Odds and Ends

“bullet” There’s still hope in Nevada.

U.S.æ District Judge James Mahan issued a temporary restraining order Friday stopping the state from taking any further action on the marijuana initiative petition that is short of the necessary signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

Mahan has set Aug.æ 13 as the date for oral arguments on the suit by the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the groups supporting the petition to allow adults to possess and use one ounce of marijuana.

There are a number of legal arguments being considered regarding the petition and the legality of the requirements. The state claims that the initiative has 50,088 valid signatures and needs 51,337 to qualify for the ballot.
“bullet” Libby at Last One Speaks has a ton of interesting stuff to read, including the anniversary of the signing of the Marijuana Tax Act, comments on an article by Amanda L. Stevens on legalizing marijuana, and a report of a good review of the new book by Martin Booth called Cannabis – A History.
“bullet” Vice Squad continues to have some of the most fascinating material in the world of Vice. Check out Michael’s post on the war on drugs in Russia (I was particularly taken by the story of the veterinarian who was charged with “trafficking” for supplying ketamine to a cat by injection — they must have gotten training from U.S. prosecutors). Jim notes that drug selling in Iraq is one of the nine activities that qualifies for the unofficial death penalty administered by radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his army of devotees. The nine include theft, kidnapping, robbery, spying ‘for the Wahabis, al-Qaeda and Saddamists’, trafficking in women, and selling alcohol, pornographic CDs and drugs.