On the heels of last week's historic Pew poll finding that a majority of Americans now support legally regulating marijuana, The Colbert Report did a rousing and hilarious segment on the parallels between the momentum for marijuana legalization and marriage equality.

Colbert isn't...

Despite our 40-year "war on drugs" and people like Nancy Reagan imploring us to "Just Say No" we are a society swimming in drugs -- coffee, antidepressants, painkillers, energy drinks, alcohol and sleeping pills, not to mention illegal drugs. Despite our elected officials calling for a "drug free society, the...

Many people hate drugs. It is easy to see why. Most families have had a loved one with a problematic relationship to alcohol or other drugs. People who struggle with drug problems can cause incredible pain to themselves and their loved ones. Broken marriages, loss of jobs, incarceration and even...

Former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy knows firsthand about addiction. Kennedy checked into a rehab center in 2007 for his addiction to Oxycodone after crashing his car while intoxicated.

Kennedy is now leading a group called Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) to actively oppose marijuana legalization,...

The war on drugs is America's longest war. It has been 40-plus years since Nixon launched our modern "war on drugs" and yet drugs are as plentiful as ever. While the idea we can have a "drug free society" is laughable, the disastrous consequences of our drug war are dead...

This year will go down in history as the the beginning of the end to America's longest failed war: the war on drugs. Voters in Colorado and Washington made worldwide news by legalizing marijuana, Presidents around Latin America spoke out passionately against the drug war, and award-winning movies documented the...

Tonight's third and final presidential debate will focus on foreign policy.

One glaring omission from the first two debates is America's disastrous war on drugs. Neither candidate has addressed American's longest war -- which has flushed well over $1 trillion taxpayer dollars down the drain, incarcerated millions of otherwise...

I love people who can educate and politicize in creative and entertaining ways. Prince Ea -- hip hop artist, activist and founder of Make SMART Cool -- shows us how it's done with his soon-to-be-released song "Smoking Weed With The President."

This epic 8-minute song is both a...

Visionary author, playwright and political activist Gore Vidal passed away yesterday. Millions around the world are remembering his life's work. If you don't know much about him, you can learn a lot just by reading the obituaries and commentaries that are emerging in the wake of his death.

Apparently,...

Comedy is powerful. And while the drug war is not a laughing matter, comedians are often able to capture the absurdity and insanity better than policy papers and traditional journalism.

Below are five humorous clips that allow us to laugh, so we don't have to cry.

Chris Rock:...

For the second time in a year, The New York Times has covered the devastation of alcohol abuse on the Native American tribe of Oglala Sioux and their efforts to prohibit alcohol consumption.

On Sunday, Times columnist Nicolas Kristof painted a heartbreaking picture when describing the...

The debate around marijuana legalization has arrived. The issue is popping in ways that haven't been seen in decades -- if ever. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Mexico yesterday and later will travel to Honduras in the midst of rapidly-escalating demands by Latin American presidents that legalization be included...

Working at the Drug Policy Alliance for the last twelve years I have read and heard countless stories of people having their lives ruined because of our country's cruel war on drugs. Last weekend, the nationally syndicated show This American Life highlighted a story that is so...

An 18-year-old teenager, Ramarley Graham, was killed in his home in the Bronx last week by plainclothes cops. A member of the narcotics unit shot the unarmed teenager in his bathroom.

While details of the tragedy are still unfolding, it appears that the teen...

The Daily Show has done the best journalism to date on the growing trend of opportunistic lawmakers introducing legislation to drug test people who receive unemployment benefits.

Last night, Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi did a powerful and humorous segment that features elected officials, including Florida Governor...

No one has ever died from smoking marijuana. But getting busted with a small amount of marijuana has led to countless tragic deaths.

This week, Shelley Hilliard, a 19-year-old woman from Detroit, was killed after working as a police informant. On October 20, Hilliard was arrested for...

Should juries vote "not guilty" on low-level marijuana charges to send a message about our country's insane marijuana arrest policy? Paul Butler, former federal prosecutor and law professor at George Washington University made a powerful argument for jury nullification in an op-ed in yesterday's New York Times....

The United States likes to portray itself as the "Land of the Free" yet we lock up more people overall and per capita than any country in the world. A new study out today found that one out of three people in the United States will be...

Are horses the silver bullet that are going to keep drugs out of the United States? USA Today did a puff piece last week about horses being deployed on the border to help us win the "war on drugs." USA Today states, "The horses are the latest...

2011 has been a watershed year for the movement working to end our county's disastrous war on drugs. Below are the top stories of the year that exemplify the momentum and give us hope that we can find alternatives to drug war madness.

#1. World Leaders Make International News...