AltWeeklies Wire
San Diego Pot-Raid Search-Warrant Affidavits Reveal Dubious Undercover Opsnew
California's medical-pot organizations operate in a largely untested gray area of law. Yet, the only clear crime throughout a four-month sting in San Diego was perpetrated by the police.
San Diego CityBeat |
Dave Maass |
10-29-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Natural Seletion: A Field Guide to Portland's Legal Pharmacopeianew
While DIY mushroom hunters are pulling on rain gear and heading outdoors in search of forbidden fruit, others are staying high and dry by sampling a crop of legal psychoactive plants found right here in the city limits.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
10-29-2009 |
Drugs
All Sides In L.A.'s Pot Wars Agree: City Hall is Incompetentnew
The disparate groups in the pot debate agree on one thing: Los Angeles City Hall has been almost comically inept at complying with simple state deadlines for municipalities to create rules for medicinal marijuana.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald and Jill Stewart |
10-23-2009 |
Drugs
Smack Time: Is There Really a New Heroin Epidemic?new
A spate of recent media reports have claimed that America -- and especially the New York metro area -- is suffering from a terrifying new heroin epidemic. Curious, I decided to revisit a world that had once held me in its clutches for so long. This time around, I brought along a notebook and a clear head.
New York Press |
Matt Harvey |
10-22-2009 |
Drugs
A Snitch in Time: A Philly Gunshot Victim Defies the Inner-City Code of Silencenew
It's been five months since Maurice Ragland testified against the man he says shot him. In doing so, he broke the cardinal rule of the Philadelphia streets -- Do Not Snitch. That he survived his wounds is amazing enough, but that he testified is just as amazing.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Mike Newall |
10-19-2009 |
Crime & Justice
How Today's Pot Debate is Like the Fall of Prohibitionnew
Law-enforcement maverick Norm Stamper noted "striking" parallels between Prohibition of a bygone era and today's drug debate. "Major difference? It took us only 13 years to end the former" over "essentially identical" reasons: violence, overdose deaths on bad "bathtub gin," public health and revenue.
San Diego CityBeat |
John R. Lamb |
10-07-2009 |
Drugs
The Resurrection of Ted Haggardnew
The former New Life pastor talks about the scandals that led him to the brink of suicide, the disconnect between his preachings and practices, and his prospects for creating a new ministry back in Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Bill Forman |
10-01-2009 |
Religion
Did an Army-Issue Antimalarial Drug Drive a Solider to Suicide?new
Criticism of the military's use of Lariam has continued to build since John Torres' death. "If it predisposes you to paranoia, anger, psychosis, is it appropriate to expose a company of people with automatic weapons?" army doctor Remington Nevin wonders.
Chicago Reader |
Kari Lydersen |
09-28-2009 |
War
A Year Late, L.A. Tries to Uninvite its Unvetted Pot Shopsnew
The Los Angeles City Council now faces one of its potentially most expensive legal battles ever, a war over medical pot that could draw in shady drug dealers, serious medical-marijuana activists, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown -- and even U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
L.A. Weekly |
Daniel Heimpel |
09-25-2009 |
Drugs
One Border Coyote and His Accomplice Have Been Captured and Released 35 Timesnew
The story the Popes tell opens a window on the world of alien- and drug-smuggling, and the criminals who operate within it. It also shines a light on a system that fails citizens in multiple ways, the most maddening being the number of times these crooks are set free to strike again.
Tucson Weekly |
Leo W. Banks |
09-16-2009 |
Immigration
Ganjapreneurs Are Cashing in on Colorado's Booming Medical Pot Businessnew
To meet an increased demand, at least seventy new Colorado dispensaries have opened, forty in the metro area alone. Many of these are operated by what insiders are calling a "second wave" of ganjapreneurs -- savvy, experienced businesspeople and professionals.
Despite Seattle's Battle Against Some Seedy Motels, Their Regulars Remain Undauntednew
After years of complaints from neighborhood residents and hundreds of calls to the police for service, the city has declared war on the seedy motels of Aurora Avenue North -- five of them, anyway.
Seattle Weekly |
Vernal Coleman |
09-14-2009 |
Culture
Cartoon: Barry Bonds, PFCnew
Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are abusing psychotropic drugs in order to bulk up.
Altered State: Legalization, Cannabis Clubs and California's Marijuana Sea Changenew
Legalization and pot clubs in California grow increasingly popular, but law enforcement and government officials still can't think outside of the box.
Sacramento News & Review |
Nick Miller |
08-27-2009 |
Drugs
New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Coordinator Quits, Questions Pot Producer's Practicesnew
New Mexico's Medical Cannabis Program coordinator has resigned and, due to budget constraints and a hiring freeze, the state Department of Health has not refilled the position yet. The vacancy is another hurdle for a program that some patients and advocates say has been too slow to achieve its statutory goal.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
08-27-2009 |
Drugs
