For those keeping track at home: “The [Seattle] police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a ‘Lord of the Rings’ marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to.”
War on Drugs
The economist looks at how legalization of marijuana will impact the bottom line of the cartels: As a result, it estimates that Mexico’s traffickers would lose about $1.4 billion of their $2 billion revenues from marijuana. The effect on some groups would be severe: the Sinaloa “cartel” would lose up to half its total income, [...]
The War on Drugs is futile because although killing drug kingpins makes headlines it does little to actually, you know, curb drug use or violence. Best to just end it now and figure out a new approach to the whole problem. Now, some authorities want to use network analysis to disrupt the cartels by discovering [...]
If you thought my love affair with VICE Magazine was over, think again. Here’s another round of captivating stories by them: How to Sell Drugs “Ever wonder how to sell $100,000 worth of drugs in a week? We learned the secrets of the biggest drug dealer in NYC – a man who will deliver any [...]
The US federal government spent more than $120 million prosecuting Roger Clemens. Because, you know, we need to be concerned with budget deficits and all that. Glad they were able to get that conviction too. Meanwhile, the top DEA administrator was asked a straightforward question: Is heroin worse for someone’s health than marijuana? Her answer, after dodging [...]
The New York Times has a fascinating look at the business lessons from the CEO of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. And by the way, the cartel “might be the most successful criminal enterprise in history” based on “its longevity, profitability and scope.”
From The Atlantic’s In Focus photo blog: “Since Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón began an all-out assault on drug cartels in 2006, more than 50,000 people have lost their lives across the country in a nearly-continuous string of shootouts, bombings, and ever-bloodier murders. Just last weekend, 49 decapitated bodies were reportedly discovered on a highway in [...]
This past Saturday, El Salvador broke its DiMaggio-esque murder streak in what turned out to be the first murder-free day in nearly three years for the Central American country plagued by violent drug gangs. While it’s tempting to say “no big deal” because El Salvador is a country and how many countries go an entire [...]
On the one hand, DEA agents helping Mexican drug traffickers and Colombian drug suppliers launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds sounds pretty bad. The Mexican magazine Emeequis published portions of documents that describe how Drug Enforcement Administration agents, a Colombian trafficker-turned-informant and Mexican federal police officers in 2007 infiltrated the Beltran Leyva drug cartel [...]
President Obama has changed federal policy and will no longer arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers if they comply with state laws
