There is a mad rush to legalize marijuana these days, but it's time to rethink that generous yet foolish move - generous because it lifts the onus of crime from peaceful smokers, but foolish because it harms mental development and health.

Legalization, as we have seen it in Colorado and Washington state, lifts the cloud of legal fears from the shoulders of millions of pot smokers - some of them actually languishing in prisons for decades for selling or possessing a few ounces of pot.

[continues 711 words]

There is a mad rush to legalize marijuana these days but it's time to rethink that generous yet foolish move -- generous because it lifts the onus of crime from peaceful smokers but foolish because it harms mental development and health.

Legalization, as we have seen it in Colorado and Washington state, lifts the cloud of legal fears from the shoulders of millions of pot smokers -- some of them actually languishing in prisons for decades for selling or possessing a few ounces of pot.

[continues 713 words]

There is a mad rush to legalize marijuana these days, but it's time to rethink that generous yet foolish move -- generous because it lifts the onus of crime from peaceful smokers, but foolish because it harms mental development and health.

Legalization, as we have seen it in Colorado and Washington state, lifts the cloud of legal fears from the shoulders of pot smokers. But legalizing pot would almost certainly lead to much wider smoking of the weed, leaving millions damaged for life.

[continues 398 words]

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Colombian President Andres Pastrana said yesterday that a proposed $1.6 billion U.S. drug package would fight paramilitary death squads as well as communist guerrillas in the Andean nation.

The U.S. aid, now pending in Congress, would include dozens of Black Hawk helicopters and other military assistance to help Colombia's government win back some of the more than 30 percent of the country held by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia known by the Spanish acronym FARC.

[continues 509 words]