These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community -- mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street. Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts -- some with maggots squirming under track marks -- staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles. [continues 1779 words]
Despite $1 Tril Spent Over 40 Years, Use and Trafficking Still Widespread MEXICO CITY - After 40 years, the U.S. war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives - and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence is even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked. "In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske said. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified." [continues 1824 words]
MEXICO CITY- After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked. "In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified." This week President Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment. [continues 2128 words]
Discharges Rising Since Iraq War Began, Pentagon Report Says Drug use, weight problems and parenthood are among the reasons people have been leaving the military in the past three years, since the war on terror began, according to newly released Pentagon data. Documents released to the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act indicate the number of enlisted personnel leaving each year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 10.5 percent last year. Enlisted losses -- including people whose enlistments had expired -- increased from 118,206 in 2002 to more than 137,465 last year, while officer losses have increased from 5,619 in 2002 to more than 7,500 last year. [continues 528 words]
Drug use, weight problems and parenthood have been taking their toll on the military in the past three years, since the war on terror began, according to newly released Pentagon data. Documents released to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act indicate the number of enlisted personnel leaving the military each year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 10.5 percent last year. Enlisted losses -- including people whose enlistments had expired -- increased from 118,206 in 2002 to more than 137,465 last year, while officer losses have increased from 5,619 in 2002 to more than 7,500 last year. [continues 911 words]
Drug use, weight problems and parenthood have been taking their toll on the military in the past three years, since the war on terror began, according to newly released Pentagon data. Documents released to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act indicate the number of enlisted personnel leaving the military each year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 10.5 percent last year. Enlisted losses - including people whose enlistments had expired - increased from 118,206 in 2002 to more than 137,465 last year, while officer losses have increased from 5,619 in 2002 to more than 7,500 last year. [continues 911 words]
Proponent Fights To Help Patients SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- What do you do when you sue U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and win? Fifty-one-year-old Valerie Corral, a 5-foot tall great-granddaughter of Italian immigrants, throws back her head laughing, her hands reaching to the clouds, hips wiggling, feet stomping. "It's my happy dance!" she says, throwing her arms around her husband, Mike. She has also planted an acre of marijuana. The decision that lets the crop remain is just one round in a long legal battle. [continues 322 words]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- What do you do when you sue U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and win? Fifty-one-year-old Valerie Corral, a sinewy 5-foot-tall great-granddaughter of Italian immigrants, throws back her head, laughing, her hands reaching to the clouds, hips wiggling, feet stomping. "It's my happy dance!" she says, throwing her arms around her husband, Mike. She has also planted an acre of marijuana. The decision that lets the crop remain is just one round in a long legal battle. [continues 1104 words]
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger is arriving in Sacramento with hopes of getting along better with one of California's recent enemies: the Bush administration. California has staged epic battles with the federal government on issues including environmental protection, energy, health care, consumer protections, immigration and medical marijuana. Schwarzenegger has promised to continue some of these efforts - - an ongoing lawsuit, for example, that would allow California to set tougher anti-smog standards for carbon dioxide emissions than the federal government requires. But during his first news conference as governor-elect, the moderate Republican indicated he's willing to reach some compromises with the more conservative President Bush, who plans to campaign with Schwarzenegger in California next week. [continues 693 words]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The city and county of Santa Cruz has sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Administration, demanding that federal agents stay away from a farm that grows marijuana for sick and dying people. "This is an opportunity for us to stand behind the people in our community who are the most needy," said Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly. "This is what we do well in Santa Cruz." The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, comes in response to a DEA raid last September at a small pot farm located on a quiet coastal road about 15 miles north of town. Agents uprooted about 165 plants and arrested the owners, Valerie and Michael Corral. [continues 552 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- The city and county of Santa Cruz has sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Administration, demanding that federal agents stay away from a farm that grows marijuana for sick and dying people. "This is an opportunity for us to stand behind the people in our community who are the most needy," said Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly. "This is what we do well in Santa Cruz." The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, comes in response to a DEA raid last September at a small pot farm located on a quiet coastal road about 15 miles north of town. Agents uprooted about 165 plants and arrested the owners, Valerie and Michael Corral. [continues 305 words]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- The city and county of Santa Cruz has sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Drug Enforcement Administration, demanding that federal agents stay away from a farm that grows marijuana for sick and dying people. "This is an opportunity for us to stand behind the people in our community who are the most needy," said Santa Cruz Mayor Emily Reilly. "This is what we do well in Santa Cruz." The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose, comes in response to a DEA raid last September at a small pot farm located on a quiet coastal road about 15 miles north of town. Agents uprooted about 165 plants and arrested the owners, Valerie and Michael Corral. [continues 552 words]
Election Day Defeats Spur Group Initative ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Stung by the defeat of marijuana law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles. Voters on Tuesday defeated a Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana, an Arizona initiative that would have likened pot possession to a traffic violation, and a South Dakota initiative that would legalize hemp farms. Several local measures did pass, including resolutions in 19 Massachusetts districts asking state representative to support making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. [continues 344 words]
Anaheim, Calif -- Stung by the defeat of marijuana-law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles. Voters on Tuesday defeated: . A Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana; . An Arizona initiative that would have likened pot possession to a traffic violation; . A South Dakota initiative that would legalize hemp farms. Some local measures did pass, including resolutions in 19 Massachusetts districts asking state representatives to support making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. [continues 332 words]
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Stung by the defeat of marijuana law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles. Voters on Tuesday defeated a Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana, an Arizona initiative that would have likened pot possession to a traffic violation and a South Dakota initiative that would legalize hemp farms. Several local measures did pass, including resolutions in 19 Massachusetts districts asking state representatives to support making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. [continues 313 words]
San Francisco Plan Takes the Forefront ANAHEIM, Calif. - Stung by the defeat of marijuana law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles. Voters on Tuesday defeated a Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana, an Arizona initiative that would have likened marijuana possession to a traffic violation, and a South Dakota initiative that would legalize hemp farms. Several local measures did pass, including resolutions in 19 Massachusetts districts asking the state representative to support making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. But the "crown jewel" of marijuana reform laws was passed in San Francisco, authorizing the city to make it official policy to explore the establishment of a medical marijuana growing and distribution program, said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. [continues 505 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Calling Santa Cruz a "sanctuary" from federal authorities, medical marijuana advocates -- joined by city leaders -- passed out pot to about a dozen sick and dying people Tuesday at City Hall. "Santa Cruz is a special place, and today we're letting the world know how compassionate we can be," said Mayor Christopher Krohn. "We're taking a stand." More than 1,000 community members jammed into the garden-like courtyard for a supportive demonstration during the giveaway. Several people in the crowd lit marijuana cigarettes, but it was mostly an alcohol- and drug-free gathering, which was what organizers requested. [continues 519 words]
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Calling Santa Cruz a sanctuary from federal authorities, medical marijuana advocates - joined by city leaders - passed out pot to about a dozen sick people at City Hall. "Santa Cruz is a special place, and today we're letting the world know how compassionate we can be," Mayor Christopher Krohn said. "We're taking a stand." More than 1,000 community members jammed into the garden-like courtyard for a supportive demonstration during the giveaway. Some held signs reading, "DEA Go Away" and "U.S. Out Of Santa Cruz." [continues 228 words]
DEA Raid On Medical Marijuana Farm Stokes Plan For Pot Giveaway At City Hall SANTA CRUZ -( AP )- City leaders plan to join medical marijuana users at a pot giveaway at City Hall next week. Their goal is to send a message to federal authorities that, in this town, medical marijuana is welcome. The invitation comes one week after agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency arrested the high-profile owners of a pot farm and confiscated 130 plants that had been grown to be used as medicine. [continues 476 words]
