Vicewire, 6/29/2004
- posted by Ryan @ 8:56 PM

1) A big vice story of today is the Supreme Court's decision to block enforcement of an internet pornography law. The controversy is over the 1998 Child Online Protection Act which has not yet been enforced, and has been pushed back down to a lower court. The Supreme Court decision is here.

2) From England, we see a father alerted a gang to his son's cocaine stash, from which an attempted robbery ensued. He was given a 20 year jail sentence and his son was given 20 years for "conspiracy to supply drugs".

3) In other big Supreme Court news, the high court agreed to hear a case next year concerning the prosecution of people who take marijuana on a doctor's orders. The Bush Administration argued that federal drug laws take precedence over state laws for medicinal marijuana, which 35 states have.

4) And in addressing the continual Vice Squad topic of vice advertising, French vintners are attempted to free up alcohol ad restrictions, to the horror of many medical groups. The President of the National Association for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Addiction: "Advertising would just legitimize problem drinkers in their problem drinking." Say that sounds like a familiar argument justifying the criminalization and prohibition of drugs...

This Day in Vice History: 6/29/1938- A radical Christian newspaper claims that half of the crime in "Latino American, Filipino, Spaniard, and Negro" districts is attributable to marijuana. And yesterday, the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was written- on hemp paper! Thanks to Stop the Drug War.

Labels: alcohol, COPA, internet, marketing, pornography, Supreme Court, Vicewire