Personal Marijuana Use

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

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.

For more than 30 years, Alaska's courts have held that the state constitution's privacy provisions protect citizens who want to smoke and possess small amounts of marijuana in their homes. Last week, the Alaska Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the state's latest effort to undo the status quo.

New York Gov. David Paterson admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the 1970s, and for the most part, the silence has been reassuring. A few ardent prohibitionists complained, though.

A smoking ban in bars, restaurants, and yes, coffee shops, goes into effect in Holland on July 1. But the law only targets tobacco, so marijuana-smoking can continue in the coffee shops, at least as long as it's not those tobacco-laced Euro-style joints.

The Czech Republic is set to decriminalize the possession of up to 20 joints and the growing of up three marijuana plants. The move comes as an adjustment to the penal code.

The New Hampshire House Tuesday approved a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to a quarter ounce of marijuana. But Senate leaders say it is dead on arrival, and the governor is vowing to veto it if it passes.

The conservative Dutch government will review the country's 30-year experiment with pragmatic tolerance of marijuana use and sales, and the Justice Minister has announced he wants to ban "grow shops."

A Jamaican government official said last Friday that the island nation is considering legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana as part of a drug law reform proposal. But don't hold your breath, the government said this was coming "soon" back in 2003.

A bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession in New Hampshire is hitting some bumps. Last week, a subcommittee slashed the quantity from one ounce or less to one-quarter ounce or less, and this week a committee voted not to recommend the bill. But it will still go to the House floor and a possible roll-call vote.