Latest News
- UK: Decriminalise Drugs And Sell Them In Shops, Report From
Scotsman, 14 Jan 2013 - THE possession and use of all illegal drugs should be decriminalised, and the least harmful substances should be regulated and sold in licensed shops, an inquiry by a group of cross-party peers has found. A system for testing the safety of new drugs should be introduced with low-risk substances sold with labels detailing their risks, like cigarette packaging, members of the all-party parliamentary group for drug policy reform said today. - UK: Don't Try To Ban All 'Legal Highs', Says Cross-Party
The Guardian, 14 Jan 2013 - The least harmful new "legal highs" should be made readily available for sale under strictly regulated conditions rather than being immediately banned as happens now, according to a cross-party group of peers. Senior police officers told the inquiry into the new psychoactive synthetic drugs, which are appearing in Britain at the rate of more than one a week, that the existing criminal sanctions for drug users are doing nothing to reduce their use. - US OH: Schools Say No To Old Drug Programs
Columbus Dispatch, 14 Jan 2013 - Realizing that more young people are no longer "just saying no" to drugs, local schools are changing their approaches to drugprevention programs. Districts such as Westerville, Pickerington, Bexley, Dublin and Hamilton now offer drug counseling as an alternative to suspension or expulsion for students caught using drugs. - US CA: Mendocino County To Fight Federal Subpoena Seeking Pot
The Press Democrat, 14 Jan 2013 - Mendocino County is gearing up for a court battle over a federal subpoena ordering local officials to surrender records from its now-defunct medical marijuana permitting program, including what county attorneys say is legally protected medical and financial information. Despite repeated queries, Mendocino County officials say they do not know who the target of the criminal grand jury might be -- growers, users or public officials. - US CA: San Diego Halts All Actions Against Marijuana Shops
Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan 2013 - SAN DIEGO - At the order of newly elected Mayor Bob Filner, the city is dropping all legal efforts aimed at forcing marijuana dispensaries out of business. In memos last week to the San Diego Police Department and code compliance officers, Filner ordered that "targeted code enforcement" against marijuana dispensaries end "immediately." Both departments report to the mayor. - US CA: In California, It's U.S. Vs. State Over Marijuana
New York Times, 14 Jan 2013 - STOCKTON, Calif. - Matthew R. Davies graduated from college with a master's degree in business and a taste for enterprise, working in real estate, restaurants and mobile home parks before seizing on what he saw as uncharted territory with a vast potential for profits - medical marijuana. He brought graduate-level business skills to a world decidedly operating in the shadows. He hired accountants, compliance lawyers, managers, a staff of 75 and a payroll firm. He paid California sales tax and filed for state and local business permits. - US HI: More Residents Support Medical Pot, Survey Finds
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 13 Jan 2013 - Abercrombie Urged Federal Officials to Ease Controls on the Drug in a 2012 Letter A movement to ease marijuana laws in Hawaii appears to be gaining momentum as the state Legislature prepares to open on Wednesday. - US: Pot Not As Harmless As Once Perceived, New Studies Suggest
Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 13 Jan 2013 - In the '60s, marijuana was a hallmark of the counterculture, along with free love, bell bottoms, long hair and bandannas. But marijuana has had the most staying power. This month, in a remarkable first, the recreational use of marijuana became legal (depending on your definition) in Colorado and Washington state. More than a dozen other states have decriminalized possession of small amounts, and Massachusetts recently became the 18th state to allow its use for medicinal purposes. - Bolivia: Drugs Dispute As The Bolivians Demand Right To Chew
The Observer, 13 Jan 2013 - A major international row with wideranging implications for global drugs policy has erupted over the right of Bolivia's indigenous Indian tribes to chew coca leaves, the principal ingredient in cocaine. On Friday, Bolivia obtained a special exemption from the 1961 single convention on narcotic drugs, the framework that governs international drugs policy, allowing its indigenous people to chew the leaves. - US CO: Growing Like A Weed
Columbus Dispatch, 13 Jan 2013 - DENVER - Inside the industrial-scale marijuana farms that dot Denver's low-rise warehouse districts, it is perpetual summer - 78 degrees, with moderate humidity and fields of shoulder-high plants with fat, sticky buds swaying in the breeze. These unmarked THC factories are easy to miss from the street, except for the casino-style security cameras perched on each corner. But inside the world's only fully regulated, for-profit marijuana market, there are few secrets.
