One of the most enduring disconnects in the legalization debate is the question of what will become of those nasty drug cartels when we end marijuana prohibition. Here's how Tim Rosales of the No on Prop 19 campaign framed it in a debate with Jane Hamsher on CNN:

You would just be giving the Mexican drug cartels a platform, a legal platform, to operate from here in the United States. I don't think that's a risk that a lot of Californians, or even Americans, want to take.

I think he's right insofar as people do worry about this, and stirring up those sorts of anxieties isn't a bad strategy for legalization's opponents to embrace (particularly given how little they have to work with). But the idea itself is about as brain-dead ridiculous as can be.

stopthedrugwar.org

Mexico's president Felipe Caldéron is the latest Latin leader to call for a debate on drugs legalisation. And in the US, liberals and right-wing libertarians are pressing for an end to prohibition. Forty years after President Nixon launched the 'war on drugs' there is a growing momentum to abandon the fight

guardian.co.uk

Cementing its position as a cannabis capital, Oakland has moved rapidly in recent weeks toward a world of legalized pot, developing permits for what would be some of the largest sanctioned marijuana farms in the world and writing ballot measures that would create a bevy of cannabis taxes.

But at every step, notable opposition came from one group: Harborside Health Center, believed to be the world's largest medical marijuana dispensary.

sfgate.com

District liquor regulators will play a lead role in the city's new medical marijuana program when it debuts Jan. 1, according to draft rules issued Friday by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

Under the regulations, the city health department would be responsible for registering legal marijuana users. But the licensing and oversight of the facilities that will grow and distribute medical cannabis would be handled by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and its enforcement arm, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. The prospect of having the same regulators overseeing medical marijuana and liquor stores concerns advocates who have fought to have cannabis recognized as a medical treatment, not just as a drug for recreational use.

washingtonpost.com
deseretnews.com

Seven residence’s spanning cities through Northern California, including Sacramento, Elk Grove San Jose Milpitas and Oakland were seized in a raid on multi county pot ring. The functioning grow houses were all residential homes that typically were pirating utilities and bypassing electrical meters to maintain constant electrical usage.

The productive operations were capable manufacturing more than a ton of marijuana per year with a $10 million street value.

examiner.com

WAILUKU - A judge said the court wouldn’t recognize a medical marijuana card for a man who was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service as part of five years’ probation in a drug case.

Kaleo Roberson, 35, also was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine as part of his sentence imposed July 29.

mauinews.com

Drogen stammen aus Südamerika und sollten nach Berlin gehen - Neun Verdächtige festgenommen

351 Kilo hochreines Kokain im Straßenverkaufswert von unverschnitten über 14 Millionen Euro haben Zoll und Polizei im Hafen sichergestellt. Das Rauschgift stammt aus Südamerika und sollte via Hamburg nach Berlin gehen. Es ist einer der größten Erfolge im Kampf gegen international operierende Dealergruppierungen. Neun Beteiligte wurden festgenommen.

welt.de
t-online.de
bild.de

Hamburg - Drug traffickers were bricking it when customs officials discovered a secret stash of 12 million GBP of cocaine hidden inside hollowed out stone building slabs.

austriantimes.at