Decriminalization

With the 2010 World AIDS Conference in Vienna looming, researchers and scientists have authored an official conference declaration lambasting drug prohibition as a horrid failure and calling on governments, international organizations, and the UN to make fundamental, evidence-based changes in drug policy. They want you to sign it, too.

California half-way decriminalized simple pot possession back in the 1970s, setting a maximum $100 fine, but leaving offenders with a misdemeanor criminal record. Now, a bill that has already passed the Senate and is moving in the Assembly would complete the process by downgrading the offense to a civil citation.

A marijuana moon over Miami Beach? How romantic. A decriminalization initiative campaign is underway to make the tourist destination a bit more pot-friendly.

Detroit led the way in approving medical marijuana in Michigan. Now, it's poised to lead the way in legalizing the possession of up to an ounce by adults.

Harm reductionists and drug reformers in Scotland have their work cut out for them, according to an annual national survey released this week. Support for marijuana legalization has declined dramatically, and attitudes toward heroin users are harsh, leading to declining public support for harm reduction.

Hard-line former Philadelphia DA Lynne Abraham is taking pot shots her successor, DA Seth Williams, over his policy of treating marijuana possession offenders more leniently. Williams and his crew are hitting back.

There will be no marijuana decriminalization in the Granite State -- at least not this year. A veto-wielding governor managed to scare off the state Senate after the House passed it overwhelmingly, but activists aren't giving up. Instead, they are vowing to return until the legislature gets it right.

Nederland now joins Denver and Breckenridge on the list of Colorado communities that have voted to remove penalties for adult marijuana possession. Durango could be next, and the whole state could vote on the issue in 2012.

Facing a severely clogged criminal court system, the city of Philadelphia will no longer prosecute small-time pot possession cases as criminal misdemeanors, but as summary offenses. But the cops will still arrest you anyway.