ca

After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.

Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.

"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

foxnews.com
mercurynews.com
chron.com
washingtontimes.com
thereporteronline.com
ap
whyprohibition.ca

Our friends at LEAP noticed this remarkable DEA testimony at a Senate hearing:

Mexico is the number one foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the United States. In fact, according to a 2008 inter-agency report, marijuana is the top revenue generator for Mexican DTOs—a cash crop that finances corruption and the carnage of violence year after year. The profits derived from marijuana trafficking—an industry with minimal overhead costs, controlled entirely by the traffickers—are used not only to finance other drug enterprises by Mexico’s poly-drug cartels, but also to pay recurring “business” expenses, purchase weapons, and bribe corrupt officials.

What a mess. Who'd have guessed that a drug known for producing feeling of pleasant relaxation would end up financing massive international networks of murderous gangsters.

stopthedrugwar.org

Prävention statt Kampf gegen Drogen: Mit der am Dienstag vorgestellten Kontrollstrategie will sich US-Präsident Obama von seinem Vorgänger Bush distanzieren. Dieser antwortete auf Drogenmissbrauch vor allem mit Gefängnisstrafen. Obamas oberster Drogenkontrolleur sieht in der Abhängigkeit eine Krankheit und will diese auch als solche behandeln. Wie viel davon Rhetorik ist, bleibt offen, denn mehr als die Hälfte des Budgets zur Drogenkontrolle kommen dem Heimatschutz-, Justiz- und Verteidigungsministerium zugute.

orf.at

Four decades after President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, the White House yesterday announced a shift in national drug policy that would treat illegal drug use more as a public health issue and plunge more resources into prevention and treatment.

The new drug control strategy boosts community-based antidrug programs, encourages health care providers to screen for drug problems before addiction sets in, and expands treatment beyond specialty centers to mainstream health care facilities.

boston.com
Is Obama Serious About Ending the War on Drugs?

The Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson today condemned Marc Emery to US custody. Opting to wait until Emery was in custody on a bail technicality, Nicholson sent the order to Emery's lawyers shortly after Emery entered custody. Emery had expected to be out on bail again today as the Justice Minister was expected to request another extension on the controversial move.

whyprohibition.ca
afp
washingtonpost.com
chron.com
stopthedrugwar.org
theprovince.com

Mexico has extradited a convicted former state governor to the United States on charges of charges of trafficking cocaine during the 1990s, the federal attorney general said.

Mario Villanueva Madrid is wanted by US authorities for allegedly helping the Juarez drug cartel move "hundreds of tons of cocaine from Colombia" to the US as governor of Quintana Roo state during 1993-99.

earthtimes.org
businessday.co.za

Laut einer Meldung der Apotheke-Adhoc vom 4.5.2010 hat ein Sachverständigenausschuss für Betäubungsmittel (BtM) dem Gesundheitsministerium empfohlen, Cannabis-Extrakt als Wirkstoff von Fertigarzneimitteln in die Anlage III des BTM-Gesetzes aufzunehmen und damit verkehrsfähig zu machen. Die Präparate könnten dann auf BTM-Rezept verordnet werden.

apotheke-adhoc.de