2009 Marked the Beginning of the End of Failed Drug War:

TOP 10 STORIES OF THE YEAR

Here Are 10 Stories That Contributed to the Unprecedented Momentum to
End America's Longest Running War.

2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of the United States
drug war. I have worked at the Drug Policy Alliance promoting
alternatives to the war on drugs for 10 years, and I can say without
a doubt that there was more debate and movement toward sensible drug
policies this year than in the last 9 years combined! Here are 10
stories that contributed to the unprecedented momentum to end
America's longest running war.

1) Three Former Latin American Presidents Call Drug War a Failure (February)

In February, the Latin-American Commission on Drugs and Drug Policy -
co-chaired by three distinguished ex-presidents, Fernando Henrique
Cardoso of Brazil, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of
Mexico -issued a groundbreaking report that declared the drug war a
failure. The report further advocated the decriminalization of
marijuana and the need to "break the taboo" on an open and honest
discussion of international drug policy. The release generated
hundreds of articles around the world and continues to be referenced
by elected officials in Latin American and around the world.

2) Michael Phelps and the Bong Hit Heard Around the World (February)

The photo of Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps taking
a "bong hit" at a party in South Carolina was plastered across the
front pages of newspapers around the world in February. The image of
Phelps inhaling marijuana, just a few months after setting a record
for most gold medals won in a single Olympics, dealt a powerful blow
to the lazy, "couch potato" stereotype of pot users. Kellogg's
promptly dropped Phelps as a spokesperson, badly misreading public
sentiment. Dozens of columnists slammed Kellogg's for this decision,
and a major AP story reported on groups calling for consumers to
"Drop Kellogg's" for dumping Phelps. A few weeks later, the
advertising trade magazine Ad Age reported that Kellogg's brand
favorability had tanked since it dropped Phelps - even more than when
the company instituted a massive recall due to a problem with
salmonella in its peanut butter.

3) Obama Justice Department Says No More Raids on Patients and
Caregivers in States with Medical Marijuana Laws (March)

During his campaign for president, then-Senator Barack Obama promised
that if elected, he would end the raids on medical marijuana patients
and dispensaries that were acting in compliance with their states'
laws. In March, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder affirmed this
pledge, and in October the Justice Department issued new policy
guidelines codifying the change. Patients and caregivers breathed a
sigh of relief, and President Obama received almost universal praise
in media around the United States and the world.

4) Drop the Rock! NY's Draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws Finally Reformed (April)

After 35 years, New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws were finally
brought down in April, when Gov. David Paterson signed historic
reforms eliminating lengthy mandatory minimum sentences for certain
nonviolent drug offenses. The reforms, which took effect in October,
restored judicial sentencing discretion in most drug cases, expanded
alternatives to incarceration and invested millions in drug treatment
programs. Advocates who fought for years to secure these reforms are
now working to turn New York from a model of everything that is wrong
with drug policy to an example of what is possible when we deal with
substance abuse as a health matter instead of a criminal justice issue.

5) Governor Arnold Calls for Debate on Legalizing Marijuana: Voters
to Decide in 2010 (May)

California is ground zero when it comes to the debate over taxing and
regulating marijuana. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger generated
national media in May when he said that marijuana legalization is an
idea that should be considered and debated. The issue garnered more
national attention with the introduction of a bill pending in the
California Legislature to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.
Meanwhile, some Oakland, Calif., activists aren't waiting for their
legislature to act; they have drafted a voter initiative to tax and
regulate marijuana and are gathering signatures to qualify it for the
2010 ballot. Recent polls show 56% of Californians support taxing and
regulating marijuana.

6) Drug Czar Calls for End to the Drug War (May)

White House drug czar Gill Kerlikowske, in an interview with Gary
Fields of the Wall Street Journal, called for an "end to the war on
drugs." "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war
on drugs' or a 'war on a product', people see a war as a war on them
and we are not at war with people in this country," Kerlikowske told
the Journal. He added that the Obama Administration is likely to deal
with drugs from a public health perspective rather than as a criminal
issue and would favor treatment over incarceration to reduce illicit drug use.

7) Mexico and Argentina Move to Decriminalize Marijuana and other
Drugs (August)

Mexico and Argentina both made international news in August with
major changes to their drug policies. Mexico, plagued by a
devastating, violent drug war, passed a law eliminating criminal
penalties for small amounts of drugs -including heroin, cocaine and
marijuana -considered to be for personal use. In Argentina,
meanwhile, the country's Supreme Court effectively decriminalized
personal marijuana possession when it struck down a law that imposed
penalties of up to two years in prison for possession of small
amounts of marijuana. Ruling in a case involving several young men
caught with marijuana cigarettes in their pockets, the court said the
government should go after major traffickers and provide treatment
instead of jail for marijuana users. Although the court decision
dealt only with marijuana, the core arguments apply to other illicit
drugs as well, so the ruling could open the door to broader drug law
reform in Argentina.

8) The Results Are In: Portugal's Decriminalization Law of 2001
Reduced Transmission of Disease, Cut Overdose Deaths and
Incarceration, While Not Increasing Drug Use. (August)

Facing an epidemic of drug-related overdose deaths and disease
transmission from dirty needles, the Portugal government took a bold
step in 2001 and decriminalized the personal use and possession of
all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. The police were told not to
arrest anyone found taking any kind of drug. In 2009, the results of
Portugal's decriminalization were released, and the results were
striking: Drug-related problems, including the transmission of
diseases, deaths from drug overdoses and incarceration, all decreased
dramatically, while drug use did not go up. Portugal's experience is
instructive; it showed the world that the sky did not fall with
decriminalization and took the debate from theory to practice.

9) Coming Out of the Closet: "Stiletto Stoners" Explain Why They Like
Marijuana (September)

Need more evidence that marijuana has gone mainstream in America? On
the Today Show in September, Matt Lauer did a piece on so-called
stiletto stoners -- educated, professional women with killer careers
and enviable social lives who favor marijuana as their intoxicant of
choice and are increasingly comfortable admitting it. The TV piece
drew its inspiration from an article titled "Stiletto Stoners" in the
September issue of Marie Claire Magazine. The story raised the
question: Why are so many smart, successful women lighting up in
their off hours? The sympathetic article and TV piece feature
interviews with a wide range of successful women who wind down at the
end of the day with a joint instead of a martini.

10) The Marijuana Legalization Debate Hits the Mainstream (Fall )

Emblazoned on the cover of the September issue of Fortune Magazine
was a photo of actress Mary Louise Parker, star of the popular
Showtime hit series Weeds, teasing the lead story: "How Marijuana
Became Legal: Medical Marijuana Is Giving Activists a Chance to Show
How a Legitimized Pot Business Can Work. Is the End of Prohibition
Upon Us?" There have been dozens of thoughtful stories in 2009 on the
growing momentum to end marijuana prohibition, including major pieces
in prestigious outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post,
Newsweek, CBS News, CNN, the Economist and dozens of others! Last
Month there was a revealing Washington Post story entitled: "Support
for Legalizing Marijuana Grows Rapidly around the U.S.: Approval of
Medical Use Expands Alongside Criticism of Prohibition." The story
referenced a recent Gallup poll showing that 44% of Americans favor
taxing and regulating marijuana, with the numbers higher than 50% is
Western States like California, Washington and Oregon.

The Drug War Grinds On, but Change is in the Air (December)

For all the recent progress, drug policy reformers are under no
illusion that the drug war will end any time soon. We know that drug
prohibition and our harsh drug laws - fueled by a prison-industrial
complex that locks up 500,000 of our fellow Americans on drug-related
offenses - are poised to continue for some time wasting tens of
billions of dollars a year and leading to the deaths of thousands of
Mexicans and Americans every year due to prohibition-related
violence. But we are clearly moving in the right direction, toward a
more rational drug policy based on compassion, health, science and
human rights. We need people to continue to join the movement to end
this unwinnable war. If the people lead, the leaders will follow.