Bei der traditionellen Hanfparade durch die Berliner Innenstadt hat die Polizei am Samstag 23 Menschen vorläufig festgenommen. Grund seien meist Verstöße gegen das Betäubungsmittelgesetz gewesen, teilte die Polizei am Sonntag mit. Rund 1200 Menschen hätten sich an der Parade unter dem Motto «Cannabis ist Weltkultur!» beteiligt. Die Veranstalter sprachen von 1500 Teilnehmern.

charivari.de
Polizisten gegen Patienten auf der Hanfparade

Mexikos früherer Präsident Vicente Fox hat vorgeschlagen, Drogen in seinem Land zu legalisieren, um der Mafia den wirtschaftlichen Boden zu entziehen. „Wir müssen darüber nachdenken, die Herstellung, den Handel und den Verkauf von Drogen zu legalisieren“, schrieb der Amtsvorgänger und konservative Parteifreund des amtierenden Präsidenten Felipe Calderón in seinem Blog.

welt.de

Former President Vicente Fox is joining with those urging his successor to legalize drugs in Mexico, saying that could break the economic power of the country's brutal drug cartels.

Fox's comments, posted Sunday on his blog, came less than a week after President Felipe Calderon agreed to open the door to discussions about the legalization of drugs, even though he stressed that he remained opposed to the idea.

kansascity.com
old zack

I’ve just listened to NPR’s series reporting on the drug war in Mexico and I was left completely stunned by the final part which explains how the current upsurge in violence was triggered.

It turns out that it stems from a change in government, when the Institutional Revolutionary Party or the PRI were voted out after 71 years in power.

mindhacksblog.wordpress.com

Two men face intent to distribute marijuana charges after calling 911 to report an accident.

It's what transpired on the 911 call that got the two arrested. Before the DeKalb dispatcher could answer the call, the men on the end of the line are recorded.

"Gotta find the weed bro," the second person in the car is heard saying on the 911 call.

wsbtv.com

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