Topic: War on Drugs

Chart of the Day

Spending Money on the Drug War Really Isn't Lowering Drug Use

Matt Groff

Matt Groff's chart arguing the war on drugs isn't working got a lot of flack for methodology. Well, he took it to heart and is back with an updated version with adjusted methodology—and the new chart says even when looking at data based on population, increased spending does not curb usage.

By Serena Dai

Oct 12, 2012

Chart of the Day

A Chart That Says the War on Drugs Isn't Working

The controversial war on drugs not only costs a lot, it has done almost nothing to curb the drug addiction rate since 1970, according to this stunning chart by documentary filmmaker Matt Groff comparing the cost of drug control to the drug addiction rate.

Comments | 49,135 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Oct 8, 2012

'Commander Squirrel' Is a Horrible Name for a Drug Lord

On Monday, the Mexican navy announced the capture of a suspected Zetas cartel leader who has his fingerprints on everything from jail breaks to the murder of American jet-skier David Hartley in 2010.

Comments | 2,837 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Sep 27, 2012

Mexico Nabs Another Big Drug Cartel Leader

Mexican police announced they've arrested one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the nation, the second major bust of a cartel leader this month.

Comments | 759 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

May 2, 2012

DEA Agents Abandoned a College Student in a Jail Cell for Five Days

A student at UC San Diego was rounded up in a drug bust then left in a DEA holding cell for five days without food or water, after officials apparently forgot he was in there.

Comments | 10,173 Views

By Adam Martin

Dec 21, 2011

Reagan's War on Drugs Reduced Crime in an Unexpected Way

As the FBI released its national crime statistics for the first half of 2011 on Monday, showing violent crime and property crime down across the board, a group of sociologists at City University of New York floated a theory for the ongoing crime reduction in New York that they extrapolated nationally: Crime is falling because drugs are getting cheaper.

Comments | 17,314 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 22, 2011

The Pentagon's $4 Billion Mercenary Unit for Fighting the Drug War

The Defense Department's Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office (CNTPO) just closed its latest request for proposals, and some of the world's top private security contractors are in the running to win a vaguely worded contract for "training services support." 

Comments | 3,327 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Nov 22, 2011

Who Was Flying the Mysterious, Drug-Filled Ghost Plane Found in Texas?

A small plane skidded off a runway at an airport near Houston last night, but when police arrived on the scene to conduct a rescue they found a damaged aircraft filled with marijuana and no pilot.

Comments | 3,794 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Oct 6, 2011

Feds Are Giving California Pot Dispensaries 45 Days to Shut Down

At least 16 medical marijuana shops have received letters from U.S. Attorneys

Comments | 10,398 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Aug 31, 2011

Former U.S. Marshal Says Suburban Drug Busts Were Verboten

Says the war on drugs is "a virtual race war"

Comments | 3,958 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Aug 17, 2011

Hunter S. Thompson's Preferred Breakfast: Eggs, Sausage, Cocaine

"Anybody with a terminally jangled lifestyle needs at least one psychic anchor every 24 hours"

Comments | 14,963 Views

By Ujala Sehgal

Jun 19, 2011

Five Best Sunday Columns

On FBI investigations, drug cartels, and Father's Day for sperm donors

Comments | 1,897 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jun 14, 2011

Mexico's Tales of Bus Passengers Forced to Fight to the Death

Violence in the Mexican drug wars is said to have reached new extremes

Comments | 12,109 Views

By Ujala Sehgal

Jun 11, 2011

Five Best Saturday Columns

On Facebook's face problem, NATO's free-riders, and the war on drugs

Comments | 819 Views

By Caitlin Dickson

Jun 6, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

On Jack Kevorkian, antibiotic abuse, and American jobs versus Chinese copyright

Comments | 1,791 Views

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