Ecstasy

A bill that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of drug for personal use is now the law of the land in Mexico. Although there was some doubt President Calderon would approve it, it appeared in the official gazette Thursday. It also includes provisions to allow the state and localities to go after small-time drug dealers, a power previously reserved to the federal government.

Dancing in karaoke clubs would be banned under a Vietnamese government effort to reduce Ecstasy use. "Behavior with less danger to society," such as swaying to the beat, however, would be okay.

Once again, the British government has ignored the recommendations of its own advisory committee to down-schedule a drug. Last year, it was marijuana. This time, it's Ecstasy. And it looks like next time, the same thing will happen with LSD. It's making some wonder whether the government wants evidence-based drug policies or not.

Britain's advisory panel on drug policy is about to undertake a review of the scheduling of ecstasy as a Class A drug, the most serious classification. The move comes after several reports saying the popular stimulant should be downgraded.

A leading Australian drug researcher has dared to suggest young people might be better off taking small doses of ecstasy rather than getting stinking drunk on a regular basis, and that has excited cries of blasphemy!

The British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the government body charged with setting drug policy, has a new chairman this week, and he has said he wants to downgrade Ecstasy to a less serious drug classification.

The drug laws just got tougher in Australia's Queensland. The parliament there passed a bill increasing penalties for Ecstasy, PMA, and a number of other drugs, added "analogues" to the list, and made it a crime to provide items used to make drugs.

Spurred by the state's narcs, the Kansas legislature is considering a bill that would make ecstasy possession a felony. It's all about the kids, proponents argue, but opponents wonder how saddling them with felony records will help.

North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom is at it again. The veteran critic of drug prohibition has stirred up a hornet's nest with his latest comments, including one that ecstasy is "safer than aspirin."

The Australian state of Queensland is effectively increasing penalties for a number of drugs by rescheduling them as more dangerous.