News Brief

According to the BBC, the British government's drug advisory panel will recommend that marijuana remain a Class C drug. But Prime Minister Gordon Brown is signaling he may overrule it in a move that would take British marijuana policy boldly backward.

A Pittsburgh cop rips off the evidence locker, and four Metro Detroit cops get indicted for slinging steroids, helping a biker gang, and lying to the feds.

American drug czar John Walters tried it a few years ago. Now, the Israelis are tearing a page from his playbook: If you smoke pot, a new campaign warns, you're helping out the terrorists.

Five years ago, a bloody Thai "war on drugs" left an estimated 2,500 people dead at the hands of police and soldiers. Now, the Thai government has declared a new "war on drugs," but vows no killings... maybe.

The Dutch border city of Maastricht cannot bar foreigners from its coffee shops, a district court has ruled.

The Vermont Supreme Court has thrown a marijuana conviction based on a warrantless overflight by a military helicopter, saying the state constitution's privacy provisions protect residents and "the airspace above their homes and property."

The government of Ecuador has asked the World Court to order Colombia to stop spraying herbicides on coca fields within 6 miles of the border, saying the spraying harms crops, livestock, and people on the Ecuadorian side. The move comes as tensions with Colombia remain high in the wake of a Colombian raid on Ecuadorian territory that left 25 people dead.

Dr. Molly Fry and her companion, attorney Dale Schafer, were sentenced last week to five years in federal prison as marijuana traffickers for providing marijuana to patients in compliance with California's Compassionate Use Act. At least -- and unusually -- the judge let them out on bail pending appeal.

Saying marijuana policy should not be a federal issue, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said last week he plans to introduce a federal decriminalization bill.

Mexico's drug prohibition-related violence took no respite over the Easter holiday. At least 59 people were killed across the country, including cops, soldiers, drug dealers, used car salesman, an informant, and a US citizen.