American Woman Sues Border Agents after Alleged Sexual Assault and Forced Medical Treatments when Re-entering U.S.

In 2013 we published too many stories about forced medical treatment by coercion. For example, we published the story regarding John Wrana, the WWII veteran who just before his 96th birthday was tasered and shot with bean bag rounds in his managed care facility, which resulted in his death, simply for refusing to go to a hospital for a urinary tract infection. The investigation regarding his death is still pending and we expect to publish an update here in 2014. We saw other stories where children were taken away from their parents and forced to receive medical treatment against the wishes of their parents, including one teenage daughter who has been held by Boston Children's Hospital for over ten months and has still not been released. In this news report from KOB Channel 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an American woman, who was returning to the United States from Mexico, was allegedly sexually assaulted and forced to have medical treatments against her consent, simply because a dog supposedly indicated she may have illegal drugs in her body somewhere. She was stripped and searched. When they did not find anything, she was forced to have X-rays and a CT Scan which turned up negative. She was billed $5,000.00 for the forced medical treatments. She was also allegedly subjected to a "cavity search" several times, all without a warrant and without her consent. The ACLU has taken up her case and filed charges for unlawful search and sexual harassment.

Retired Police Captain Explains Why the War on Drugs has Failed, and Needs to End

Peter Christ retired as a police captain after a 20-year career enforcing drug laws. From the beginning, Peter believed "the drug war can never be won and it is doing more harm than good." After retiring , Peter began speaking out publicly against that War. Peter then originated the idea of creating Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP,) a drug policy reform group of current and former members of law enforcement modeled on "Vietnam Veterans Against the War". In this video, which was aired on WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, Peter effectively answers all questions and objections presented regarding the current war on drugs, and how legalizing drugs and ending prohibition, as we did with alcohol, would benefit law enforcement, the economy, and actually lessen drug abuse. In 15 minutes he covers more territory that would take hours elsewhere. It is well worth the watch to be educated on the basics of this issue, which few Americans know.

War on Illegal Drugs has Failed

The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy said its report suggested the war on drugs had failed. The report, published in the British Medical Journal Open, looked at data from seven international government-funded drug surveillance systems. Its researchers said it was time to consider drug use a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue. The report also found there had been a substantial increase in most parts of the world in the amount of cocaine, heroin and cannabis seized by law enforcement agencies since 1990. Most national drug control strategies have focused on law enforcement to curb supply despite calls to explore other approaches, such as decriminalisation and strict legal regulation, it said. It concluded: "These findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing." Co-author Dr Evan Wood, scientific chairman of the centre, said: "We should look to implement policies that place community health and safety at the forefront of our efforts, and consider drug use a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue. "With the recognition that efforts to reduce drug supply are unlikely to be successful, there is a clear need to scale up addiction treatment and other strategies that can effectively reduce drug-related harm."

Legal Drugs vs. Illegal Drugs: Are we fighting the Right War?

by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News
Drugs: almost 100% of Americans use them. Chances are you have some in your medicine cabinet in your bathroom. Most drugs used in the U.S. today are legal, while some are illegal. Unfortunately, the picture of drugs portrayed by the mainstream media is very biased and one-sided, and not well […]

Supreme Court Justice Scalia: Federal Drug Laws Were a Mistake

by Conor Friedersdorf
The Atlantic
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia isn’t a supporter of legalizing drugs. But he does believe that passing federal laws against them has done harm to the U.S. government. “It was a great mistake to put routine drug offenses into the federal courts,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee […]