The news abounds with "page 3" stories on drug laws, these days. The Alaskan constitution apparently has strong "right to privacy" provisions, which drove an appellate court there to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The Alaskan Attorney General, however, is not pleased.

And for a different kind of anti-drug campaign, it appears that, just because Canadian law allows for medical marijuana, it doesn't mean you'll score top quality goods. What did they expect from the government? Sheesh.

Some of our friendly neighbors to the north are also trying a novel approach to drug treatment: furnish the drug houses. No, not methodone... drug houses for using illegal drugs. It's claimed that more lives will be saved and less diseases spread if addicts have a safe place to get their respective fixes, and there's at least some evidence to suggest the supporters might have a point. In any case, it's scaring the hell out of anti-drug advocates here in the States. To read the whole story from the link, by the way, you can get a free "daypass" for watching a little web-mercial.

Also, if you were still holding on to some shred of goodwill toward North Korea, there might now be one less reason to like them (besides kimchi). President Bush claimed on Tuesday that North Korea has a "direct role" in the production and trafficking of nasty drugs. Then again, the government also lumps China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in with that lot, and they're our good friends. One would think we ought to call them out more vociferously before we do so with whacko nuclear powers who want to attack us (the last qualification to distinguish it from Pakistan).