Technocrats of the Drug War

The Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (W/B HIDTA) was named the 2012 HIDTA of the Year by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. The January announcement was made by the University of Maryland’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences where the W/B HIDTA is housed. The little noted award ceremony, honoring a […]

Is chocolate the real gateway drug?

You’ve probably heard about the term “gateway drug.” Generally, the theory posits, a gateway drug is the first drug a person takes that then leads them on the way to “harsher” drugs and ultimately leads the way to addiction. Recently, a report was published in the Journal of School Health concluding that alcohol is the new gateway drug, displacing marijuana from this infamous label.

Gangsters

On Tuesday in New York the U.S. Department of Justice announced its settlement of charges against the multinational bank HSBC for, among other things, laundering $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds. Hundreds of millions of dollars from drug buyers and sellers in the United States was the fuel for an elaborate international scheme that connected […]

The failed war on drugs

Editor’s note: Following National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, we’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the war on drugs. *** “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein I have worked for over 30 years in […]

The war on drugs

Editor’s note: This September, Audacious Ideas features a special month-long series in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. We’ve asked several individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the failed war on drugs. Franklin Dyson is the second in our series. *** “The crisis that’s killing our city” is how […]

New public attitudes and policies

Editor’s note: This September, Audacious Ideas features a special month-long series in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. We’ve asked four individuals to share their ideas about addiction issues and the failed war on drugs. Pat Taylor is the first in our series. *** On Saturday September 12, over 70,000 Americans Rallied […]

Stopping the war on drugs

More than two decades ago, the rush to enact federal mandatory minimum drug sentences was driven in part by the drug-related death of University of Maryland student Len Bias who had been a first round NBA draft pick of the Boston Celtics and was thought to have died from an overdose of crack cocaine. At […]