Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director

TABLE OF CONTENTS

	less of this next year, says Congress

1. APPEAL: DRCNET HAS MADE AMAZING PROGRESS IN 2007 AND WE NEED YOUR HELP FOR 2008
   An outline of DRCNet's plans and recent accomplishments and an appeal for your support to make it all happen.
2. FEDERAL BUDGET: DRUG CZAR'S AD CAMPAIGN TAKES A HIT, DC CAN DO NEEDLE EXCHANGE, BUT MORE FUNDING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
   The 2008 federal budget is a done deal now. The drug czar's youth anti-drug media campaign takes a well-deserved hit and DC wins the right to spend its own money on needle exchanges. But the drug war juggernaut just keeps rolling on along as law enforcement wins big bucks.
3. DRUG WAR CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: "SNITCH: INFORMANTS, COOPERATORS, AND THE CORRUPTION OF JUSTICE," BY ETHAN BROWN (2007, PUBLIC AFFAIRS PRESS, 273 PP., $25.95 HB)
   Author Ethan Brown examines the rhyme and reason of the controversial "stop snitching" movement, and the abuses in drug law and enforcement that caused it to come to be.
4. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @ THE SPEAKEASY
   "Drug Dealers Open Fire on Santa Claus Helicopter," "Candy Flavored Meth is Safer Than Regular Meth," "Congress Just Says No to Anti-Drug Propaganda," "If You Oppose Harm Reduction, You Support AIDS and Death," "Dutch Police Insist on Smoking Marijuana Off-Duty."
5. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
   Apply for an internship at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
   Busy, busy this week, with miscreants in blue popping up all over the place. A New York City drug squad is under scrutiny, while a New Mexico drug squad gets back to work, a Boston cop goes to prison, and cops from Florida, Ohio, and Minnesota get busted for their shenanigans, as do a pair of Texas jailers.
7. LAW ENFORCEMENT: CHICAGO'S COURTS ARE IN CRISIS, AND THE DRUG WAR IS A BIG CONTRIBUTOR, REPORT FINDS
   Chicago's 26th Street Criminal Court Building handles more than 28,000 felony cases a year, more than half of them drug cases. That's too much, says a new report, which offers some recommendations for reducing the burden.
8. SENTENCING: NEW JERSEY MOVES TO SHRINK "DRUG-FREE ZONES," COPS PROTEST
   New Jersey's governor, all 21 county prosecutors, and the state sentencing commission all want to reform the state's "drug-free zone" law, but some New Jersey cops like things just the way they are.
9. DRUG TREATMENT: FEDERAL BUDGET PROVIDES SAME FUNDING OR SMALL INCREASES FOR TREATMENT, PREVENTION PROGRAMS, BUT REDUCES SAFE AND DRUG-FREE GRANTS PROGRAM
   As part of its massive omnibus appropriations bill passed this week, Congress has, for the most part, funded treatment and prevention programs at or slightly above previous levels.
10. DEATH PENALTY: MALAYSIA TO EXECUTE MAN FOR MARIJUANA, CHINA TO EXECUTE MAN FOR METH
    Even as the UN General Assembly condemned the death penalty this week, China condemned one man to death for methamphetamine trafficking and Malaysia condemned another to death for having less than two pounds of marijuana.
11. EUROPE: FINLAND TO SET GUIDELINES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE
    After one patient successfully challenged an agency's stance that Finnish law absolutely forbids it, the Finnish government is moving to craft guidelines to allow for medical marijuana use.
12. MEXICO: MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION BILL INTRODUCED
    An opposition deputy has introduced a bill that would "decriminalize" marijuana possession in Mexico. Instead of jail time, users would face "informative or educational" sanctions.
13. CANADA: THE DRUG BUSINESS IS BOOMING, SAYS MOUNTIES REPORT
    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has released its latest annual report on drugs and drug trafficking in Canada. It's sobering reading for anyone who thinks countries can enforce their way out of a drug problem.
14. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
    Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.
15. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
    Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to funders. We need donations too.
16. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION FEEDS ON YOUR WEB SITE!
    Support the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
17. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR YOUR READER
    A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War Chronicle and more -- is now available.
18. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB SITE
    Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to the events coming up the soonest, and more.

DRCNet needs your support! Donations can be made by credit card at http://stopthedrugwar.org/donate/ or sent by mail to P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036-8402. Donations to the Drug Reform Coordination Network are not tax-deductible. Deductible contributions supporting our educational work can be made by check to the DRCNet Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, same address.

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@....

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.