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Drug Policy

Time to Explore How to Regulate Drugs

Fernando Henrique Cardoso | Posted 05.20.2013 | World
Fernando Henrique Cardoso

After more than four decades of a failed war on drugs, calls for a change in strategy are growing louder by the day. In Latin America, the debate is positively deafening.

Drug Policy: Tipping Into Tikkun

Jane Marcus, Ph.D. | Posted 05.08.2013 | Crime
Jane Marcus, Ph.D.

Millennials, with their progressive political leanings, are voting alongside baby boomers, whose past experiences are leading them to question whether we should be following a different path with regard to marijuana.

Should We Have a Bailiff and a Judge at Weight Watchers?

Clovis Thorn | Posted 05.03.2013 | Crime
Clovis Thorn

Some think drug courts are the utopian answer to both drug use problems and over-incarceration. Drug courts are part of a kinder, gentler drug war. Mind your manners, pass clean urine screenings, and everyone wins. The reality is much different.

Harry Reid: Obamacare Could Be A 'Train Wreck'

HuffPost Live | Posted 05.03.2013 | HuffPost Live 321

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told radio host Rusty Humphries on Thursday that he agreed with Sen. Max Baucus that the Affordable Care Act could b...

More Treatment, Less War: The White House Drug Policy Reform

Jason Silverstein | Posted 04.28.2013 | Politics
Jason Silverstein

Many people who want substance abuse treatment can't get it. The White House wants to fix this. Can they do it, and will it help?

Drug Czar Puts Punishment Over Prevention

Lucia Graves | Posted 04.26.2013 | Politics

The Obama administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy has promised a "21st century" approach to drug policy, but the White House budget re...

Drug Policy Reform In Action: A 21st Century Approach

R. Gil Kerlikowske | Posted 04.24.2013 | Politics
R. Gil Kerlikowske

Today we are releasing a science-driven plan for drug policy reform in America to build upon this progress. This 21st century drug policy outlines a series of evidence-based reforms that treat our nation's drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue.

Drug Czar To Outline Obama Drug Policy

Posted 04.24.2013 | Politics

By BRIAN WITTE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANNAPOLIS, Md. — President Barack Obama's new strategy for fighting the nation's drug problem will include a...

Radley Balko

13 People Who Are Dead Because Of America's Futile War On Drugs

HuffingtonPost.com | Radley Balko | Posted 04.20.2013 | Politics

America's long drug war has produced countless tragedies, ruined lives and led to parentless children, as well as the deaths of drug warriors, nonviol...

Susan Sarandon: 'Everyone Should Be Able To Smoke Pot'

Posted 04.17.2013 | Fifty

Susan Sarandon has never been one to shy away from a controversial topic. While appearing on HuffPost Live Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of her ...

Lucia Graves

White House Budget Emphasizes Drug Punishment Over Treatment

HuffingtonPost.com | Lucia Graves | Posted 04.11.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration budget released Wednesday emphasizes drug abuse punishment and interdiction over treatment and prevention, desp...

After the Drug War, Support Your Local Cannabis Farmer

Doug Fine | Posted 04.08.2013 | Green
Doug Fine

Why does Mark, like many of today's American black market cannabis farmers, dread the above-ground acceptance of his industry?

Shafer Commission Report on Marijuana and Drugs, Issued 40 Years Ago Today, Was Ahead of its Time

Eric E. Sterling | Posted 05.21.2013 | Politics
Eric E. Sterling

Given forty years of escalation of the war on drugs in the U.S. and around the world, the global consensus that the policy is a deadly and costly failure, and that policies that hurt our fragile economies must be fixed, we need a new Shafer Commission to develop and recommend a drug policy that saves lives.

Is the INCB Dangerous to Your Health? 5 Ways the UN's Drug Watchdog Fails on Health and Human Rights

Daniel Wolfe | Posted 05.05.2013 | World
Daniel Wolfe

The International Narcotics Control Board describes itself as a "quasi-judicial" group of experts charged with monitoring compliance with international drug control treaties, but the report's drug war bias and egregious omissions makes us wonder who is judging the judges.

Toward a Smarter Drug Policy

R. Gil Kerlikowske | Posted 04.16.2013 | Politics
R. Gil Kerlikowske

It is clear that we cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem. Instead, we need smarter, results-based criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe, including treatment for people with substance use disorders and mental health issues.

Are Drugs Today Really Cheaper, Purer, and More Available Than Ever?

Rafael Lemaitre | Posted 04.14.2013 | Politics
Rafael Lemaitre

Some critics go so far as to say that "illegal drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today" than ever before. This is a compelling argument and a powerful sound bite, to be sure. There's just one problem: It's not true.

Drug Laws: Why Do We Have Them, and Do They Work?

Rafael Lemaitre | Posted 04.08.2013 | Politics
Rafael Lemaitre

It's a question often raised in today's heated discussion about the efficacy of drug policy in America: Do regulations outlawing certain drugs actually work?

The Real Skinny on SAM: A Response to Maia Szalavitz

Ben Cort | Posted 04.06.2013 | Politics
Ben Cort

Drug policy is nuanced. It's complicated. And while one might be against legalization -- like we at Smart Approaches to Marijuana are -- that does not mean we want to see users rot in prison.

It's Time For The Obama Administration To Acknowledge That Marijuana Prohibition Doesn't Work

Paul Armentano | Posted 03.28.2013 | Politics
Paul Armentano

Never has there existed greater public support for ending the nation's nearly century-long experiment with pot prohibition and replacing it with regulation. The historic Election Day votes in Colorado and Washington underscore this reality. But is the Obama administration listening?

Obama's Drug Problem

William Chambliss | Posted 03.28.2013 | Politics
William Chambliss

Law-enforcement agencies are themselves "addicted" to drugs. They have grown dependent on the crime-fighting statistics generated by drug arrests. The employment of prison staff depends on extraordinary rates of incarceration.

Emily Swanson

War On Drugs Has Not Been Worth The Costs: Poll

HuffingtonPost.com | Emily Swanson | Posted 01.18.2013 | Politics

Only one in five Americans think that America's war on drugs has been worth the costs, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. According to the ne...

A Watershed Moment in the War Against the War on Drugs

Jason Flom | Posted 03.10.2013 | Politics
Jason Flom

The failure of the Drug War is both clear and tragic. The United States is home to just five percent of the world's population but fully 25 percent of the world's prison population.

Joe Biden: Obama's Drug Warrior

The Huffington Post | Nick Wing | Posted 12.11.2012 | Politics

Criticism over the United States' role in the war on drugs is increasingly making its way into mainstream discussion. As prominent officials such as f...

The Tide Is Turning

Amanda Feilding | Posted 02.10.2013 | World
Amanda Feilding

A drug policy based on health, harm reduction, cost effectiveness and human rights is no longer an impossible dream; it is something that is almost within our reach.

Just Say No to Drug War?

Craig K. Comstock | Posted 02.03.2013 | World
Craig K. Comstock

Juan Manuel Santos, incumbent President of Colombia, which has fought a long-time war on drugs with the support of the U.S., has just signed a public letter questioning that war on grounds of efficacy, cost, side effects, and fairness.