The Year In Pot

December 6:Brussels, Belgium—Liberal prime minister Guy Verhofstadt and a coalition of Liberals, Socialists, and Greens vote to end marijuana prohibition. As of January 1, 2001, Belgium, joining Holland in embracing tolerance, will "exempt from punishment possession, consumption, and trade of up to five grams hashish or marijuana." Belgium is the seat of the European Union.

December 6:In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine released today, President Bill Clinton is asked if he thinks "people should go to jail for using or even selling small amounts of marijuana." Clinton replies, "I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be." Clinton adds, "We really need a reexamination of our entire policy on imprisonment. A lot of people are in prison because they have drug problems or alcohol problems and too many of them are getting out—particularly out of state systems—without treatment, without education, without skills, without serious efforts at job placement."

kcnelson@premier1.net

See Also:

The Herbalist
Arrested for Giving Marijuana to the Sick Kenneth Toglia Still Sows Seeds of Hope
by Andrew Friedman

Greener Pastures
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
by Adamma Ince