According to an article published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the war in Lebanon and increased border security with Palestine and Egypt has caused the price of marijuana to rise eightfold. Smoking and distributing cannabis are illegal in Israel.

Pop singer George Michael has openly admitted to taking drugs, saying smoking cannabis helps keep him "sane. " The singer recently revealed his drug-taking habits during a television talk show. In fact, Michael says he even lit up before his interview for the British show 'South Bank Show'. According to British newspaper The Daily Mirror, Michael told interviewer Melvyn Bragg: "This is the only drug I've ever thought worth taking but you have to wait.

If a local ballot initiative passes in Eureka Springs this November, people can smoke the green, green grass of home and not be in the jailhouse now. To the surprise of pot enthusiasts statewide, local leaders of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws have been able to gather enough signatures in this Bible Belt, small tourist economy based town, to put on the election ballot a proposed change in the catagory for minor marijuana offences.

A Romanian train conductor is now in hot water and could face disciplinary action after he was found to have stopped his train so he could have a cigarette break. A report by the newspaper Evenimentul Zilei, says the driver stopped the train in the middle of the country and encouraged some passengers to get off the train. The Romanian government has recently banned smoking on trains.

A man who flagged down a police officer to ask for a ride was arrested after admitting he had been smoking marijuana. Daniel Paul Steinbach, 19, was standing in the middle of the road and waving his arms when officer Chad Christian pulled over. He asked the officer for a ride to "a house on the hill. " Christian said in his report that Steinbach appeared unsteady on his feet.