News Brief

As his term comes to a close, President George Bush has begun to exercise his pardon power, and a handful of drug offenders have benefited.

The California Supreme Court has made it more difficult for people to qualify as medical marijuana caregivers. That should push patients toward co-op and collective dispensaries -- except in areas where there aren't any.

Dutch pot politics is heating up again, with mayors looking for a way to solve the "backdoor problem" with their coffee shops, and some in the conservative government wanting to see the coffee shops just go away.

British attitudes toward drug users, sellers, and drug reform are heading in the wrong direction, according to a new poll.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is jerking the drivers' licenses of medical marijuana patients, saying they are "drug abusers." Now, Americans for Safe Access has filed a lawsuit to make them cut it out.

There were municipal elections across British Columbia Saturday, and drug reformers continued to hold power in Vancouver, were returned to the mayoralty in Grand Forks, and won a seat on the city council in Victoria.

While the conservative Dutch national government would like to see cannabis coffee shops go away, the mayors of the towns that have them beg to differ. In fact, most of them want to see production as well as sales tolerated.

A trio of bad apples from Arizona, including a DARE officer with a penchant for sexual assault, made the news this week, while the city of Berwyn, Illinois, found itself in a bit of hot water over the way it used asset forfeiture funds.

Who knew? Marijuana decriminalization is polling above 50% in Arkansas. Arkansas!

Bolivia's President Evo Morales said yes to Obama, but no to the DEA at the UN this week