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Global Commission on Drug Policy: Legalization, decriminalization, and the war on drugs
A commission made up of some big names, though not really any names of addiction or drug researchers I noticed, just released a report that’s making a lot of noise throughout every news channel including NPR (see here, and here for stories) and others (see CNN). They want the debate about the current state of…
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Addiction Treatment Admissions in the United States: Everyone, meet TEDS
Dirk Hanson What a difference a decade makes. Between 1998 and 2008, addiction treatment admissions in the U.S. increased markedly for methamphetamine (crystal meth), prescription opiates, and marijuana. Treatment admissions for alcohol and cocaine declined over the same period, while heroin admissions remained roughly the same. The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), which the Substance…
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Should all drugs be decriminalized? A UK debate
Bob Ainsworth, a senior UK politician, calls for a policy of decriminalizing all drugs to replace the failing War on Drugs. What might a system of decriminalization look like and could decriminalization better place us to meet public health and crime targets than under the current system of prohibition?
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Proposition 19 defeated – The false hope of change with young support for Prop 19
Well, no matter the hope for some before November 2nd, voters in California chose not to pass Prop 19 – the legislation that would have made that State the first in the Union to explicitly legalize the sale of marijuana within its borders. I’ve already said that I support the drug’s decriminalization, and I would…
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Proposition 19 – Marijuana legalization or nothing? The business of weed
On November 2nd, California voters will be asked to determine whether they’d like to change the legal status of marijuana, and for the first time ever, advocates of legalization may actually accomplish their goals. There are a number of reasons why a well-intentioned voter would choose legalization, from the potential billions of dollars in tax…
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Drug legalization – For, against, and in between options
A recent assembly bill in California is the latest legal proposal that the state begin to regulate, and collect taxes, on marijuana. This is one of the first bills for drug legalization we’ve had in a while. Most of my readers probably assume that I believe drugs have no place in our society, but this…
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Crystal meth and cocaine, Agassi and Gasquet- The reality of drug use in our society.
After Andre Agassi’s recent confessions in a tell-tale book about his use of crystal meth during his playing days, Richard Gasquet, who recently made it to the Wimbledon semifinals has just tested positive for cocaine. He says he was contaminated with the drug when he kissed a woman who was using it. Right. Unless the…
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About addiction: Prescription overdose, legalization, methadone, and the brain.
Here are this week’s must reads posts about addiction. Don’t forget to click the title for our related posts! From the other allaboutaddiction (.net) – Overdose deaths due to prescription medication From Addiction Inbox – The economics of drug legalization From Addiction Tomorrow – A great balanced post about methadone From Physorg – The neurological…
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About addiction: Bankers, courts, Obama, and painkillers
Hey everyone, here’s another roundup of some good links about addiction from around the globe – Addiction today – U.S. bankers seek treatment Breaking the cycles – Offender sentencing that makes sense Addiction tomorrow – Obama says NO to legalization Physorg – FDA cracks down on unapproved narcotic painkillers Don’t forget to look at our…