TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ON THE BALLOT: MARIJUANA, MEDICAL MARIJUANA, SENTENCING REFORM
   With national elections now just days away, it is time to review one last time the drug policy-related initiative measures on the ballot in various states and localities.
2. MARIJUANA ARRESTS AT ALL-TIME HIGH, FAR EXCEED VIOLENT CRIME ARRESTS
   Despite a decade of marijuana law reforms and protestations by police chiefs across the land that marijuana is not a priority, the FBI reported Saturday that the number of arrests for violations of the marijuana laws hit an all-time high in 2003.
3. LATIN AMERICAN ANTI-PROHIBITIONIST UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION FORMS, EYES UN 2008 VIENNA MEETING
   The movement toward an integrated hemispheric coalition to end the drug war has taken another step forward with the formation last month of a new, anti-prohibitionist umbrella group.
4. AFRICAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL GROUPS MOVE INTO DRUG REFORM ARENA
   Fueled by a sense that blacks bear a disproportionate burden in the drug war, a new umbrella grouping of African-American professional associations dedicated to winning changes in the war on drugs has emerged and is calling for a series of limited reforms designed to reduce the number of African Americans going to prison for drugs.
5. NEWSBRIEF: FORMER INTERPOL CHIEF CALLS PROHIBITION "OBSOLETE AND DANGEROUS"
   The former chief of Interpol called drug prohibition "obsolete and dangerous" in an op-ed published Wednesday in Le Monde. Europe must take the lead in reforming the drug laws, Raymond Kendall wrote, particularly at the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs in Vienna in 2008.
6. NEWSBRIEF: PROHIBITIONIST BUSH SUPPORTERS "EXPOSE AND OPPOSE" SOROS
   In an event timed just days before next week's national election, prohibitionist supporters of President George Bush held a "National Anti-Drug Summit to Expose and Oppose George Soros" Thursday in Washington, DC.
7. NEWSBRIEF: NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR BYPASSES LEGISLATURE, OKAYS NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS BY EXECUTIVE ORDER
   With the clock ticking down on his scandal-shortened term and frustrated by a recalcitrant legislature, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey (D) Tuesday issued an executive order allowing three Garden State cities to begin needle exchange programs (NEPs) in an effort to stem the spread of HIV and other viruses transmitted through intravenous drug use.
8. NEWSBRIEF: NADER CALLS ON BUSH TO GRANT CLEMENCY TO DRUG WAR PRISONERS
   Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader called in an October 24 letter for President Bush to grant clemency to some 30,000 nonviolent federal drug offenders.
9. NEWSBRIEF: BALTIMORE COPS OFFER MINOR DRUG SUSPECTS FREEDOM FOR GUNS
   The Baltimore Sun reported Saturday that police in Charm City have for years followed an unofficial policy of picking up people on minor drug charges and offering to let them go if they turn in a weapon. But the dropping of charges in exchange for weapons is neither legal nor enforceable, according to experts cited by the Sun, and some residents don't like it either.
10. NEWSBRIEF: US-CANADA JOINT BORDER DRUG THREAT ASSESSMENT SAYS BC BUD ONLY TWO PERCENT OF US MARIJUANA IMPORTS
    Although drug czar John Walters has screamed loudly and often about the menace posed to the US by high-grade Canadian marijuana. But a sober assessment of cross-border drug issues done by law enforcement in both countries seriously undercuts his hysterics.
11. NEWSBRIEF: FIJI ISLANDS IN GRIP OF REEFER MADNESS
    Marijuana is much in the news in the South Pacific Fiji Islands these days, with police and doctors warning of its dangers for users while persistent pot-growers in the Navosa Highlands face threats of increased police action, according to the Fiji Times.
12. NEWSBRIEF: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
    The daily grind of drug war corruption continues. This week, we find crooked deputies in Tennessee, dope-planting cops in Pennsylvania, and big trouble for the federal government and some Customs agents in Texas.
13. THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
    Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.
14. THE DARE GENERATION RETURNS TO DC: STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY 2004 NATIONAL CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH
    Students and activists from across the country will convene at the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Sixth Annual National Conference in College Park, Maryland, outside Washington, DC, next month.
15. APPLY NOW TO INTERN AT DRCNET!
    Make a difference next semester! DRCNet and the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform are seeking motivated and hardworking interns for the Spring 2005 Semester.
16. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: PART-TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY AT DRCNET
    DRCNet is seeking a part-time Administrative Assistant to work with the Executive and Associate Directors and the Member Coordinator. The Administrative Assistant will assist with all manner of clerical and administrative tasks.
17. THE REFORMER'S CALENDAR
    Showing up at an event can be the best way to get involved! Check out this week's calendar for events from today through next year, across the US and around the world!

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