News Brief

The US Supreme Court Monday agreed to hear a case about whether police may search a vehicle after arresting a driver or occupant.

Two weeks after it voted to remove criminal penalties for marijuana possession, a Vermont Senate committee has voted to halve the quantities of heroin or cocaine necessary to trigger a trafficking charge.

Denmark could be the next European country to embrace heroin maintenance therapy. The Danish parliament approved a pilot program this week.

As Colombian President Uribe attempts a massive manual eradication of coca plants, he is running into opposition from both angry peasants and armed rebels.

While Vietnam is generally noted for dealing with its heroin problem by sentencing traffickers to death, one methadone maintenance program for users is already underway and another one is set to open in Ho Chi Minh City.

Dr. John P. Morgan, coauthor of "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts" and a leading academic advocate for drug policy reform, died suddenly last Friday. He will be sorely missed.

The drug laws just got tougher in Australia's Queensland. The parliament there passed a bill increasing penalties for Ecstasy, PMA, and a number of other drugs, added "analogues" to the list, and made it a crime to provide items used to make drugs.

As the British government prepares for a seemingly inevitable up-scheduling of marijuana, a new poll finds that a plurality of Britons like the penalties for pot possession as they are, and about one quarter would just like to see it legalized or decriminalized.

Scandinavia tends toward harsh drug policies, but that isn't stopping marijuana growers in Norway. Police there report a series of recent grow up busts.

A judge in Cali has found a Colombian army colonel and 14 of his troops guilty of murder for killing 10 elite Colombian anti-drug police and their informant at the request of drug traffickers.