War On Drugs Or On Minority Communities? Alan Bean couldn't miss the headline splashed across the top of his hometown paper one summer morning in 1999. It spoke of big news for the 5,000-person burg in West Texas: a big drug bust that landed a sizable portion of the town's black community behind bars. "Tulia streets cleared of garbage," the banner headline read. Like many aspects of the American war on drugs, the wording smacked of insidious racism. [continues 1291 words]
A Colorado-based initiative to open dialogue about what impact, if any, marijuana's legalization would have on sexual assault rates could soon plant roots in Lubbock. Shannon Drew, 20 and a Texas Tech sophomore from Amarillo, is using April's Sexual Assault Awareness Month to drum up local support for the Women's Marijuana Movement, or WMM. The year-old effort aims to spark what national organizer Mason Tvert in Denver called "public dialogue" on how marijuana legalization could prevent alcohol-related crimes against women. [continues 510 words]
