Decriminalization

A Scottish think-tank tasked by Parliament with figuring out how to reduce drug-related harm has called for marijuana legalization, safe injection sites, and opiate maintenance.

The Argentine government is working on a rewrite of its drug laws, but courts there aren't waiting for the politicians. In April, two federal tribunals in Buenos Aires declared the drug possession laws unconstitutional, and now more courts have followed suit.

A Brazilian appeals court in São Paulo has ruled that drug possession is not a crime. The ruling only applies to one case, but has set an important precedent.

The Vietnamese National Assembly is considering decriminalizing drug possession. But with most drug users sent to detox camps under administrative regulations instead of criminal charges, it might not make much difference in the real world.

Culiacán, Sinaloa, is the home of one of Mexico's most feared drug trafficking organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel. This week, it was also home to a groundbreaking conference on alternatives to the drug war. As that conference ended Wednesday evening, cops, soldiers, and narcos went at it on the streets of Culiacán, leaving two cops and two narcos dead, and providing poignant punctuation to the conference.

New York City decriminalized marijuana possession nearly three decades ago, but cops there still managed to arrest nearly 40,000 people for pot last year and 400,000 in the last decade.

An Argentine federal appeals court has ruled that simple drug use or possession should not be a criminal offense and has thrown out thousands of pending possession cases. The country's high court could still overturn the ruling, but it is line with the position of the Argentine government.

Thanks to Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), there is a marijuana decriminalization bill before Congress. It would decriminalize up to 100 grams. But don't hold your breath waiting for it pass anytime soon.

Getting caught with under an ounce of marijuana costs you $100 in decriminalized Nebraska, but fines would triple under a measure just passed by the state legislature.

An initiative that would decriminalize marijuana possession in Massachusetts has passed a number of hurdles and appears to be headed for the November ballot, where the prospects are good.