Drug war bytes

I'm losing steam here and think another early night is in order, so let me just post a few quick links to news of interest.

Hat tip to Vig for this excellent column on our criminal injustice system.

Vig also sends news of discontent in South America over Colombia's fumigation of coca crops. Ecuador's new president considers the activity on his border to be hostile and is trying to organize the other countries into demanding the eradication program be ended. Good luck with that though, when Uribe is receiving millions in US Aid to conduct the program. You can sure a lot of money isn't going into eradication anyway.

I meant to post this one earlier. When I started this blog, my intent was to work for marijuana legalization only but as I learned more, I realized that even "bad" drugs should be legalized so stuff like this wouldn't happen. If we gave the stuff out for free in regulated clinics, it would cost a lot less money, we could offer addiction treatment at the same time, and half-crazed meth heads wouldn't be wandering around stealing dangerous chemicals.

And here's another disturbing chapter in the violation of student's privacy rights. This sounds like my mother.

Two University of Massachusetts police officers sniffed the air as they walked the seventh-floor corridor of Washington Hall, a 22-story dormitory. As the smell of freshly-burned marijuana thickened, the officers stopped at individual doors, nearly pressing their noses to the cracks.

Mom was a big sniffer. It started with cigarettes and progessed to pot back when I was a teenager. It used to piss me off then and I don't doubt the students feel the same. The worst part is that there is lot of violent crime on that campus - rapes and robberies and drunken brawls. The police clearly have better things to do instead of roaming the dorms harassing harmless pot tokers who probably won't leave their room. [hat tip Jules Siegel]

And finally, vote for your favorite marijuana radio ad here.