News Brief

Bermuda has long taken a hard-line on marijuana possession, but now members of the ruling party are suggesting it's time for a change.

An initiative to legalize medical marijuana in Arizona is poised to make the November ballot. If it does, and if it is approved, it will mean medical marijuana is the law of the land from the Pacific Coast to the Texas border.

It's science vs. politics in British drug policy, and the scientists are growing tired of having evidence-based policies trumped by political considerations. Two more members of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have resigned in recent days over the spat.

Drink up -- it's Coca Colla time! Yes, it's a coca-based soft drink, but you'll have to go to Bolivia to try it. And this isn't some de-cocainized soft drink; it's the real thing.

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.

Legal needle exchanges may be coming to Colorado -- if a bill before the state Senate passes. But injection drug users in Boulder already benefit from an exemption allowing exchanges, and drug users in Denver can take advantage of an underground exchange.

One of the side-effects of prohibition is contamination of unregulated illicit drug supplies, putting users at risk. Two now familiar, but disturbing, contaminants are in the news this week: anthrax in European heroin and levamisole in North American cocaine.

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.

Maine is about to become the latest state to set up a medical marijuana dispensary system. The measure has passed the legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.

A Maryland medical marijuana bill won an important Senate committee vote this week, but with time running out for the legislative session, it looks to be stalled in the House.