News Feature

High US officials hit the road for Latin America this week in a series of trips to lobby for passage of Plan Mérida, the $1.4 billion anti-drug aid package for Mexico. But at a forum on drug policy in Culiacán, Sinaloa, there was little but objections to the plan, especially its emphasis on using the Mexican military in the drug war.

A bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana will be introduced next week in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. It is part two of a three-part marijuana reform package; a decrim bill was introduced last fall, and an industrial hemp bill is pending.

In what is most likely the first salvia arrest in the county, a North Dakota man with an interest in herbalism and spirituality faces years in prison for $32 worth of salvia leaves he bought on eBay.

The Iranian government may be widely viewed as Islamic hard-liners, but when it comes to drug use, they are taking an increasingly pragmatic approach. Now, it's syringes in vending machines for a nickel.

With the leading Democratic and Republican contenders hewing to the mainstream, on drug policy we take a look at what the alternatives have to say. Last week, it was the Libertarians; this week, it's the Green Party and the Nader candidacy.

It's Reefer Madness time in Britain in the run-up to a widely anticipated reclassification of marijuana as a more serious drug. Segments of the British press are playing a particularly pernicious role.

Drug reformers interested in candidates who will vow to actually end the drug war will have to look beyond the Democratic and Republican presidential contenders. This week, we look at the Libertarians, and the perennial debate over pragmatism vs. purism.

A Michigan medical marijuana initiative is now before the legislature, which will not act on it, clearing the way for a popular vote in November. The poll numbers are good.

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.

Using YouTube videos of young people under the influence of salvia divinorum as exhibit number one, legislators across the country are stepping up efforts to ban the intense, fast-acting hallucinogen.