It may or may not surprise you that a majority of Americans support treatment instead of incarceration for people struggling with drug addiction. That's the good news. What you may not know is that there is a raging battle within the treatment community and society at large about how much...

I know a lot about drugs and the drug war, both personally and professionally. Drugs have had, at alternating times, a positive and a detrimental impact on my life. I have laughed, relaxed and found inspiration while intoxicated. I have also struggled, fought and become despondent because of my addiction...

The New York Post hit a new low on Tuesday when they deemed Britney Spears having a cigarette in the company of her son worthy of front page news. Wars rage on in Iraq and Afghanistan while Americans face losing their jobs and houses at home but The Post...

Heath Ledger's haunting role as the Joker in the Dark Knight will hit the screens nationwide this weekend. The critics have been raving about Heath's "dark" Joker performance and there is already buzz that he might win an Oscar for the role posthumously.

Until very recently, I lived down...

Rush Limbaugh will grace the cover of this Sunday's New York Times Magazine looking as cocky and powerful as ever. With his recent $400 million radio deal and estimated 14 million listeners, Rush is one of the most powerful voices in America today.

Seeing him riding so "high" on the...

The current issue of Time has an insightful cover story about the growing number of U.S. troops taking antidepressants to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Last fall, 20,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were prescribed antidepressants like Prozac and Zoloft. When one considers the experiences of...

Drug addiction is bad. But the war on drugs is worse.

Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post wrote a heart-breaking story that exemplifies the wasteful and counterproductive way our society deals with illegal drug use. Mr. Milloy talks about Frances Johnson, a 68-year-old grandmother in Washington, D.C. who faces...

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) released a major report Tuesday showing that New York City is now the marijuana arrest capital of the world.

Harry Levine and Deborah Small, the report authors, found that between 1998 and 2007 New York City police arrested...

Sugar has long been a popular drug consumed and even sold in schools nationwide. But concerns over health, obesity and the risk of diabetes have led some schools in California to institute a ban on sugary snacks. In response to these candy sales bans, some students are starting to...

President Bush last week shared his personal struggles against alcohol addiction with former prisoners in recovery who are enrolled in a program to help them reenter productively into society.

Bush recounted having given up alcohol the day after his 40th birthday, following a "particularly boozy night." He often credits...

Since last week we have been inundated with stories about the widespread usage of steroids in Major League baseball! Many have been outraged or saddened to find out that our revered baseball idols have been taking drugs to enhance performance when it comes to throwing and hitting a baseball. While...

Every presidential election year there is a news cycle about candidates' drug use. The "I did not inhale" statement by then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton was one of the most humorous and pitiful "admissions" that still makes the eyes roll. Another pathetic example of hypocrisy came from George W. Bush. "Mr....

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made newsthis week when the Associated Press reported an interview Schwarzenegger did with the British edition of GQ where he said marijuana is not a drug, it's a leaf. The Governor's press secretary quickly tried to do damage control and claim that he was joking and...

The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars waging a 40-year "war on drugs" that is responsible for the imprisonment of 500,000 of our fellow Americans. Despite the enormous waste of money and lives, drugs are as easily available as ever. The warmongers say it is for the...

What do San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson share in common? They are three mayors who are speaking out forcefully against the failed, racist drug war.

Last week Mayor Newsom gave a passionate interview about the need to end...

The current cover of the influential magazine Foreign Policy provocatively asserts, "Legalize It; Why It's Time to Just Say No to Prohibition."

The article, penned by Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (where I work), lays out the devastating consequences prohibition and offers solutions to help...

Al Gore III's mug shot appeared in newspapers across the country today thanks to his arrest on Wednesday for possession of marijuana and prescription pills.

An Orange County sheriff's deputy pulled over Al Gore III for driving his Toyota Prius at 100 miles per hour. The officer said the car...

The world can be a harrowing place. Every day we read about hundreds of Iraqis and U.S. troops being blown up and killed. We have witnessed New Orleans, an important and beautiful city, get swept away by a hurricane and then neglected by an ineffective administration. We see increasing damage...

What should be done about the millions of people in the United States and around the world who inject heroin and other drugs? For 30-plus years, the U.S. has pushed a "war on drugs" that is more accurately a war on drug users. This war on drugs has not delivered...

The Bush administration is pushing high schools across the country to implement random, suspicion-less student drug testing. The logic is that we need to rid our schools of drugs and give students more ways to "Just Say No." The government wants school administrators to drug test students to make...