In the past week, we’ve seen the fifth estate double-down on their calls for the governments of the Anglo-American world to end their respective “Wars on Drugs.” On the home front, Daniel Robelo argues that the catastrophic failure of Mexico’s drug wars indicate the fruitlessness of America’s own symbolic crusade. In Britain, billionaire media darling and Global Commission for Drug Policy member Richard Branson calls on the Cameron Government to end the “failed war on drugs.” In Canada, the ruling Conservative Party’s official opposition, the New Democratic Party, are in the midst of choosing a new leader. Cannabis Culture magazine surveys the NDP’s half-dozen leadership hopefuls, finding all six believe it’s time to end the drug war.
On Saturday, the New York Times ran an interesting long-form piece on drug addiction and recovery on college campuses. In “A Bridge to Recovery on Campus,” author Abigail Sullivan Moore discusses the growing prevalence of drug and alcohol addiction recovery-focused dormitories on college campuses throughout the country.
For your listening pleasure: This week’s Scientific American’s “60 Second Science” podcast briefly discusses a study proving that alcohol can double the length of a worm’s life. Meanwhile, NPR’s Amy Pavuk and Tom Parkinson provide a fascinating discussion of the prescription drug abuse panic in Florida on Talk of the Nation.
Lastly, to complement Points’ own “Points Toward the Presidency” series, The Guardian provides a handy reference guide to where each of the remaining Republican candidates for President stands on drugs. While not nearly as charming or provocative as Kelsey Harclerode’s series, it’s a handy reference nonetheless.