Decriminalization

Jailing Americans for Profit: The Rise of the Prison Industrial Complex

John W. Whitehead | Posted 04.10.2012

Read More: Corrections Corporation of America, Geo Group, Decriminalization, Pennsylvania Jailing Kids for Cash, Private Prisons, Criminal Justice System, Minimum Security Prisons, Prison Privatization, Crime News

No matter what the politicians or corporate heads might say, prison privatization is neither fiscally responsible nor in keeping with principles of justice. It simply encourages incarceration for the sake of profits.

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America Needs to Open Up the Debate on Decriminalization

Richard Branson | Posted 05.19.2012

Read More: Medical Marijuana, Obama Drug Policy, Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Obama War on Drugs, Marijuana, Marijuana Decriminalization, Obama Drug Czar, Politics News

Throughout Europe and Latin America, and in many U.S. states, a similar debate is playing out: Can and should the drug war be replaced with drug regulation that supports individuals with health issues and focuses law enforcement on serious criminals?

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Vancouver: The New Amsterdam?

Off Track Planet | Posted 03.27.2012

Read More: Law, Hostels, Backpacking, Marijuana, Vancouver, The Netherlands, Marijuana Laws, Decriminalization, British Columbia, Canada, Travel, Pot, Amsterdam, Weed, Travel News

Never thought of Canada, did you? Well this sleeping giant knows how to have a good time. When Amsterdam stops burning, hop past Washington, blaze through to Vancouver and make Holland beg for forgiveness.

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Ten Steps for Radical Revolution USA

Bill Quigley | Posted 03.24.2012

Read More: Direct Democracy, US Military, Human Rights, Corporate Responsibility, Property Rights, USA, Keystone XL Pipeline, Revolution, Privatization, Decriminalization, Corporate Personhood, Reparations, Impact News

If those in government and those in power do not help the people do what is right, people seeking change must together exercise our human rights and bring about these changes directly.

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Legalize and Tax it, Already

Carl Gibson | Posted 02.05.2012

Read More: Texas, Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, Houston Chronicle, Hemp, Marijuana, Budget Cuts, Prohibition, Politics News

In Texas, possession of anything less than two ounces is a class B misdemeanor with a maximum jail sentence of 180 days. 97 percent of the state's marijuana arrests were for possession.

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It's Time to Declare Peace in the War Against Drugs

Doug Bandow | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Drug Arrests, Drug Prohibition, Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, Drug Incarceration Rate, War on Drugs, Marijuana, Drug War, Politics News

Prohibition advocates are brutally determined to impose their will on everyone else, turning the Drug War into a broad assault on a free society. It is time to end the Drug War. The U.S. government should declare Drug Peace.

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GOP Candidate Weighs In On Political Power Of 'Pot Smokers'

The Huffington Post | Luke Johnson | Posted 12.04.2011

Read More: Video, Marijuana, Gary Johnson Medical Marijuana, Gary Johnson New Mexico, Elections 2012, Gary Johnson Marijuana, Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, Drug Legalization, Gary Johnson, Gary Johnson 2012, Drug Crimes, Politics News

Former New Mexico Governor and GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson told Outside Magazine that legalizing marijuana was a popular political stance....

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WATCH: Dennis Kucinich Invokes Legalization Of Marijuana With Arab Spring

The Huffington Post | Paige Lavender | Posted 10.22.2011

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) invoked the democratic uprisings in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring while speaking about the American effort to...

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Portugal: When Heroin Was King

Danna Harman | Posted 09.18.2011

Read More: Global War on Drugs, Joao Goulao, Bairro Alto, Lisbon, Drug-Decriminalization, Drugs, Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Heroin, Portugal, World News

It often seems the Portuguese experiment is something of a Rorschach test -- in the dark blobs on the page, people can see whatever they want to see.

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Marijuana Bill Stalls In One State, Moves Forward Next Door

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 08.07.2011

Read More: Marijuana Decriminalization, Nypd, Marijuana New York Connecticut, Marijuana, Marijuana New York, Marijuana Connecticut, Medical Marijuana, Hakeem Jeffries, Decriminalization, Stop and Frisk, Mark Grisanti, Connecticut Medical Marijuana, Dan Malloy, New York News

More than 30 years ago, New York state decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. But one line in that 1977 law has led to the annua...

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Fixing the Fiasco of the NYPD's Marijuana Arrests

Jesse Levine | Posted 07.19.2011

Two New York State legislators have proposed a simple, effective legislative fix to New York City's 15-year marijuana arrest craze that would strike from the law the misdemeanor for marijuana possession of less than an ounce.

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Jamaica To Review Marijuana Decriminalization

AP | By DAVID McFADDEN | Posted 06.12.2011

Read More: Marijuana Decriminalization, Jamaica, Cannabis, National Commission for Ganja, Caribbean, Bruce Golding, Marijuana, Drug War, Decriminalization, Drugs, Pot, Ganja, Un Convention Against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, World News

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Top government officials will review recommendations to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal and r...

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Why Are Some Cops So Hostile to Marijuana Policy Reform?

Rob Kampia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Law Enforcement, Marijuana, Police, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Massachusetts, Decriminalization, Marijuana Legalization, Marijuana Policy Project, Minnesota, Prohibition, Politics News

State prosecutors, police, sheriffs, and attorneys general are almost universally opposed to marijuana policy reform measures, to the point where they actually spend time and money lobbying against us. Why?

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Pot Luck? Arizona Approves Medical Marijuana Amid Conservative Landslide

Randall Amster | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Demonization, Mexico Drug War, Marijuana, Mexico Drug Cartels, Illegal Immigrants, Medical Marijuana, Mexico, Immigration, Decriminalization, Borders, Drugs, Arizona, War on Drugs, Politics News

The beleaguered state of Arizona has just concluded one of the most lopsided elections in state history, in which Republicans captured every statewide...

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Want to Strike Back Against Politicians? Here's How

Kevin Zeese | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Decriminalization, Legalizatation, Marijuana, Propisition 19, Prop 19, Politics News

Now that a majority of Americans oppose continuing the criminal prohibition of marijuana for adults, it is time for voters to send a clear message to politicians -- end these ineffective and expensive marijuana laws.

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The Nov. 2 Election Will Determine Whether Marijuana Will Be Decriminalized in Vermont

Rob Kampia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Medical Marijuana, Howard Dean, Decriminalization, Peter Shumlin, Brian Dubie, Marijuana, November Election, Vermont, Politics News

In this year's gubernatorial race in Vermont, one candidate delayed passage of a medical marijuana bill in the state Senate in 2002, and another candi...

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The Only Thing Drug Gangs and Cartels Fear Is Legalization

Johann Hari | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mexico Drugs, Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Marijuana, Cocaine, World News

If you believe the way to deal with the human appetite for intoxication is to criminalize and militarize, then blood is on your hands. How many people have to die before we take the drugs trade back from murderous criminal gangs?

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420: Put Down That Joint and Pick Up a Pen

Norm Stamper | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Drug Cartels, Law Enforcement, President Obama, 420, Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, Attorney General Eric Holder, Big Pharma, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, California, Prison Industrial Complex, Rich Lee, San Francisco, Control and Tax Cannabis, Drug War, Oaksterdam University, Politics News

Given slavish governmental allegiance to the drug war (over the course of eight presidencies), skepticism is understandable. But unwarranted.

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New Medical Marijuana Policy: Obama Administration Will Not Seek Arrests For People Following State Laws

AP | DEVLIN BARRETT | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pain, White House, Marijuana, Marijuana Policy Project, Orgeon, Doj, Eric Holder, Decriminalization, Nevada, Marijuana Laws, Obama, War on Drugs, Patients, New Mexico, Colorado, Prescriptions, California, Suppliers, Washington State, State Laws, Weed, Michigan, Medicine, Maryland, Montana, Users, Medical Marijuana, Vermont, Rhode Island, Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Agency, Maine, New Medical Marijuana Policy, Health, Hawaii, US Attorneys, Alaska, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under...

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The Whore Wars

David Henry Sterry | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Georgina Spelvin, Ashley Dupree, Rent Boys, Sex Workers, David Henry Sterry, Abolition, Whore, Decriminalization, Sex Trafficking, Prostitution, Hookers, Violence Aganist Women, Pimp, Elliot Spitzer, Call Girls, Hos, Annie Sprinkle, Books News

If this book helps people see that men and women who have sex for money are mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, I will be happy. If it shines a compassionate light into the sex ghetto, it'll be worth all the slings and arrows.

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Despite Decriminalization Law Attendees Get Ticketed At Boston Pro-Pot Rally

The Boston Globe | September 19, 2009 06:19 PM | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Marijuana Decriminalization, Boston, Pro-Pot Rally, Marijuana, Police, Protest, Decriminalization, Massachusetts, Legalize Marijuana, Politics News

The new law decriminalizes possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. But that did not stop police from handing out handfuls of $100 tickets when ...

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Mexico And Argentina Move Towards Decriminalizing Drugs

guardian.co.uk | Rory Carroll in Caracas, Jo Tuckman in Mexico and Tom Phillips in Rio De Janeiro | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Argentina Decriminalizes Drugs, Mexico, Argentina, Decriminalization, War on Drugs, Mexico Decriminalize Drugs, Drugs Argentina, Marijuana Decriminalization, Decriminalize, Mexico-Decriminalizes-Drug-Possession, Argentina and Mexico Drugs, Mexico Drugs, Drugs Mexico, Mexico Drug Trafficking, Mexico Drug Violence, Mexico Drug Wars, World News

Argentina and Mexico have taken significant steps towards decriminalizing drugs amid a growing Latin American backlash against the US-sponsored "war o...

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Friday Talking Points [90] -- Obama To Switch Parties

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Daisy Dukes, White House, Table, Medicare for All, Legalize, Barney Frank, Progressives, Fiction, Reform, Catnip, Rube Goldberg, Blackwater, Midotw, Nancy Pelosi, Assassination, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Health Care, Budget Reconciliation, Reid, Nancy Reagan, Reconciliation, Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Terrorism, Mexico, Shorts, Terrorist, Massachusetts, Democrat, Kathleen Sebelius, Congress, Planet, Democrats, Lie, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama, Decriminalize, Mddotw, Health, Blue Dogs, Harry Reid, Vacation, Falsehood, Healthcare, Senate, George Bush, President Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, Ronald Reagan, Senator, Tom Ridge, Cia, Kennedy, Cat's Cradle, Drugs, Decriminalization, Iraq, Obama, Democratic, Dining Room Table, Media, Truth to Crazy, Media Catnip, Friday Talking Points, Republican, Bush, Pelosi, Edward Kennedy, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Obama Switches Parties, Speaker, Sebelius, Ridge, Two Bills, Michelle Obama, House, Aides, What Planet, Terror Alert, Obama to Switch Parties, Teddy Kennedy, Mainstream Media, Progressive, Grand Canyon, Chris Weigant, Naked Guy on a Plane, Senator Kennedy, Afghanistan, George W Bush, Healthcare Reform, Nazi, Politics News

Ted Kennedy is putting both his legacy and his sense of entitlement to his office before the interests of his constituents.

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Driven To Drink By Marijuana Laws?

Reuters | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: California, Marijuana, Alcohol, Medical Marijuana, Decriminalization, Marijuana Laws, Substance Abuse, Pot, Drinking, Politics News

ough marijuana laws are driving millions of Americans to a more dangerous mood-altering substance, alcohol. The unintended consequence: violence and t...

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Time to Forgive, Forget, and Find a Little Jubilee

Randall Amster | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Debt, Jubilee Act, Bailout, Credit Card Debt, Forgiveness, Student Loans, Stimulus, Jubilee, Prisoners, Prisons, Decriminalization, Third World Debt, Business News

Money is the means to everything from food to sex, so it's no surprise what people are willing to do to obtain it, from criminal activities to simply ignoring the rising tide.

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