2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting alternatives to the war on drugs for 10 years, and I can say without a doubt that there was more debate and movement toward sensible...

Montel Williams became a household name by hosting a national TV talk show that provided a platform for people to share their personal stories. Now Williams, who hosts the nationally syndicated daily radio show Montel Across America, is being recognized for sharing his own story as a medical marijuana patient...

For as long as I can remember, the conventional political wisdom has been that elected officials, especially Democrats, can't touch drug policy reform with a ten foot pole because they'll be portrayed as "soft on crime" and jeopardize their careers. Of course, there were politicians who acknowledged privately that the...

Actor Matt Damon supports Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid for re-election. Last month, Bloomberg touted Damon's endorsement in a cute video, in which Bloomberg pleads for Damon's support because the actor is a popular star whose views people trust. While the video has a joking tone, Bloomberg is dead...

Need more evidence that marijuana has gone mainstream in America? This morning on The Today Show, Matt Lauer chatted up a piece on so-called "Stiletto Stoners": educated, professional women with killer careers and enviable social lives who favor marijuana as their intoxicant of choice -- and are increasingly...

The war on cigarettes is heating up. This week a new federal ban went into effect making flavored cigarettes and cloves illegal. The new regulation halted the sale of vanilla and chocolate cigarettes that anti-smoking advocates claim lure young people into smoking. This ban is the first major...

At Tuesday's debate in the race for Manhattan District Attorney, two of the three candidates admitted to cocaine use. When the candidates were asked if they used any illegal drugs besides marijuana, both Cy Vance and Richard Aborn admitted to trying cocaine in the past.

We seem to...

In the last week both Mexico and Argentina made international news by passing a law and making a major Supreme Court ruling calling for low-level drug offenders to receive treatment instead of jail.

On Friday Mexico decriminalized small amounts of drugs including heroin, cocaine and marijuana. The new...

Two years ago, as part of their "wellness initiative," the Cleveland Clinic stopped hiring smokers. When the Clinic's CEO, Delos M. Cosgrove, was asked about the program for an article in last weekend's New York Times Magazine, he said that if it were up to him, he would also stop...

The German Parliament today approved a new law that will allow doctors to prescribe synthetic heroin to people with long-term drug addictions in an effort to reduce crime, overdose deaths and the spread of HIV.

The new law allows people over 23 who have used heroin or other opioid drugs...

What should be done about the millions of people in the United States and around the world who inject heroin and other drugs? For 30-plus years, the U.S. has waged a "war on drugs" that is, more accurately, a war on drug users. This war on drugs has not delivered...

Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain's mom, Jacqueline Standley, was arrested at her apartment this weekend for selling a small amount of methamphetamine to an undercover cop back in February. It breaks my heart to think of Joba Chamberlain's mom spending time behind bars for her drug problems. She is facing...

"Just Say No" advocates have hatched a campaign scheme to blame people who smoke marijuana for the horrifying violence in Mexico. An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that antidrug groups plan to use this message when talking to high-school students and plan to ask the Partnership for...

Plastered all over the world today is a photo of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana out of a bong. Mr. Phelps put out a statement saying that he acted in a youthful and inappropriate way and that he promises it won't happen again. Different people are weighing in on the possible...

President-elect Obama's smoking habit is making news again. Tom Brokaw asked Obama if he was still smoking during his one hour interview on last Sunday's Meet the Press. Obama hemmed and hawed, but in the end admitted to falling off the wagon a few times.

Obama's relationship with...

It may or may not surprise you that a majority of Americans support treatment instead of incarceration for people struggling with drug addiction. That's the good news. What you may not know is that there is a raging battle within the treatment community and society at large about how much...

I know a lot about drugs and the drug war, both personally and professionally. Drugs have had, at alternating times, a positive and a detrimental impact on my life. I have laughed, relaxed and found inspiration while intoxicated. I have also struggled, fought and become despondent because of my addiction...

The New York Post hit a new low on Tuesday when they deemed Britney Spears having a cigarette in the company of her son worthy of front page news. Wars rage on in Iraq and Afghanistan while Americans face losing their jobs and houses at home but The Post...

Heath Ledger's haunting role as the Joker in the Dark Knight will hit the screens nationwide this weekend. The critics have been raving about Heath's "dark" Joker performance and there is already buzz that he might win an Oscar for the role posthumously.

Until very recently, I lived down...

Rush Limbaugh will grace the cover of this Sunday's New York Times Magazine looking as cocky and powerful as ever. With his recent $400 million radio deal and estimated 14 million listeners, Rush is one of the most powerful voices in America today.

Seeing him riding so "high" on the...