Topics

ENCOD Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Vienna 6 December 2008 Dear Mr. Costa, On 6 December 2007 at the Drug Policy Alliance Conference in New Orleans I asked you the following question: “Why, after more than 30 years of regulated availability to adults over 18 years, is cannabis use in the Netherlands lower than in most European countries and the USA - and not higher, as would be expected if the prohibition of illicit drugs really was effective?” I am still waiting for your answer to this question. Although you made some comments about related matters, you did not answer my simple question. The basic assumption of drug pr…

Radical alternatives proposed for cannabis controls Andy Coghlan 30 December 2008 New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2012....html?full=true WHAT should we do to minimise the harm cannabis can cause to the health and welfare of users and to society at large? The answer, according to a report by a group of prominent academics and government advisers, is to change the law to allow the state to prepare and distribute the drug for recreational use. This controversial proposal comes from a commission assembled by the Beckley Foundation, a British charity dedicated to exploring the science of psychoactive substances. "The damage done by prohibition is worse…

hi all, this is my first post^^. so my freind was wondering if any1 has bought weed online? if so from where? and if my freind does then what would happen if it was cuaght at customs.. they would just take it and send him a letter saying they took it.. or would they send some1 too his house? thanks.. sorry if its a dumb question.

11th Annual Medical Marijuana Benefit Concert at Tobacco Road 6 January 2009 James Echols examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-1010-Miami-Night...acco-Road-12409 On Saturday, January 24, 2009 Ploppy Palace Productions and Tobacco Road will be hosting the 11th Annual Medical Marijuana Benefit Concert to raise funds for FL NORML’s (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) medical marijuana campaign and the protection of patients’ rights. As part of this four stage extravaganza, some of South Florida's top bands, spoken word artists and community activists will join together for patients’ and physicians’ right to use medical cannabis. As a testament to …

Police manage to stop only 20 percent of hashish entering Spain 8 January 2009 http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publi...cle_19543.shtml National Police and Guardia Civil cannot cope with the volume of drugs being smuggled from Morocco into Andalucía. The National Police and the Guardia Civil have admitted with their latest statistics that they are losing the battle against the hashish traffickers. Despite achieving an average of two large successes a week against the traffickers, it is estimated that only 20% of the drug which enters the country is caught by the authorities. Most of the drug is brought into Spain from Morocco with the main port of entry being…

Victims of justice system's failure By Simon Collins 7 January 2009 The New Zealand Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article....jectid=10550747 A 1999 survey indicated that 75% of male prisoners had suffered from alcohol-related issues. Photo / Brett Phibbs "Jack has 125 previous convictions from the age of 22," writes Wellington alcohol and drug counsellor Roger Brooking in a report to a court on a recent client (name changed). "He also had another six convictions at age 17 for which he was sent to corrective training for three months. His offending history indicates he has been sent to prison at least 25 times and Jack reports that he has spent most of his …

Sanjay Gupta: What the Next Surgeon General Doesn't Know About Pot Russ Belville, NORML 8 January 2009 Alternet http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/118...t_/?page=entire The next surgeon general needs to stop putting politics before science. Gupta may not be ready for that. Tools If Dr. Sanjay Gupta is picked for the post of surgeon general, he would become the nation's leading medical advocate. His experience in the media would be beneficial in bringing the Surgeon General's office back to the prominence it held when C. Everett Koop was successfully battling tobacco smoking. But is Gupta ready to deliver the Obama administration's promised end to the politicizat…

Children taken from parents with no evidence of risk, judge says By Kim Arlington December 26, 2008 Daily Telegraph http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5005941,00.html Kids taken from parents by child welfare Judge says no evidence they were at risk Says it was a gross abuse of power A JUDGE says it was a "gross abuse of power" for child welfare staff to forcibly remove two babies from their parents' care when there was no evidence they were at risk of harm. Ordering that the children be returned to their parents immediately, Supreme Court Justice George Palmer said the New South Wales Department of Community Services officers' actions had "gravely impe…

Written by: Cornelius Wilson January 05th, 2009 http://www.wrestling-edge.com/wwenews.php?...rom=&ucat=1 copyright - wrestling edge 2006 It is being reported that several wrestlers are unhappy with WWE's crackdown on marijuana usage. The argument people have made is that those who were fined for using marijuana have been forced to turn to heavy drinking or pain pills. The general feeling in the wrestling industry is that pain pills will destroy more lives than steroids or any other drug. Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

A 17-year-old girl in Bismarck called 911 on New Year's Eve "to report herself driving under the influence," police Lt.

Marc Emery and the Liberty 100 5 January 2009 Western Standard http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2...iberty-100.html The Liberty 100 is the Western Standard's list of the 100 Canadian friends of liberty who have made significant contributions to individual liberty (both personal and economic) in 2008 (Top 10, Top 25, Top 50, Top 75, Top 100). The list was selected by our publisher, Matthew Johnston, who has intimate and wide-ranging knowledge of, and familiarity with, the Canadian liberty movement. Given that this is the first installation of an annual list, Matthew decided to also include those liberty activists whose lifetime contribution to the liberty movem…

By Marcus Gilmer in News January 5, 2009 10:55 AM http://chicagoist.com/2009/01/05/man_arres...le_bunch_of.php 2003-2009 Gothamist LLC. All rights reserved Add Samuel Randall to the list of "Chicago People Who We Need To Party With." Randall was arrested yesterday for possession of six pounds of cannabis. That amount has a street value of $18,000 or enough to get one through an East Coast leg of a Phish tour. Zing! Randall was pulled over by police after he was spotted driving the wrong way down a one-way street yesterday afternoon. During the stop, officers spotted two bags of the wacky weed in one of the car's cup holders and smelled the rest in a shopping bag on …

Summerfieldayze, Big Day Out cops undercover in drug sting Greg Stolz January 04, 2009 11:00pm Courier Mail http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...01-3102,00.html GROOVY undercover cops disguised as dance music lovers are crashing the party for drug-taking revellers at this summer's music festivals. The covert cops nabbed dozens of patrons for possessing ecstasy and other drugs at the Summerfieldayze festival on the Gold Coast at the weekend. And they are warning the blitz will continue during upcoming music festivals like Good Vibrations and the Big Day Out. Undercover and uniformed police charged 37 people with mostly drug offences during Summerfieldayze …