Time for the blog roundup

Pete Guither points us to a scathing piece in Alternet about our old friends the child torturing Semblers, founders of the criminally liable Straight, Inc. that morphed into the equally chilling Drug Free America Foundation, an organization that offers tortured policy recommendations designed to benefit drug testing companies and other prohibition profiteers. Worse yet, the demons who administered Straight are still practicing their bad juju on kids today in smaller spin-off "boot camps."

Radley has the latest in his series of Militarizing Mayberry. He points us to Mundelein, Illinois, population 36,600, where police conducted a raid and drug search that netted a couple of joint's worth of marijuana and left the 48 year old woman handcuffed on the floor while she was having a heart attack. When they finally took to her to the hospital, over an hour later, she was rushed to surgery. Fortunately she lived but this is no way for our public servants -sworn to serve and protect - to be treating a citizen.

Megan at D'Alliance gives her first impressions of the conference in Long Beach.

Scott at Grits for Breakfast is in Long Beach himself but leaves a terrific post on how to alleviate prison overcrowding.

Loretta Nall is organizing a fabulous project to bring Christmas to children of incarcerated parents.

Dr. Tom defines the medical in medical marijuana. He has some sharp words for practictioners employing poor clinical practices in diagnoses.

TChris at Talk Left has stupid pot tricks. I hate these stories. I find it hard to believe anyone smoking the stuff could be that dumb. It gives cannabis consumers a bad name you know.

And our newest bloggers at the Dare Generation Diary have more on that snowman and will be sending in updates from Long Beach as well.