TOP 9 JOINTS

1) Patients Free to Inhale

Keeping a presidential campaign promise, President Barack Obama's
Department of Justice sent out an official memo to federal
prosecutors in October advising them to end raids on patients using
medi-pot in compliance with state law.

2) Some Like it Pot

A home movie of Marilyn Monroe that purports to show the blond
bombshell toking a joint while lounging on the couch hit the Internet
this fall. Suffice to say, the sleepy-eyed actress can even make
sniffing an armpit look sexy.

3) Don't Know What He's Smoking

Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, R-Waco, did his rootin' tootin' best to
criminalize the sale of Salvia divinorum - the most potent naturally
occurring hallucinogen - but his colleagues just weren't buying it.
Researchers think the plant might have potential to treat
schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, which is why they want to
ward off threats to its availability. In the end, lawmakers made only
its sale to minors illegal.

4) Frustrated Farmers Jailed

Hemp farmer hopefuls were arrested in October for digging up the lawn
at the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration to plant
industrial hemp, a non-narcotic crop the DEA considers to be nothing
more than dope. Among those arrested was North Dakota farmer Wayne
Hauge, who is licensed to grow the crop but whose efforts to do so
have been stymied by the DEA. Hauge has been battling the DEA for
several years in federal court, and now the farmers are looking to
Congress to take action. You can bet this story will germinate through 2010.

5) Cracking the Cocaine Disparity

Congress finally voted in favor of ending the infamous 100-to-one
crack-to-powder cocaine sentencing disparity codified in 1986. The
new law would eliminate any distinction between crack and powder in
federal law and significantly do away with the mandatory minimum
five-year turn in the clink for possession of just 5 grams of crack.
The change in law isn't final yet - and there's certainly more
hand-wringing on tap from lawmakers who don't want to appear soft on
drugs - but it's as close to a done deal as you'll find on the
otherwise grim drug war landscape.

6) Pricks Kill Needles ... Again

Once again, a bill that would let local health departments establish
anonymous one-for-one needle exchange programs died a frustratingly
slow death at the Capitol, meaning Texas remains the only state in
the country without some form of legal needle exchange to combat the
spread of communicable disease.

7) We Don't Talk Like That in El Paso

Apparently there are some things not up for debate in El Paso - at
least that's the lesson members of the City Council learned this year
when they tried to jump-start a conversation about drug prohibition.
On the front line of the drug war, the city was looking to offer
support to its sister city, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. But that ain't
cool, said members of the city's Lege delegation, who said such a
discussion would be embarrassing to the city. As it turned out, with
the story gaining national attention, the truncating of open debate
was far more shameful.

8) Pot From Coast to Coast

In an effort to boost the state's seriously ailing budget, drug-law
reformers in California worked to get a legalize-and-tax-and-regulate
pot initiative onto next year's ballot, and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger even said it's time to debate the merits of
legalization. Meanwhile in D.C., federal lawmakers put the district
one step closer to enacting a medi-pot law that voters there approved
in 1998. At the time, Rep. Bob Barr, R-Georgia (now a flaming
Libertarian) penned a measure that would strip the city of its budget
should it try to implement the law. This summer, lawmakers finally
voted to revoke the Barr Amendment, restoring at least a modicum of
sovereignty to the city.

9) Your Choice: Treatment or Jail

After years of hearing the nation's drug czar jaw on and on about how
potent pot is sending more tokers in search of medical help to quit
their habit, the feds this year released a new set of statistics
showing that - surprise, surprise! - 56% of people admitted to rehab
for pot use have actually been sent there by the criminal justice
system, as an alternative to going to jail for drug possession. Back
to the drawing board, Mr. Czar.