Oregon Group Convinces Bookstore to Relocate Marijuana Publications

A brief advocacy campaign by Umpqua Partners for a Drug-Free Future led to the Borders bookstore chain to move High Times and other marijuana-related publications away from a display of children’s and teen’s books like Twilight, the group said.

Umpqua Partners founding partner Marlene Petersen visited a Waldenbooks location — owned by Borders — and noticed that publications like High Times and Weed World were displayed right behind the counter and near small backpacks for children and Twilight books intended for teen readers.

D.C. Medical Marijuana Law Attacked in Congress

Congress last year lifted a longstanding ban on use of public money to support medical marijuana in Washington, D.C., but now a pair of Republican lawmakers want to block implementation of the law. The Washington Post reported June 23 that…

Researchers: Secondhand Smoke Threatens Millions in Public Housing

Americans who live in public housing are exposed to secondhand smoke from their neighbors, according to researchers who demonstrated how smoke from one apartment unit can infiltrate into others. UPI reported June 19 that researchers Jonathan Winickoff of MassGeneral Hospital…

Experts Struggle to Determine Overdose Deaths

Overdoses from prescription drugs have sometimes led to civil or criminal charges against prescribing physicians, but even toxicologists have problems distinguishing between overdose deaths and fatalities from other causes, Time reported June 16. The result is that the courts, not…

Former FDA Chief Exhorts Agency to Lower Cigarette Nicotine Content

A former commissioner of the FDA urged the agency to use its new tobacco-regulation powers to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes to a sub-addicting level, the Washington Post reported June 17.  David Kessler praised the FDA’s regulatory actions to date…

AMA Says FDA Should Regulate E-Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are drug-delivery devices and should be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Medical Association (AMA) says. FDA is currently considering if and how to regulate so-called e-cigarettes, which are sometimes marketed as a…

Major New Tobacco Rules Take Effect This Week

Restrictions on cigarette branding and new labeling requirements go into effect June 22 — part of the new federal Tobacco Control Act — HealthDay News reported June 17. As of Tuesday, cigarettes may no longer be branded as “light,” “mild,” or…

Mexican President Defends Anti-Drug Efforts, Indicts U.S.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon this week compared the United States to a drug addict as he sought to shore up support for his antidrug efforts at home. “It is as though we have a neighbor next door who is the…

Supreme Court Relaxes Drug Deportation Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against automatic deportation of legal immigrants for minor drug offenses, the New York Times reported June 14.  The unanimous decision resolved longstanding confusion at the state and federal level on how to interpret the term…