The Economist calls for an end to the drug war: Next week ministers from around the world gather in Vienna to set international drug policy for the next decade. Like first-world-war generals, many will claim that all that is needed is more of the same. In fact the war on drugs has been a disaster, c...

Maybe this will be the year when Texas legislators finally get the point. This morning, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear SB 188 by Senators Robert Deuell and Leticia Van de Putte authorizing local governments in Texas to operate needle exchange programs if they choose to do s...

by Michael Bryan Terry Goddard's measure of political courage just went up slightly in my estimation: he went on national TV and suggested that this country should look seriously at the merits of legalizing marijuana to cut off the flow of money to drug cartels fueling violence along the Mexican bor...

Holy crap! Drug cartels in Mexico are getting bolder and bolder. According to the BBC: on Monday, armed men forced their way into a prison in the northern city of Torreon, and killed three inmates. The dead men were being held for kidnapping and murder, and were transferred to the prison less than t...

ZOMG, this product contains cannabis! Michael Phelps has nothing to apologize for.  I understand the reality he faces, however, and why he has to say what he said.  But let’s go beyond the breathless theatrics and think about the core issue.  “He broke the law,” the pundits are ...

No American city has a closer front-row seat to the bloodshed in the Mexican drug cartel wars than El Paso, which sits across the Rio Grande from the Mexican city of Juarez, where more than 1,600 people died in drug-related violence last year. So it comes as little surprise that the birthplace of ma...

While I agree Texas has the best chance in my lifetime to pass needle exchange legislation next spring, perhaps the San Antonio Express News editorial board was counting unhatched chickens when they opined that, with long-time opponent Rep. Diane Delisi retired, the bill will now finally, easily pas...

To understand Texas' border security policy, you don't actually need to know anything about security, but it sure helps to know about elections. Since at least 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry's re-election priorities have openly dominated Texas' border security policy. Campaign ads stoking fears of ...

We want to immediately state that we DO NOT ENDORSE THE USE OF ANY DRUGS OR ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES - ESPECIALLY COKE OR METH. As Well We Do Not Endorse the use of Ritalin and Like Kind Drugs. We’ve done loads of blogs on the problems of the Drug Wars; and the Narco Traffico Policy Problems; so add...

If the 81st Texas Legislature weren't nearly upon us, it'd be easy and timely to devote much more attention on Grits to criminal justice topics south of the border. That issue could take up an entire blog and then some, and Grits just doesn't have time or resources to tackle the story properly. Rath...