Move's Afoot to Crack Down on Amsterdam's 'Coffee Shops' Amsterdam, Netherlands - Red lights blink, beer flows and smoke floats. And floats. And floats. At ubiquitous "coffee shops" - the popular term for places that legally sell hashish and marijuana - college kids and Bohemian types lap up this city's famous free-and-easy lifestyle. But in an increasingly conservative Netherlands, a new review of drug laws may bring an end to Amsterdam's anything-goes reputation. Dutch government officials are to release a "cannabis letter" to parliament this week proposing a ban on the sale of the country's strong home-grown cannabis. [continues 473 words]
Legalization Group Quotes N.Y. Mayor New York - So this is what they mean by the "new NORML." A year ago, New York magazine asked billionaire media magnate Michael Bloomberg whether he had ever smoked pot. "You bet I did, and I enjoyed it," Bloomberg replied in the shoot-from-the-lip-style that, along with his celebrity lifestyle, made him famous. But now that Bloomberg is mayor of New York City, he is less than pleased to find himself the poster boy for a pro-marijuana campaign. The quote was spotlighted Tuesday by NORML --- the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws --- in new ads demanding that police stop arresting and jailing people for carrying less than an ounce of pot. [continues 267 words]
New York --- Each doll comes with its own tale of woe. There's New York Sammy, whose father was a drug dealer peddling Ecstasy to children. There's East L.A. Lupe, abandoned by her mother after her father died in a gang shooting. There's Confederate Tammy, a homeless girl from Nashville who was sold to a lawyer by her mother, a waitress who became pregnant after a fling with a truck driver. With these personal histories, there's no mistaking Ghetto Kids Dolls for Cabbage Patch Dolls --- which come with their own adoption papers --- at this week's American International Toy Fair, the toy industry's biggest trade show. [continues 280 words]
