Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Irish liquor licensing laws for railroad passengers (article)

Timothy Moriarty, "Liquor licensing laws and railways," Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society 21 (2003): 492-506.

Reclassification of cannabis 'fuels youth crime wave'

Cannabis use among Britain's young offenders is "out of control", up by 75 per cent in some areas and fuelling a crime epidemic, with youngsters stealing to fund their addictions, according to two studies.

The Independent reports.

Iraq's alcohol business

Selling and drinking alcohol is still legal in Iraq, but since the rise of religious parties in this predominantly Muslim country, the trade has come under severe pressure.

Aside from legal restrictions, many liquor shops have been bombed in the past four years. Some who dared sell alcohol from their homes have been killed by religious militias, which use fear and intimidation to keep liquor out of areas they control.

Still, that has not deterred all traders or customers.

Read more here.

Social and economic control of alcohol in the USA today (book)

Carole L. Jurkiewicz, ed., Social and economic control of alcohol: the 21st amendment in the 21st century (Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis, forthcoming 2008).

Social and Economic Control of Alcohol: The 21st Amendment in the 21st Century
Edited by Carole L. Jurkiewicz
1 Why Control Alcohol? Jurkiewicz
2 Taxation and the Economic Impacts of Alcohol Schwalm
3 The Future of the Three-Tiered System As A Control of Marketing Alcoholic Beverages Lawson
4 Contents Under Pressure: Regulating the Sales and Marketing of Alcoholic Beverages Cagann
5 Policy, Regulation and Legislation Rhodes
6 The Repeal Program Diamond
7 Sociological/Cultural Influences of Drinking Jonathan P. West, Colleen M. West
8 Perceptions, Policies, and Social Norms: Transforming Alcohol Cultures Over the Next 100 Years Linkenbach
9 Controlling Misuse of Alcohol by College Youth: Paradigms and Paradoxes for Prevention Weitzman
10 How do alcohol screening and prevention programs fare in a web-based environment? Belanger
11 Instituting Innovation: A Model of Administrative Change in a State-Level Liquor Control Board Cox, Cronin
12 Toward Liquor Control: A Retrospective Daniels

Sweden and alcohol (article)

Laurie Thompson wrote an article with this name in the 2003 supplement to the Swedish Book Review. For more, see here.

Dutch coffee shops say cannabis smoke here to stay

Could a smoking ban spell the end of Amsterdam's world famous coffee shops, where smoking cannabis is one of the main attractions?

No chance, says local conservative politician and coffee shop owner Michael Veling. The Dutch may well follow other European countries in banning tobacco smoking in restaurants, cafes and bars, but Veling says it should still be possible to smoke dope.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Opium for the people?

Tony Blair's British administration is considering supporting legalization of the Afghanistan opium crop.  Find that story here.  Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has issued a policy statement against legalization.  Read that story here.  (Thanks to Dave Trippel for the links). 

Few Maltese know legal blood alcohol limit for driving

A total of 96 per cent of Maltese respondents to a Eurobarometer survey are extremely uninformed about the allowed alcohol level in the blood while driving, saying that they did not know what the legal limit was.

Find the full story here.

Utah state law bans intoxicants from license plates

Merlot can be a variety of grape or a type of red wine, but not an acceptable personalized license plate in the state of Utah.  The CBC reports.

Smokers defy tough Hawaii law

There's a revolt going on in Hawaii as some bar owners openly defy the state's new anti-smoking law, one of the nation's toughest, by letting their customers light up. So far, they're getting away with it, although a recent protest smoke-in brought police to one downtown bar.

Find the full story here.

Alcohol vaporizer ban clears House

The Lexington-Herald Leader reports that a proposed ban on devices that vaporize liquor - allowing consumers to get drunk without imbibing liquid - cleared the Kentucky House on Friday.

The measure would ban people from selling or owning an alcohol vaporizer device. A version on the market is called Alcohol Without Liquid, or AWOL.

Across the country, more than 20 states have either banned the device or are considering it, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, said.

The proposed ban would make selling or owning the device a misdemeanor House lawmakers approved the plan on a 96-0 vote.  It heads to the Senate for consideration.

4-cent beer tax?

Would you pay another 4 cents for every beer at your favorite bar or neighborhood grocery to help pay for police and firefighters to deal with rowdy college students? That’s what officials in the city of Kent (Ohio) are considering.

The Columbus Dispatch reports.

Cannabis chocolate makers guilty

The campaign in the UK to legalise cannabis for therapeutic use suffered a setback this week when a couple who supplied chocolate bars laced with the drug to multiple sclerosis sufferers were found guilty of a criminal offence.

Find the full story here.

France moves to stub out smoking

A French ban on smoking in public places partly comes into force on Thursday, covering workplaces, schools and hospitals and setting the clock ticking for cafes and bars to kick the habit.

Read more here.

Commuters may have to bid farewell to public transit's 'bar cars'

It may be last call for Manhattan train commuters long accustomed to easing their ride on the rails with something stronger than sarsaparilla. Find the full story here.

Bangalore government likely to ban sale of arrack

In Bangalore, inebriated men by the roadside might soon become a rare sight.  The Karnataka government is contemplating banning the sale of arrack beginning in June 2007. Deputy chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa told reporters: "We are serious about it. We do not want to increase the number of arrack consumers and ruin their families on the pretext of mobilising revenue."

Find the full story here.

Health experts urge hike in tobacco and alcohol taxes

The Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has called on Brian Cowen to raise excise duties on tobacco and alcohol in next week's Budget.

The health experts would see the measure as an effective way to lessen the damage on people's health caused by cigarettes and alcohol.

Find the full story here.

UK official proposes legalising heroin

As Afghanistan’s record opium poppy crop floods the European cities with the drug, the risk of higher numbers of heroin overdoses has increased in the region, the UN warned on Thursday. Europe has traditionally been the biggest market for Afghan opiates and opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 59% this year.

Meanwhile, a top British police officer has called for heroin to be prescribed to addicts to cut the link between drugs and crime. Howard Roberts, deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire police, said that making the class A drug available under supervision would save money in the long run.

Find the full story here.

Taking it outside

WHEN HAWAII'S no-smoking law went into effect last week, it removed two of the final locations where smokers could light up with impunity.

The Star Bulletin reports.

Drink laws 'not changing habits'

The shake-up of licensing laws a year ago has not encouraged most people to go to pubs more or start drinking later in the evening, a British survey suggests.

The BBC reports.

Austria: One of Europe's last smoking havens

A close look at Austria's bars and restaurants shows a nation in conflict: smoking bans are being both vehemently demanded and fiercely rejected. 

The Turkish Press reports.

Smoking ban creates mess outside bars

Ontario's new smoking ban has created a mess for Windsor bar owners, literally.

Canada.com reports.

Caribbean's toughest smoking ban coming to Puerto Rico

Touted as the Caribbean's toughest smoking ban, Puerto Rico's "clean air act" not only prohibits smoking in enclosed public areas, but also in private cars carrying children under 13 and in open-air terraces or outdoor bars with one or more employees.

Puerto Rico's governor signed the law into effect earlier this year over the objections of some in the $3 billion tourist industry, who feared it might turn away tourists.

Read more here.

Tougher laws are not always a deterrent

Laws against drunken driving or driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol vary from country to country. But while India allows a lower permissible limit of alcohol in blood than many countries, punishments in some countries for drunken driving can be harsher than in India.

However, stricter laws aren't always a deterrent.  The Times (of India) reports.

PM plans clampdown on drug-impaired driving

[Canadian] Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced plans Friday to amend the Criminal Code to clamp down on drivers who are high on drugs, calling drug-impaired driving "just as socially unacceptable" as getting behind the wheel when drunk.

The changes will give police new powers to apprehend and test drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs, increase penalties and promote awareness of the problem, Harper said.

The CBC reports.

B.C. Premier announces tighter restrictions on smoking in public places

British Columbia's Premier Gordon Campbell says his government will ban smoking in most public places, including schools and hospitals.

Campbell told about 1,000 delegates Saturday at the B.C. Liberal Party's convention that banning smoking is one way his government plans to improve the health of British Columbians and reduce health costs.

Smoking on all school property, both public and private, will be prohibited by next September, he said. The public smoking ban will take effect in 2008, giving businesses and institutions time for implementation, Campbell said.

Read more here.

Smoke ban will make lung cancer 'a thing of the past'

LUNG cancer will be a thing of the past as more people quit smoking and are no longer subjected to secondhand smoke, Scotland's Chief Medical Officer has said. 

Dr Harry Burns said that the smoking ban will help to dramatically reduce future lung cancer rates to just a few hundred cases a year.

The Scotsman reports.

Typo in DWI law is hardly small beer

Drinking a shot of beer in New York could get you arrested for drunken driving. At least that's the way the New York law reads. Lawmakers this year approved a bill that sets the standard for driving while intoxicated at 0.18 grams of alcohol in a person's blood. A person's body might produce that much alcohol naturally, said Ed Fiandach, a DWI lawyer in Rochester. Instead of using grams, the law should have used blood alcohol content as a measure.

Find the full story here.

Argentine farmers won't kick tobacco habit

Aregentina has joined the list of nations cracking down on smoking and its tobacco.  The country's farmers have long been encouraged to replace at least some of their tobacco crops with alternatives ranging from pigs to pine trees.

But in regions like the verdant province of Misiones, tobacco is still the most profitable crop for small farmers, and growing tobacco lets them join a union that gives them health insurance and the power to negotiate better prices with tobacco companies.

Reuters reports.

Smoking ban hits loto-Quebec

Loto-Quebec says it may see a $150-million drop in revenue this year, as the new anti-tobacco law keeps smokers away from video-lottery terminals in bars.

The Montreal Gazette reports.

Smokers feeling the heat in China

Hundreds of thousands of smokers in China are now more willing to quit the habit following the recent passage of an anti- smoking bill into law, according to a Hong Kong University survey.

The Standard, China's Business Newspaper, reports.

Battle of the binge

As the impact of drinking habits in Scotland steadily worsens, tough measures are being drawn up to tackle alcohol abuse. The Guardian reports.

Beer in Tanzania

There was a time in Tanzania when having a beer with friends meant standing in line for hours. And even then you weren't guaranteed a drink. Then the government began to remove decades-old state controls on the economy and privatize state-owned companies. Beer and other goods became more readily available and the government saved the $100 million it spent each year subsidizing state-owned companies.

Read more here.

Ontario liquor law change aimed at preventing date rape

The Ontario government has proposed changing its liquor laws in an effort to protect bar patrons from date rape drugs. Under the new provisions, consumers would be permitted to carry their drinks with them into washrooms and hallways, thereby eliminating the opportunity for others to spike their beverages with so-called date rape drugs. Bars will have to extend their liquor licences to cover the new areas.

The CBC reports.

Potheads, Puritans, and Pragmatists

For Reason magazine, Jacob Sullum reports on two US marijuana initiatives that are putting drug warriors on the defensive.  Find the full story here.

Professor asks university to take high road on prescription pot

A Toronto professor wants to smoke his prescription pot at the university where he works and is refusing to step onto campus until he can.

York University professor Brian MacLean says he has clearance from Health Canada for medical marijuana use for an undisclosed illness, but there is no place at work where he can smoke it.

"I have to medicate a lot," he says. "There's no issue here, well, can I restrain my medication on campus? No, I can't."

Until his medical need is accommodated, MacLean is refusing to step onto campus and is holding all of his classes on policing elsewhere.

The CBC reports.  Find an in-depth story about medical marijuana in Canada here.

Europeans turn to cocaine and alcohol as cannabis loses favour

Europeans are abandoning cannabis but turning to cocaine and drink, new figures from French customs reveal.  The Observer reports.

'Last call' law in the Dominican

A new 'last call' law aims to combat crime in the streets in the Dominican Republic. The Guardian reports.

Bar workers show health benefits after smoking banned

Smoking bans for bars seem to quickly improve the lung health of workers exposed to less second-hand smoke, a new study suggests. The CBC reports.

Venezuela’s Chavez banning beer trucks from sales on the street

Venezuela’s president has a new public enemy: beer trucks. President Hugo Chavez said yesterday he is fed up with seeing beer trucks sell alcohol directly on the streets of poor neighborhoods.

“It’s the degeneration of society. It’s one of the causes of public drunkenness in the slums,” he said as he declared he was putting a ban on the beer runs.  The Boston Herald reports.

'Dry' counties are drying up in Texas

Strinden and others in [Texas's] Angelina County will vote in November whether to allow beer and wine in their grocery and convenience stores as well as whether restaurants can serve beer, wine and mixed drinks.

The vote comes as part of a wave of local-option elections that are steadily ''wetting up" the more populous parts of Texas. Lufkin's Baptist churches and others are mounting a campaign to keep their corner of East Texas dry, but trends are not on their side.

Read more.

Drinks and tobacco makers must tread softly on the subcontinent

One in four of India's 1.1 billion population consumes tobacco, lighting up 108 billion cigarettes a year. Beer and branded liquor sell nearly 200 million cases a year. But, as the National Post reports, while India, and its growing young population, looks like an attractive market for global drinks and tobacco makers looking to expand, the tight rules make life difficult.

NABCA

The website of the US's National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, and its list of publications, can be found here. (Thanks to Dave Trippel for the link).

Alcohol and Politics (Articles)

James Quan Nicholls, ‘Liberties and Licences: Alcohol in Liberal Thought’, International Journal of Cultural Studies Vol. 9, No. 2 (2006): pp. 131-152.

James Quan Nicholls, ‘Gin Lane Revisited: Intoxication and Society in the Gin Epidemic’ Journal for Cultural Research Vol. 7, No. 2 (2003): pp. 125-146.

Celebrities have to obey smoking laws too

The CBC reports that Hollywood star Sean Penn has run afoul of Ontario government officials for smoking during an indoor event last weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Various newspapers and media outlets, including CBC Arts Online, published images of the Oscar-winning actor lighting up on Sunday during the press conference for his film All the King's Men, which had its world premiere in Toronto on Sunday evening and hits North American theatres Sept. 22. The press conferences are held inside a Toronto hotel ballroom.

No one should violate the province's smoking ban — designed to protect workers from second-hand smoke —whether it's Penn or an average bar patron, Ontario's minister of health promotion, Jim Watson, said Wednesday.

licensing schemes (article)

Jessica Warner, "Are you a closet Fabian? Licensing schemes then and now," Addiction 101/7 (July 2006): 909-910.

Drug Prohibition economics (article)

Miron, Jeffrey A., and Jeffrey Zwiebel. “The Economic Case Against Drug Prohibition.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 9:4 (Autumn 1995), 175-192. [Makes comparisons between present-day drug prohibition and early twentieth-century alcohol prohibtion to argue that “a relatively free market in drugs is likely to be vastly superior to the current policy of prohibition.”]

Public "shooting galleries" for Britain?

  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recommends that Britain host drug use in hygenic public spaces. The Independent Online (May 23) has this report.

Drunk Driving (brief article)

Archibald, Matthew E. “Drunk Driving.” Ronald Gottesman and Richard Maxwell Brown et al, eds. Violence in America: An Encyclopedia (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1999), 1:440-442. [Brief history of drunk driving as a violent crime in the US.]

Europe to fight "passive drinking"

Bruno Waterfield reports for Spiked (May 26) a London online magazine:

The campaigns to combat the effects of ‘passive smoking’ are widely credited for Europe’s growing number of smoking bans. Now alcohol is in the sights of the public health lobbyists, and they have invented the concept of ‘passive drinking’ as their killer argument.

I have seen a leaked draft report for the European Commission, which is due to be published some time in June. It makes claims about the high environmental or social toll of alcohol, the ‘harm done by someone else’s drinking’.

Korean Male Smokers’ Perceptions of Tobacco Control Policies in the United States (article)

Sun Seog Kim, and Kyoung A. Nam. "Korean Male Smokers’ Perceptions of Tobacco Control Policies in the United States." Public Health Nursing 22, no. 3 (2005): 221-229.

Coaker did not like cannabis

Vernon Coaker, Britain's new drugs minister, admits he smoked and did not like cannabis. BBC News story here.

FDA approves synthetic marijuana pill

The AP reports Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has received permission to market a tetrahydrocannabinol pill for nausea and vomiting. So long as pot's medicinal effects are not partially derived from the calming ritual of smoking, there will be "medical marijuana" after all.  Link here.

Carding perhaps mandatory for Tennessee beer sales

The State of Tennessee is considering a law that would require ID for any purchase of beer, regardless of the age of the purchaser. Link here.

Hugh Henry Brackenridge, “Provincial Honors to an Exciseman” (1807)

A passage from Hugh Henry Brackenridge's Modern Chivalry, in a critical edition written by a graduate student, is now available at my other website. It describes the warm reception western Pennsylvanians gave to excise officers, men sent to collect the taxes on whiskey that sparked the Whiskey Rebellion. Link here.

At this instant the advancing crowd raised a loud shout, crying Liberty and no excise! liberty and no excise! down with all excise officers!

FDA: No medical green tea

The green tea industry applied to the FDA for "heart-healthy" status and were rejected. Andrew Bridges reports for the AP here.

Tobacco Use and Control in the United States (interview)

Hwang, Jamie. "The Evolution of Tobacco Use and Control in the United States: an Interview with Dr. John Farquhar." American Journal of Health Promotion 19 (2005): 255-259.

Underage drinkers consume a lot of alcohol

The May issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine reports on the percentage of drink sales that constitute underage and abusive drinking.

The researchers analyzed information on 260,580 people, age 12 years and older, from several national databases to estimate the commercial value to the alcohol industry of consumption by underage and abusive and dependent drinkers.

Among those ages 12 to 20, over 47 percent were current drinkers and close to 26 percent met the criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence, compared to 9.6 percent of drinkers age 21 and older who met the criteria. Pathological drinkers consumed three times as much alcohol per month as drinkers who did not have abuse or dependence problems.

"Almost all (96.8 percent) of the adult drinkers with alcohol abuse and dependence began drinking prior to the age of 21 years," the study authors wrote.

The bottom line: "The financial interests of the alcohol industry appear to be antithetic to the public health interests of the nation in preventing and limiting pathological drinking," the authors suggested.

Other numbers: underage drinkers consume a quantity of alcohol that makes up 18 percent of all alcohol sales, which is quite a lot considering that young people often drink the cheapest kinds of alcoholic beverages. Link to undated and unsigned HealthdayNews report.

Party hosts not responsible for guests who drive drunk, high court rules

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously on Friday that hosts cannot be held legally liable for letting their guests drive home drunk. The CBC reports.

NABCA conference, May 17-21, Marco Island, Florida

The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) will be holding their 69th annual conference "as a way to provide an invaluable forum for all interested parties in the alcohol beverage community." The theme this year is "Quality Control." The keynotes speakers will be Ronan Tynan, Doris Kearns Goodwin (delivering "Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln"), and Gene Stanaland. You can download a well-designed ten-page conference PDF here (PDF download).

Defense of a Pot Producer

Ron Ridenour writes a marijuana history to argue for legalization in the April 18 edition of MR Zine, an online magazine published by the Monthly Review.

Alaska's liberal marijuana law up in smoke?

Alaska's law on marijuana possession is considered the most liberal in the country -- but its governor wants to change that, saying pot has evolved into "a dangerous drug."

CNN reports.

UK 'faces world-wide ridicule' over alcohol health

Britain's Public Health Minister Caroline Flint announced that the Government was in active discussions with the drinks industry about the warnings, which could go on alcohol packaging as well as in pubs, off-licences and on supermarket shelves.

Ronay said: "Britain would be exposed to world-wide ridicule if plans formulated by the public health minister, Caroline Flint, to print a health warning on wine labels materialise."

Read more.

Canada's new Prime Minister takes tough stand on marijuana laws

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he was scrapping draft legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The New York Times reports.

Iran finds 7,000-year-old liquor habit is tough to break

For 27 years, Iran's Islamic regime has faced an uphill battle to rid the country of bootleg liquor. But even after a recent law increased the punishment for drinking to 74 lashes, a hefty fine and imprisonment of three months to a year, drinking is widespread.

The IHT reports.

Pubs in Ireland complying with smoking ban

A massive 95 per cent of pubs surveyed in Ireland are complying with the smoking ban, a study shows. The Publican reports.

Ban sale of tobacco in pharmacies, NDP urges

Canada's New Democratic Party has introduced a private member's bill to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies.  The Globe and Mail reports.

Illegal bars multiplying in rural Saskatchewan

Owners of small-town Saskatchewan hotels say the smoking ban that came into effect in Saskatchewan 15 months ago has created a "garage bar" phenomenon across rural Saskatchewan that is not being regulated or policed.

The Star Phoenix reports

Message to smokers: just get over it

For The Guardian, A L Kennedy writes:

I've always had a great affection for smokers - they're so faithful. Tobacco companies have lied to them for decades, spiked products to make them more addictive, manipulated research, danced around compensation suits until plaintiffs have died of smoking-related illnesses, even insulted tobacco users in confidential mailings - and still they keep on buying. Smokers apparently don't care how environmentally damaging Big Tobacco's production methods are, or how many dodgy political connections they have - smokers are very loving and forgiving people. So I always try to be kind to smokers.

And yesterday I had to be especially caring and gentle around our Scottish puffers in enclosed public places because they might well be tetchy, what with the start of the UK's first smoking ban and the weather outside being grim.

Read on.

Scotland begins pub smoking ban

A ban on smoking in public places - including bars and restaurants - has come into effect in Scotland. The BBC reports.

One of the largest studies in the world into the impact of banning smoking on the health of bar staff is to take place in Scotland. Find that BBC report here.

And finally, bingo operators and pubs are expected to bear the brunt of Scotland's smoking ban, as smokers crack open a beer or two at home and some bingo players miss games for cigarette breaks. Reuters reports.

Bolivian President takes 'coca is not cocaine' plea to UN

Bolivia stepped up a long-running battle with Washington this week by taking its campaign to legalise coca plants to the United Nations in a bid to persuade the international community that the leaf should no longer be banned because of its links to the illegal drugs trade.

The Independent reports.

Smokers' apartheid

Edinburgh's Alan D. Myerthall may be a tobacconist but, oddly enough, he doesn’t view the smoking ban as a wholesale disaster. “If I never sold another packet of cigarettes in my life it wouldn’t bother me one iota,” he says.

The Times reports.

Study examines smoke-free establishments

'Tis better to celebrate St. Patrick's Day -- or any other day -- in a smoke-free pub, according to a study released today by Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Harvard University School of Public Health and several organizations in Ireland.

The study measured air pollution levels in 128 Irish pubs in the United States, Ireland and 12 other countries. It found that the average level of air pollution inside Ireland's smoke-free pubs was 91 percent lower than inside Irish pubs located in countries and cities that still permit workplace smoking.

Buffalo's Business First reports.

Combating alcohol abuse in Edinburgh

The Scotsman reports that tough new measures are being drawn up by Edinburgh's city council aimed at curbing the growth of shops in the city selling drink, in a bid to clamp down on levels of alcohol-fuelled disorder. City leaders are determined to crack down on irresponsible shopkeepers and cut the number of stores selling cheap alcohol.

Find an opinion piece in the same paper about alcohol abuse in Scotland here.

Detroit's drunkest wreck havoc in Canadian border city

For Canada.com, Donald McArthur reports on the destructive effects of young Americans coming to Windsor, Ontario to party because of the lower drinking age and the cheaper dollar.

Old enough to drink, but too young to buy

The legal age for buying alcohol to take away in New Zeland could be raised to 20 while the drinking age remains at 18, in a bid to reduce the impact of alcohol on young people.

The New Zealand Herald reports.

'Plus, if I get pulled over tonight and they ask if I had anything to drink, I can say no,' says Scott Jiminez, 39

Rarely has a happy-hour gimmick generated more legislative angst than Alcohol Without Liquid, or AWOL, a gizmo that looks like a medical device but is used to inhale vaporized liquor.

The contraption, marketed as a way to imbibe without calories, carbs, hangovers or telltale breath, has lawmakers scrambling to prohibit it from bars and restaurants. Several states, including Kansas, Michigan and Colorado, already have bans on the machines. At least a dozen more have measures pending.

KRT Wire reports.

One in 50 drivers on ecstasy

SECRET police tests [in Victoria, Australia] have caught up to 300 motorists driving under the influence of ecstasy. The shock results have persuaded the Bracks Cabinet to include ecstasy in new roadside drug-drive test laws introduced in State Parliament yesterday. The new laws will come into force from July 1.

The Herald Sun reports.

Partial prohibition in Brazil

The long arm of the law has been preaching - and enforcing - prohibition in Diadema for four years now. Under a bold and controversial bill passed in 2002 to combat the alcohol-fueled bloodshed that made this industrial city one of the most violent in Brazil, authorities banned the serving of liquor after 11 p.m. in almost all the city's 4,800 bars and restaurants.

Those caught flouting the law are, like de Souza, first warned, then fined 125 reais (about $60). A second fine doubles the amount. Finally, if they persist, their places are closed down. The effect has been stunning.

The Christian Science Monitor reports.

City to ban smoking in play parks

Smoking is on the verge of being banned in children's play areas in Glasgow. The BBC reports.

Uruguay curbs smoking in public

Uruguay has become the first country in South America to ban smoking in enclosed public places. The BBC reports.

Enclosed patios for smoking on way out

Partially enclosed patios erected by Toronto bar owners to give customers a comfortable place to smoke are expected to be outlawed by summer as part of the province-wide ban on smoking, activists say.

Canada.com reports.

The Crimes of Pot Justice

For some, a marijuana arrest might be a death sentence.  Reason explains why.

It's fine to drink and drive, Kenyan court rules

A Kenyan court ordered police to stop using breathalysers because the country has no law against drinking and driving.

Two men arrested in January when their breath tested positive for alcohol challenged prosecutors to identify which law they had broken.

While Kenya has passed legislation against careless driving, there is no law fixing limits on drivers' alcohol levels.

The Ottawa Citizen reports.

Spain's smoke ban forcing workers to waste time exercising, getting fresh air

Since Spain banned smoking in the workplace at the beginning of January, smoking in the street has become a common sight. One company estimated that workers leaving their desks to go outside to smoke was costing them an average of 25 minutes a day per worker. And smokers in 25-storey office buildings complain it takes them 15-20 minutes every time they go out for a quick smoke.

The Independent reports.

'No one can say Europe isn't tackling at least one issue'

With the United Kingdom last week joining the growing list of nations to ban smoking in public places, a list that includes Norway, Ireland, Italy and Sweden -- and may soon include Germany and France -- it seems probable, argues The Standard in China, that the whole continent will be a smoke-free zone by the end of the decade.

Never would have thought of that

THE UK-wide ban on smoking indoors will damage the environment, politicians have warned. Sales of patio heaters are set to boom as pub-going smokers are forced outside. The gas-fired heaters emit more carbon than small cars - 7kg in two hours - triggering fears from MPs that the ban could exacerbate global warming.

The Scotsman reports.

Pubs face up to closure as a result of smoking ban

Hundreds of community pubs face closure and many barstaff risk losing their jobs once Britain's smoking ban arrives. The Publican reports.

Is a blanket smoking ban justified?

Smoking [in Britain] is to be banned in all pubs, clubs and workplaces from summer 2007. Will prohibition encourage people to kick the habit and therefore be for the greater good? Or is it another blow to civil liberties?

The London Times debates the issue.

'Just because it's a horse doesn't mean it's safe to be out on the road'

South Dakota bar owners may want to install hitching posts and bike racks out front.  Gov. Mike Rounds announced Wednesday that he has signed a bill into law exempting horses and bikes from drunken driving laws.  It goes into effect July 1. Legislators offered the so-called "beer-for-your-horses" bill as part of an effort to update the criminal code.

Pittsburgh Live reports.

Smoke signals

MPs who voted overwhelmingly to ban smoking in virtually all enclosed public spaces in England were yesterday praised as "lifesavers" by health campaigners and condemned by libertarians and some - but not all - pubs and clubs. The Guarian reports.

For The Guardian, Michelle Pauli trawls the UK papers for reaction to the Commons vote to ban smoking in almost all public places. Read more.

Also for The Guardian, Hélène Mulholland and David Batty explain the implications of MPs' decision to vote for a total smoking ban.  Find that story here.

And finally, Simon Jenkins comments in The Guardian that the vote to ban smoking in public places reflects the government's preference for central control over local option.

MPs vote for smoking ban

MPs tonight overwhelmingly backed a ban on smoking in all English pubs and clubs after a dramatic intervention by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.

In a landmark free vote, the Commons agreed to extend the ban to private members’ clubs by 384 votes to 184, a majority of 200.

The result was greeted with loud cheers in a crowded Commons chamber. The Prime Minister was among those voting for a complete smoking ban in licensed premises.

The London Times reports.  So does The Independent, The Guardian and The New York Times. 

Anti-meth measure in Patriot Act

The recent Patriot Act compromise included a provision to combat illegal methamphetamine by limiting sales of cold remedies used to make the highly addictive drug.

Chron.com reports.

Britain: drink-fuelled crime and violence slump after new licensing laws take effect

Serious violent crime has fallen by more than a fifth since the licensing laws were liberalised, police figures show.

Major industrial cities, seaside resorts and market towns from the south coast to Cumbria are reporting dramatic falls in alcohol-fuelled assaults and woundings after the country's antiquated drinking laws were overhauled.

The statistics, released today, will confound critics who warned that the Licensing Act, which allowed 24-hour drinking from November, would lead to an upsurge in violence and antisocial behaviour.

Read more at The Independent.

Pub chain: longer opening hours have hit our sales

Britain's Regent Inns, the company behind the Walkabout pubs and Jongleurs comedy clubs, has announced that it has done badly out of the new licensing laws. The Independent reports.

NSW claims 'toughest' cannabis laws

NEW South Wales will have the toughest laws in the country for the commercial cultivation of hydroponically grown cannabis, Premier Morris Iemma has said. But the penalties for growing less than five plants of hydroponic cannabis will not increase. He said the new laws were drafted in response to growing concerns of the drug's link to mental illness.

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Scotland to raise age-limit to buy cigarettes?

THE Scottish Executive has been challenged to match English plans to increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes to 18. The Department of Health yesterday confirmed that ministers plan to take powers to set the minimum age for smoking in England. The department promised "swift action" to raise the age limit south of the Border.

The Scotsman reports.

Pot refugee sent packing

Failed pot refugee — Medical marijuana crusader Steve Kubby was arrested Thursday night at San Francisco Airport after spending years as a fugitive in British Columbia. Mr. Kubby was arrested on a no-bail warrant and booked into San Mateo county jail, San Francisco police said.

The Globe and Mail