Nation Topics - Drug War and Drug Policy | The Nation

Could the federal government prevent California from legalizing pot? Many experts just say no.

The Black Minutes, a nuanced neo-noir, conveys how narco-violence has leached the Mexican justice system of meaning.

California's Proposition 19 would make it legal for adults to possess marijuana for personal use. Passing it would signal a major victory in the war against the "war on drugs."

A federal judge last week abruptly postponed ruling on whether it was proper for prosecutors seeking wiretap permission to conceal their use of top members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang as informants. Meanwhile, the recent shooting of a Guatemalan day laborer by an LAPD officer has reignited a controversy over police reform that is at the root of the current courtroom drama.

Court records filed in the Alex Sanchez case and reviewed by The Nation show federal prosecutors have concealed their use of notorious gang leaders as informants while applying for surveillance permits.

A new law narrows the gap in cocaine sentencing and signals a shift in priorities.

The era of "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" seems, slowly, to be drawing to a close.

For students in a small Texas border town, drug violence offers frequent lessons on the failure of the "war on drugs."

As laws and DEA enforcement strategies change, so, too, do the fortunes of Northern California's Humboldt County.