From the Stacks: March 30, 2006

Utne Reader's library is abuzz with a steady flow of 1,500 magazines, newsletters, journals, weeklies, zines, and other lively dispatches from the cultural front that are rarely found at big-box bookstores, newsstands, or even online. So we share the highlights (and occasional lowlights) of what's landing in our library each week in 'From the Stacks.' Check in every Friday for the latest edition.

According to the Marijuana Policy Report, 'the greatest harm associated with marijuana is prison.' The newsletter, released three times each year by the nonprofit Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), is dedicated to defending the medicinal value of marijuana and removing criminal penalties associated with the leafy, green plant. Its pages are packed with prisoners' stories, legislative rulings, and new scientific studies related to pot. The spring issue highlights findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicating that marijuana is not a 'gateway' drug, but that environmental factors have a greater effect on kids' decisions to light up. With a new case involving pro-pot free speech hitting the Supreme Court last week, marijuana is still making headlines, and we're eager to read MPP's take on the issue. -- Mary O'Regan

B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne all sit on the advisory board of the Music Maker Relief Foundation (MMRF), a charity set up to help 'the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day to day needs.' The latest issue of the MMRF's newsletter, Music Maker Rag, tells the story behind the organization's inception,? when Tim and Denise Duffy came across several blues musicians living in the ghettos of North Carolina and realized that poverty among musicians was a widespread problem. Now, the MMRF is getting the brothers and sisters of blues back on their feet and chronicling the experience in Music Maker Rag. The publication features bios on old-school artists, a calendar of performances across the country, and 'Artists' Notes' -- a collection of blurbs updating readers on what's new with the 'bluest of the blues.' -- Mary O'Regan