Afghan Route to Prosperity: Grow Poppies

Amy Waldman, New York Times

. . . Across Afghanistan, opium cultivation is surging, defying all
efforts of the Afghan government and international officials to stop
it. Officials are predicting that land under poppy cultivation will
rise by 30 percent or more this year, possibly yielding a record
crop. Last year the country produced almost 4,000 tons —
three-fourths of the world's opium - in 28 of its 32 provinces. The
trade generated $1 billion for farmers and $1.3 billion for
traffickers, according to the United Nations, more than half of
Afghanistan's national income. . . .

"New Kinds of Drug Tests Weighed for Federal Workers

Bush Administration Considers Sampling Hair, Saliva, Sweat"

Christopher Lee, Washington Post

Federal workers who submit to drug screening soon may have their saliva,
sweat or hair tested as the Bush administration increases efforts to deter
and detect illegal drug use among 1.6 million civilian employees.

Officials have relied on urine samples alone in the federal government's
nearly two-decade-old drug-testing program, begun in 1986 when President
Ronald Reagan issued an executive order declaring that the federal
workplace be drug-free. Bush administration officials want to give
agencies the option of using the alternative tests to catch drug use that
urine tests may miss because of masking agents or because an employee took
the drugs weeks earlier.

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"U.S. Appeals Court OKs Some Medical Pot"

David Kravets, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- An appeals court ruled Tuesday that a federal law outlawing
marijuana does not apply to sick people who are allowed to smoke pot with a
doctor's recommendation.

An anonymous coward writes:

"Drug War Chronicle #308"
October 24, 2003

1. Bolivians Deal Blow to US Andean Drug Policy

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/bolivia.sh tml

2. University of Virginia Drug Bust Draws Complaints, Disbelief

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/jade.shtml

3. Seattle's Sensible Marijuana Initiative Idea Catches On --

        Eugene Next?

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/sensiblela ne.shtml

4. DRCNet Interview: Robert Rapplean of Parents and Educators

        for the Reform of Drug Laws

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/perdl.shtm l

5. Press Release: Pain Coalition Seeks Relief Through Chronic

        Pain Treatment Act

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/painrally. shtml

6. Newsbrief: Hawaii to Prosecute Mother in Meth Baby Case

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/methbaby.s html

7. Newsbrief: Urine Sales Case Before South Carolina Supreme

        Court

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/curtis.sht ml

8. Newsbrief: What Racist Drug War? Ask Maryland

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/maryland.s html

9. Newsbrief: Latest Gallup Poll Finds Public Believes Drugs a

        Serious Problem But Not the Most Serious

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/gallup.sht ml

10. Newsbrief: Glacial Movement on Ganja Decrim in Jamaica

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/jamaica.sh tml

11. Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/riverside. shtml

12. Newsbrief: Canada to Look at Subsidized Housing for Junkies

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/housing.sh tml

13. Perry Fund Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005

        School Years, Providing Scholarships for Students Losing Aid

        Because of Drug Convictions

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/perryfund. shtml

14. The Reformer's Calendar

        http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/308/calendar.s html