News Brief

Looking to be an FBI agent? The rules on disqualifying applicants based on past drug use, especially marijuana use, just got a little more lax.

A high-level State Department official said last week that the US will shift its opium eradication policy in Afghanistan, but there is less there than meets the eye.

This week we have a pair from the US-Mexico border, where temptation is always close at hand, and a pair from Florida, where corruption seems to thrive in the steamy atmosphere.

The Arizona Supreme Court has limited the ability of police to search the vehicles of people they have arrested outside the vehicle.

Long-time San Francisco drug policy, medical marijuana, and human rights activist Virginia Resner died in her home town last week. She will be missed.

Do snitches have the right not to be named? A Philadelphia grand jury has indicted two people on witness intimidation charges for posting flyers outing an informant.

While Republicans happily pursue their "tough on crime" politics of fear and Democrats can barely be bothered to vote to protect medical marijuana providers, the US Green Party is calling for radical reforms of the criminal justice system and "cancellation" of the drug war.

Nervous about upcoming national elections, the Australian Greens have retreated from their earlier stance in favor of regulated marijuana, and possibly, ecstasy sales. Now their drug policy platform leads off with a plank saying they oppose legalization.

If you get caught smoking marijuana or snorting cocaine in Singapore, be prepared for forced drug treatment and a long prison term. Authorities there announced this week they will begin applying the sanctions used against hard drug addicts to pot smokers and coke heads as of August 1.

Last week, the British government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced it would revisit the issue of rescheduling marijuana back to a more serious drug schedule. Since then, a total of nine of Brown's cabinet members have admitted to smoking the weed.