How Some States Are Planning to Compensate the Communities Most Devastated by the War on Drugs
Across the country, there's a growing movement for economic empowerment through legalization.
War on Drugs
How Can U.S. Policymakers Fix the Broken Criminal Justice System?
A criminal justice expert weighs in on a recent report to the United Nations outlining systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.
How America's War on Opioids Underscores the Racial Legacy of the Crack Epidemic
It seems compassion is an effective drug deterrent. Too bad there wasn't any during the crack epidemic.
An Interview With a Former Inmate
As the United States Justice Department plans to release about 6,000 non-violent drug offenders from federal prison, we talk with a researcher and former inmate about what should happen next.
The Criminal Justice Conflict
The current push for bipartisan criminal justice reform is missing the mark with its single-minded focus on non-violent offenders.
The Children of the Prison Boom
Some argue that taking parents who have committed a crime out of the family might be good for children, but the data is in. It’s not.
The Drug Lord With a Social Mission
Matt Bowden (sometimes known as Starboy, an "interdimensional traveler") helped create one of the most viral outbreaks of new drugs in history. He might also have the antidote.
This Is (Finally) the Beginning of the End of the War on Drugs
With the advent of marijuana legalization, alternatives to incarceration, harm reduction as treatment, and other rational approaches to addiction, 2014 could be an unprecedented turning point.
Reducing Crime With Limited Legalization
Expanding on the Situational Crime Prevention theory that making crimes harder or less appealing to commit will make them less likely to occur, two criminologists make the case for "providing opportunities" for would-be criminals to commit their acts legally and safely.
Should a Drug Conviction Mean a Lifetime Ban on Food Stamps?
A new report from The Sentencing Project assesses the damage of a Clinton-era policy.
Drug Courts Are the Answer: Save Money and Reduce Prison Populations
Eric Holder’s plan to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders is met with praise, and supported by the facts.
Is Obama Delivering on His Promise of a ‘21st Century’ Approach to Drugs?
As Obama and the U.S. drug czar roll out their 2013 plan, here’s a look at what’s in it, and what they’ve done so far.
California's Medical Marijuana Morass
In Northern California, where the drug laws can change with the mile markers, a supplier of medical marijuana risks going one toke over the (county) line.
U.S. Crackdown Highlights Mixed-Up World of Medical Marijuana
A federal effort to shut down state-legalized marijuana dispensaries in California is the latest example of the topsy-turvy habitat that growers, users and cops live in with medical marijuana.
War on Drugs Remains at Stalemate After 40 Years
Pretty much everyone agrees the war on drugs is a failure. So why don’t we try a different approach?
Fighting Drug War Creates Drug War
When the United States starts talking about illicit drugs, why does the word "war" always makes its way into the conversation?
Budget Idea: Divert Money From Prisons to Schools
With a quarter of the world's prisoners in American lockups, an unlikely coalition ranging from the NAACP to Americans for Tax Reform wonders if we might be smarter to divert some of that prison money to schools.
Is a Dip in Cocaine Use a War on Drugs Victory?
Washington remains optimistic about the war on drugs based on dips in the importation of cocaine. But even the “good news” derived from comparisons with Europe is distressing.
Drug Courts Reduce Recidivism and Save Tax Dollars
Drug courts can help ease the U.S. prison population and usher America into the civilized world when it comes to prosecuting drug-use offenses.
Portugal Benefits by Treating Drug Abuse as Medical, Not Legal, Issue
Portugal’s example suggests that de-escalating the war on drugs might create a new sort of peace dividend.
'Shooting Galleries' Take Aim at Illicit Drug Market
The idea that governments can reduce both addiction and street crime — and maybe bleed black markets dry — by managing drug distribution has gained momentum.
Afghan Heroin May Spark Russian Version of War on Drugs
European governments have taken two divergent paths in dealing with the resurrected flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, legalization and an American-style war on drugs.
The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part II
Beyond the human carnage of Mexico's drug conflict, another innocent bystander — the environment — has long been a victim.