Drugs

America’s drug laws are wicked. So too are the scandalous conditions inside American prisons. And sometimes the people running those prisons are crueler than you might think possible. Radley Balko has the details of what is, alas, just another outrage.

If you only read one article this weekend, might I suggest you make it Ben Wallace-Wells long and brilliant Rolling Stone piece on the multiple – if well-intentioned – idiocies and failures of the War on Drugs. Since it’s been running since the Nixon administration you might think that it’s time for a fresh approach. Wallace-Wells concludes on a hopeful note: there are grass roots signs of a shift in attitudes amongst police departments across America and there are some signs that Democrats and some Republicans are learning from the War’s manifest $50bn a year failure. On the other hand, Washington is sufficiently thrilled with the success of Plan Colombia

Dispatches from the Drug Wars: Agents with a regional drug task force raided Leonard French’s home in southeastern New Mexico on Tuesday and seized several marijuana plants. But the wheelchair-bound man said he’s certified by the state Health Department to possess and smoke marijuana for medical reasons. The 44-year-old lost the use of his legs about 20 years ago as the result of a motorcycle crash and now suffers from chronic pain and muscle spasms. French allowed the agents into his home in Malaga, just north of the New Mexico-Texas border, because he said he believed he was doing nothing wrong. He had worked with his doctor and the state

If you only read one thing today, read this. Then weep. Of course, don’t expect this sort of thing to be addressed by any of the Presidential candidates (with the possible exception of Ron Paul I suppose).