Drug War Chronicle #766 - January 10, 2013

Project SAM has emerged as a "third way" effort to blunt progress toward marijuana legalization by emphasizing public health and treatment. Its leaders include a conservative columnist, an addiction-plagued ex-congressman, and a professional neo-prohibitionist.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reiterated his call for marijuana reforms, telling the legislature it needs to pass a bill that decriminalizes public as well as private possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The DEA was back at it raiding dispensaries again in Los Angeles Wednesday.

Oakland's Harborside medical marijuana dispensary won a victory in federal court Monday, but more battles loom.

MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org, part of the ProCon.org family, is an in-depth web site presenting information and views from a variety of perspectives on the medical marijuana issue. The Chronicle is running a six-part series of info items from ProCon.org, of which this week's is the first.

The drug czar's rhetoric on marijuana legalization is shifting...

Montana caregivers continue to get sentenced in federal court, an Arizona lawmaker wants a redo on medical marijuana, an Illinois bill is delayed, and the back and forth continues in California.

Bolivia's bid to rejoin the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs without accepting the treaty's proscription against coca leaf chewing appears to be set to happen, despite the objections of a handful of Western countries.

Singapore is easing up slightly, but only slightly, on the application of the death penalty for drug trafficking offenses.

Bermuda's new attorney general wants Parliament to take up the topic of marijuana law reform, but he's not quite ready to say it's time to legalize or decriminalize it.

Texas cop wanted cash to make a pot possession arrest go away, Hawaii cop had his own pot garden, Philly cop was peddling 'roids, and then there's the requisite prison guard.