Drug War Chronicles; online news and reform activism
For people who like to get their news online, I'd like to introduce the Drug War Chronicle, stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle, and the group that publishes it, DRCNet, the Drug Reform Coordination Network at stopthedrugwar.org.
DRCNet's mission is broader than that of Oaksterdam News in that it
wants to end the failed policy of drug prohibition and replace it with
a policy of regulating and controlling drug sales and use.
We don't mean just marijuana, either. We believe law enforcement efforts to stop methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine use generate significant harms not only to drug users, but to all of us. While drug use may be unwise or harmful to the individual, we see no useful purpose in increasing the overall harm through this prohibition that has helped turned the land of the free into the world's leading jailer.
Our primary tactic is to go after the damage done by prohibition. One way we do this is through our various campaigns.
We have led the fight to repeal the Higher Education Act's anti-drug provision,
We have led the fight to repeal the Higher Education Act's anti-drug provision, 
which keeps students with even the most trivial drug conviction, like possession of a pot pipe, from being able to get student loans. DRCNet is the guiding force behind raiseyourvoice.com, the Campaign for HEA Repeal, which achieved a drug reform victory on Capitol Hill when, in the face of rising opposition, the arch-drug warrior Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), the bill's sponsor, moved to “fix” it by limiting the aid ban to students busted while in school. It's a good start, but DRCNet is still working to repeal it entirely.
In addition to working to repeal the student aid ban, we've been working to reduce its harmful impact by creating the John W. Perry Fund (raiseyourvoice.com/ perryfund), a scholarship program named after New York City police officer, libertarian and ACLU member John Perry, who lost his life trying to save others the day planes struck the WTC towers. Thanks to generous donors and the support of politicians like Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA), who have hosted fundraisers, the Perry Fund has managed to put dozens of students back in school
the Perry Fund has managed to put dozens of students back in school
- and we think that's a very good thing.
DRCNet has done groundbreaking work on racial profiling, and it hosts the Drug Library, the world's largest online library on drug policy.
DRCNet is also active internationally. We helped organize in 2003 the first hemispheric anti-prohibitionist conference in Merida, Mexico, bringing activists from the US, Canada, and Europe face-to-face with Andean coca growers' unions, Argentine and Brazilian harm reductionists, Mexican drug reformers and elected officials from Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia.
From that conference was born REFORMA, the first Latin American anti-prohibitionist umbrella organization. Last fall, we reported on the first REFORMA conference held at the Argentine Senate in Buenos Aires. Later this year, I go to Peru and Bolivia to build more bridges and report on events down there.
Which brings us to the Drug War Chronicle. Published and sent to your email address each Friday (subscription is free), the Chronicle is the country's oldest online drug policy news source and has published more than 450 issues. It is widely read, not just by activists and concerned citizens, but by journalists, politicians, and policymakers. Each week, we publish three or four feature stories with in-depth reporting and interviews, and five to seven shorter drug policy pieces generally taken from the wires or other news services. A consistent favorite with readers is “This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories,” where we simply list the cops arrested, convicted, and sentenced on drug war corruption charges each week.
A consistent favorite with readers is “This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories,” where we simply list the cops arrested, convicted, and sentenced on drug war corruption charges each week.
Sadly, there is never a shortage of material for this feature. While DRCNet's position on drug legalization informs our perspective, we try to save the editorializing for the editorials.
Although our beat is the global drug war and our goal is to end drug prohibition in general, marijuana naturally enough is a major focus. For instance, one week two of our three feature stories were cannabis-related. One covered the medical marijuana muddle in California amid San Diego's dispensary raids and shut-downs. A second covered the raid on Holy Smoke, a Nelson BC, Canada, head shop whose owners police accuse of allowing marijuana to be sold, not merely smoked, on the premises. The cannabis culture in interior BC is mobilizing mass protests.
Our third feature story that week, had nothing to do with marijuana. That story was about the latest efforts in Congress to undo the horribly harsh and racially-biased disparity in federal sentencing for crack vs. powder cocaine offenders. Currently, it takes a mere five grams of crack to earn a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence, while it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to merit the same punishment.
Now is a good time to check us out. Our web site is undergoing a major face-lift as we launch The Speakeasy, our forthcoming addition to the narco-blogosphere, and we invite everyone to come by. stopthedrugwar.org
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Volume 2 
The Men's Wearhouse George Zimmer
