Decriminalization

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research. The nation's largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD. In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.

In revenue-strapped Nevada, where foreclosed homes dot suburban streets and poker tables sit empty, it's come to this: A state legislator wants to talk about legalizing -- and taxing -- prostitution in Reno and Las Vegas. "It's almost de facto legal. It's running unregulated," said state Sen. Bob Coffin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Taxation Committee. He also said legalization would better protect sex workers.

Mired in a bloody battle with major drug traffickers, Mexico is quietly eliminating jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs. The government of President Felipe Calderon says removing the penalties will help in its fight against traffickers by freeing up law enforcement resources and shifting attention from minor consumers to big-time dealers and drug lords. The law also provides for free treatment for addicts. But critics say decriminalization sends the wrong message amid a drug war that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since late 2006.

Orange County supervisors narrowly passed a measure Tuesday to move forward with licensing guidelines for medical marijuana use, but the proposal faces an uphill battle before it can actually become law. On a split vote, supervisors approved an amended measure directing staff to draft regulations for county-issued medical marijuana identification cards and to study issues such as how other county health departments and law enforcement agencies have dealt with implementing the new rules.

An attorney for jailed medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby on Tuesday asked that the cancer-stricken inmate be allowed to eat cannabis in food or pills while behind bars, or be released to serve his time under house arrest. Kubby, a former Libertarian candidate for governor of California, fled Placer County in 2001 and moved to Canada to avoid a 120-day jail stint he contends would have been a death sentence without marijuana.

Mexican President Vicente Fox will sign a bill that would legalize the use of nearly every drug and narcotic sold by the same Mexican cartels he's vowed to fight during his five years in office, a spokesman said Tuesday. The list of illegal drugs approved for personal consumption by Mexico's Congress last week is enough to make one dizzy -- or worse. Cocaine. Heroin. LSD. Marijuana. PCP. Opium. Synthetic opiates. Mescaline. Peyote. Psilocybin mushrooms. Amphetamines. Methamphetamines.

First West Hollywood officials required that pet owners be known as "pet guardians." Then they banned cat declawing and even considered outlawing pet cosmetic surgery. On Monday, the Westside town famous for its novelmunicipal lawmaking took a stab at legalizing the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana. But achieving that goal might prove difficult.

Here in the heart of the Bible Belt, where local laws often restrict the sale of liquor, grass-roots campaigns to decriminalize marijuana have gone nowhere. But to the surprise of pot enthusiasts across the state, residents in the small tourist town of Eureka Springs will vote next month on whether to make misdemeanor marijuana arrests the city's lowest law enforcement priority.

For years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it. A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion -- far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay, which are the top three legal cash crops.

Could Mexican cities become Latin Amsterdams, flooded by drug users seeking penalty-free tokes and toots? That is the fear, if somewhat overstated, of some Mexican officials, especially in northern border states that serve as a mecca for underage drinkers from the United States. The anxiety stems from the Mexican legislature's quiet vote to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs, an effort that in the past proved controversial.