Five times defeated, a Federal amendment that proposes legalizing medical marijuana is expected to be voted this summer for the sixth time. Each time the number of yes votes grows, but in the meanwhile, users of marijuana for medical purposes in the United States of America find themselves with a prescription tangled with legal complications.

Rice, pie, bread, wine and energizing drinks made from coca. Is it possible? The Colombian Coca Leaf Festival showcases the various ways the coca bush may be used as an alternative for the gastronomic, economic and cultural sovereignty of indigenous peoples.

Researchers went out to meet and interview families in Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil  to find out whether children are heard in family matters. The results are not encouraging, first, parents need to be active citizens themselves. In those families that do, the result is higher self-esteem and more respect for others.

In France today, public security issues fall within the scope of local government, to be addressed by municipal police forces whose work complement the role of the national police. Comunidad Segura spoke to Virginie Malochet from France's LAPSAC, who discussed decentralization and the conflicting vocations of its police de proximité.

Comunidad Segura invited Delegado Cláudio Ferraz, Head of the Special Investigations into Organized Crime Unit (Draco) of Rio de Janeiro State's Civil Police force, to talk about militias, as the paramilitary presence is known in his city. Ferraz, who is currently investigating militia activities in the state, stressed the challenge posed by its links with politics.

Adèle Kirsten, long time peace activist and head of South Africa’s Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, speaks about the ongoing violent security crisis of anti-immigrant violence and the tools for overcoming violence.

Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica:  home to youth gangs widely known as maras and pandillas. A new comparative study offers important new data, after surveying over 3000 members of Central American societies.