> A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
> David Borden, Executive Director, bor...@drcnet.org
> "Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

> LAST CHANCE: Help StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) Win $50,000 in
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> Table of Contents:

> 1. FEATURE: MAINE VOTERS APPROVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
> Maine has become the latest state to approve state-licensed
> medical marijuana dispensaries. It joins New Mexico and Rhode
> Island. But locally-allowed (or not) dispensaries are the rule
> in California, Colorado, and Washington. Both paths have their
> pluses and minuses.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/maine_approves_medical_mariju...

> 2. FEATURE: VETERANS INCARCERATED AND IGNORED WHEN THEY COULD BE
> GETTING HELP, REPORT FINDS
> Nearly a quarter of a million American veterans were behind bars
> in 2004, many of them for drug abuse-related offenses, a new
> report finds. While the military, the Veterans Administration,
> and other agencies are taking some steps to help them, there is
> much more that could -- and should -- be done.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/veterans_substance_abuse_trea...

> 3. EUROPE: BRITISH SCIENCE VS. POLITICS BATTLE EXPLODES AS TOP
> DRUG ADVISOR FIRED FOR HERESY
> The British government seems to think that if drug policy is not
> supported by science, you need to trash the science -- and the
> scientist -- not the failed policy. It fired a leading voice for
> science- and evidence-based drug policies last Friday for what
> amounted to heresy against official dogma.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/british_drug_advisor_nutt_fir...

> 4. MARIJUANA: COLORADO SKI TOWN VOTES TO LEGALIZE IT, MEASURE
> PASSES WITH 73%
> Breckenridge, Colorado, a Rocky Mountain ski town, just voted
> overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana under municipal ordinance.
> Denver did that in 2005.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/breckenridge_colorado_marijua...

> 5. LATIN AMERICA: MEXICO DRUG WAR UPDATE
> No break in Mexico's prohibition-related violence as the death
> toll since December 2006, when President Calderon called in the
> army, has now topped 15,000. The latest victims include a US
> soldier gunned down in a Ciudad Juarez strip club with five
> other people.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/mexico_drug_war_update

> 6. THE BORDER: US BEGINS TURNING BUSTED SMUGGLERS OVER TO MEXICO
> FOR PROSECUTION
> For years, federal prosecutors on the US-Mexican border have
> been so swamped with smuggling cases that they refuse to
> prosecute busts under 500 pounds. Local prosecutors can't handle
> the overflow, either, so now, the US is sending busted Mexican
> pot smugglers back home to be prosecuted.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/US_Mexico_border_marijuana_sm...

> 7. DRUG LEGALIZATION: SENATOR PUSHES AMENDMENT TO CENSOR ANY
> TALK OF THAT
> Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is floating an amendment to Jim
> Webb's bill to create a commission on criminal justice reforms.
> Grassley's amendment would bar any talk of legalization or
> decriminalization.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/grassley_censorship_amendment...

> 8. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
> The drug war corrodes the integrity of law enforcement in
> multiple ways, as we see this week: Testilying, sexual
> extortion, thievery, and the usual just plain old corrupt
> practices.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/police_drug_corruption

> 9. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION: CALIFORNIA POLL OF PRIMARY VOTERS
> FINDS NARROW MAJORITY SAY KEEP IT ILLEGAL
> A new poll of likely California primary voters has a majority in
> favor of maintaining marijuana prohibition, but the pollster
> said that should not be read as suggesting legalization
> initiatives will necessarily go down to defeat. Different
> polling questions and populations provide different results, he
> said.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/california_marijuana_legaliza...

> 10. EUROPE: DUTCH CANNABIS CAFE OWNER ON TRIAL OVER AMOUNT OF
> POT ON HAND
> Dutch authorities at all levels are tightening the screws on the
> country's famous cannabis coffee shops, and now a prominent
> coffee shop owner is on trial for violating the rules about how
> much he can have on hand.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/dutch_cannabis_coffee_shop_ow...

> 11. LAST CHANCE: HELP STOPTHEDRUGWAR.ORG (DRCNET) WIN $50,000
> IN AMERICA'S GIVING CHALLENGE
> "America's Giving Challenge" is offering prizes ranging from
> $500 to $50,000 to nonprofits who get the largest number of
> gifts from supporters between now and November 7 (TOMORROW). Any
> gift of $10 or higher -- made through the "Causes" program,
> which is linked in to Facebook -- counts equally toward the
> prize, and gifts can be made up to once a day.
> StoptheDrugWar.org is a contestant, and we're asking for your
> help by participating and by spreading the word.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/stopthedrugwar_in_americas_gi...

> 12. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
> Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
> years past.http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/drug_war_history

> (Not subscribed? Visithttp://stopthedrugwar.orgto sign up
> today!)

> ================

> 1. Feature: Maine Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensarieshttp://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/607/maine_approves_medical_mariju...

> Voters in Maine Tuesday approved Question 5, the Maine Medical
> Marijuana Act
> (http://www.mainepatientsrights.org/Petition%20MEDICAL%20MARIJUANA.pdf),
> an initiative instructing the state government to set up a
> system of state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries. The
> measure passed with 59% of the vote.

> Sponsored by Maine Citizens for Patient Rights
> (http://www.mainepatientsrights.org) (MCPR) and the Maine
> Medical Marijuana Policy Initiative
> (http://www.mainecommonsense.org-- MMMPI), and funded primarily
> by the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org), the
> Maine Medical Marijuana Act will:

>   * Establish a system of nonprofit dispensaries which would be
> overseen and tightly regulated by the state;

>   * Establish a voluntary identification card for medical
> marijuana patients and caregivers;

>   * Protect patients and caregivers from arrest, search and
> seizure unless there is suspicion of abuse;

>   * Create new protections for qualified patients and providers
> in housing, education, employment and child custody;

>   * Allow patients with Lou Gehrig's disease and Alzheimer's
> disease access to medical marijuana;

>   * Require the Department of Health and Human Services to
> develop a procedure for expanding the list of conditions for
> which marijuana can be used; and

>   * Keep current allowable marijuana quantities at 2.5 ounces and
> six plants.

> "We weren't surprised at all by the outcome," said Jonathan
> Leavitt of Maine Citizens for Patients Rights, who had predicted
> weeks ago the measure would cruise to victory. "We would have
> done a lot better in most elections, but this time there was a
> big turnout from the hard-core religious right," he said,
> referring to the heated battle over a gay marriage referendum
> that went down to defeat the same day.

> "We're really tickled," said Bruce Mirken, communications
> director for the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org),
> which also supported the campaign. "This was a state election
> with some controversial issues, but medical marijuana wasn't one
> of them. Oh, the usual suspects objected, but nobody was
> listening. This suggests the comfort level with medical
> marijuana is growing by leaps and bounds."

> Some long-time Maine marijuana activists, such as the Maine
> Vocals (http://www.mainevocals.net), had joined the "usual
> suspects" in opposing the measure. They argued that the measure
> gave too much power to the state. But their complaints appeared
> to have little impact on the electoral outcome.

> "It's great to see Maine leapfrog other states in adopting
> cutting-edge medical marijuana legislation," said Jill Harris,
> DPA managing director for public policy. "What's especially nice
> is that the medical marijuana guidelines recently issued by the
> US Department of Justice provide reassurance to Maine officials
> that they can implement the new law without fear of reprisal by
> federal authorities."

> "This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any
> state's voters have authorized the state government to license
> medical marijuana dispensaries," said MPP executive director Rob
> Kampia. "Coming a decade after passage of Maine's original
> marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable
> with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of
> policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact."

> Maine becomes the sixth state to allow medical marijuana
> dispensaries, and, as Kampia noted, the first one to approve
> state-licensed dispensaries through a popular vote. New Mexico
> and Rhode Island approved state-licensed dispensaries through
> the legislative process, while California, Colorado, and
> Washington adopted locally-approved dispensaries through the
> initiative process.

> In New Mexico, there is currently one state-licensed medical
> marijuana dispensary; in Rhode Island none yet exist. In
> Colorado, by contrast, there are nearly a hundred, while in
> California, the number of locally-permitted (or not)
> dispensaries is somewhere shy of 2000. In Washington State, the
> number of dispensaries is much lower, but still higher than in
> states where dispensaries are licensed by the state.

> "The trend toward licensed