http://www.csdp.org/ Common Sense for Drug Policy's Director of Research, Doug McVay, comments on the top story of the week. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:30:00 -0500 en-us Copyright 2007 Doug McVay dmcvay@csdp.org 60 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_012908_crack.mp3 Attorney General Michael Mukasey really cares about your safety. That at least he claims is the reason he is attacking recent Congressionally authorized changes in the federal sentencing guidelines. The US Sentencing Commission's recommendations to begin redressing the crack/powder cocaine disparity were allowed to go into effect at the end of last year, and according to the Los Angeles Times prisoners will be able to start applying for the sentence reductions beginning in March. Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:35:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_012308_canada.mp3 Loyal listeners know that our nation's drug czar, ONDCP director John Walters, lies. He lies frequently. He lies badly. Our drug czar says methamphetamine-laced ecstasy has been flowing over the border from Canada into the US for the past several months. Superintendent Paul Nadeau of the RCMP says the Czar Walters is wrong. Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_011608_caliprison.mp3 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: I'll be back ... ing away from my promises. Governator announces plans to release 22,000-plus inmates to save money and ease prison overcrowding. Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_010908_cannabis.mp3 Traditional law enforcement approaches don't work for controlling cannabis. Most of our listeners already know this. One would think that more than seventy years of experience would be proof enough. Now comes more evidence from a team of researchers at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at King's College London, England. Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_123101_fightcrime.mp3 Here's a story about a law enforcement organization working to really prevent crime and make the world a better place by lobbying for improved social services directed at youth and parents. Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_121807_youthfunds.mp3 Doug is back, rested and ready to rabble-rouse. This week, we focus on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The magazine Youth Today reports that this Justice Department agency is funneling millions of dollars in grant money to ill-conceived and low-rated programs personally favored by the agency's administrator. Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_112707_hrjresearch.mp3 Yet more evidence that cannabis is good medicine. Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_112007_afghan.mp3 The UNODC reports that Afghanistan produced 8,200 metric tonnes of opium in 2007. They estimate that the farm-gate value of the opium crop -- that's money which the farmers actually receive -- was one billion dollars. The export value was an estimated four billion dollars. Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_111307_cannabisyouth.mp3 Research published in the journal Archive of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows that young people who use cannabis only do better than those who use cannabis and tobacco, and do as well or better in some respects than abstainers. Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_110607_powders.mp3 American guns and Mexican drugs Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_103007_needles.mp3 Needle exchanges are in operation around the world. Several countries in the developed world have also opened sanitary consumption facilities, or what are sometimes called supervised injection sites. Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:00:00 -0400 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_102307_treatment.mp3 The Government Accountability Office released a report on residential substance abuse treatment programs. The GAO found "thousands of allegations of abuse, some of which involved death, at residential treatment programs across the country and in American-owned and American-operated facilities abroad." They noted that "during 2005 alone, 33 states reported 1,619 staff members involved in incidents of abuse in residential programs." The report also details the deaths of ten teenagers enrolled in such programs. Mon, 22 Oct 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_100907_marijuana.mp3 A report by researcher and former NORML director Jon Gettman found that state and local governments could have made more than eleven billion dollars on legal cannabis in one year. The potential take for the federal government: more than nineteen billion dollars. Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_100207_africa.mp3 The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announces this week -- again -- that there are indications that some cities in the US may be experiencing temporary fluctuations in the cocaine market. As we reported recently, the cocaine markets in Europe and Africa have grown tremendously over the past few years. The traffickers have simply redirected some of their excess production toward a new, rapidly-expanding market in Europe. Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_092807_ucr.mp3 The FBI released its Uniform Crime Report for 2006 recently. According to the feds, we are seeing an uptick in violent crime nationally. An examination of arrest and clearance data reveals some disturbing facts. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_092107_cocaine.mp3 According to some reports cocaine may be less available in some parts of the US than in previous years. The feds certainly wish this was down to law enforcement, a more likely explanation is that other non-US markets are expanding. Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_091407_numbers.mp3 The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. nsDUH is the survey formerly known as the Household Survey. I was looking over the data and a few things leapt out at me.... Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_090707_drugterror.mp3 How the drug war promotes terrorism. Thu, 6 Sep 2007 17:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_083107_afghanistan.mp3 The UN Office on Drugs and Crime released its Afghan Opium Survey 2007 this week. The increase in heroin production is alarming. Stockpiles could easily carry that country's opium lords through one or two years of significantly reduced production, with poor peasant farmers getting the short end of the stick yet again. Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_081007_afghanistan.mp3 The US announced yet another new plan to take out drug crops in Afghanistan as news leaked that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime will announce next month that opium production in that country has reached yet another record high. Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_080307_injustice.mp3 The US INJustice Department and the contrast between its handling of medical cannabis dispensaries and its handling of large pharmaceutical companies. Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_072007_brownpot.mp3 Newly-appointed UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement of a review of the classification of cannabis seems to have backfired. Since the time of the recording three more members of Brown's cabinet have admitted to having been marijuana users in the past, bringing the total to ten so far. Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_070607_mexico.mp3 Mexico takes (sideways and backward) steps in drug war Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_062907_undrug.mp3 UN Office on Drugs and Crime issues its 2007 world drug report Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_061507_cocaine.mp3 UN Estimate of Andean Cocaine Production Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:15:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_052507_pinkmeth.mp3 The myth of strawberry meth Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:15:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_051807_colomex.mp3 Colombia and Mexico Thu, 14 May 2007 16:15:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_050407_walters.mp3 Drug Czar John Walters and the cocaine market Wed, 03 May 2007 11:45:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_042707_bolivia.mp3 US estimates of Bolivian cocaine production Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_042007_ukdpc.mp3.mp3 The UK's new Drug Policy Commission released its report on the failure of traditional approaches Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_041307_dareday.mp3.mp3 DARE remembered Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:00:00 -0500 http://www.csdp.org/audio/DTN_mcvay_040607_alcohol.mp3 Alcohol Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:00:00 -0500