Blog Archives

Drug-related violence in Mexico escalated beginning the 2007 when former president Felipe Calderon declared war on drug cartels. While corruption and an ineffective justice system frustrate attempts to control the violence, the fact remains that it is the illegal drug markets in every corner of the United States that fuel the violence. Action by Mexican […]

In the legalization debate, law enforcement leaders speak with heightened credibility. Thus, it is extremely satisfying to see police leaders like Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell coming out in support of marijuana legalization. Whitesell stated “It’s here, it’s going to stay, there’s an awful lot of victimization that goes with it. If it were […]

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, in Fairfield, Ohio, an upper middle class suburb of Cincinnati, nineteen-year-old Julien Slaven was murdered in what police referred to as a “drug deal gone bad.” Four people are under arrest in the incident, two of whom are young women with no criminal history. In my experience, home invasion robberies […]

Forty years after Richard Nixon declared War on Drugs, Americans are looking for real change. The action by voters in Washington State and Colorado together with a variety of other initiatives across the country demonstrate that the public is ready for a real dialogue on drug abuse issues. This blog will focus on that discussion. […]