Arrests for possessing small amounts of marijuana exceeded those for all violent crimes last year, a new study has found, even as social attitudes toward the drug have changed and a number of cities and states have legalized its use or decriminalized small quantities.

And a disproportionate number of those arrested are African-Americans, who smoke marijuana at rates similar to whites but are arrested and prosecuted far more often for having small amounts for personal use, according to the study. The arrests can overwhelm court systems.

Dianne Jones, 45, who was arrested in New Orleans in 2014 on charges of having a small bag of marijuana, spent 10 days in jail because she could not put up a $2,500 bond. She was able to get enough money together only after her daughter sold the family’s television set at a pawnshop for $200.

Later, when Ms. Jones, who is African-American, was unable to pay court-ordered fees and fines, a judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

With marijuana use on the rise, law enforcement agencies made 574,641 arrests last year for small quantities of the […]

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Communities with the greatest investment in supporting active lifestyles yield residents who do significantly better in key aspects of well-being.

Across 48 communities studied nationwide, residents in the five highest-ranked active living communities have, on average, significantly lower obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and rates of depression than do residents of communities with comparatively little active living infrastructure. They also report better exercise habits and lower levels of smoking.

These findings are based in part on 149,938 interviews conducted as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index from Jan. 2, 2014, through Dec. 30, 2015.

For this report, Gallup and Healthways created an Active Living Score for 48 medium to large Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) across the U.S. by analyzing metropolitan infrastructure data — including walkability, bike-ability, transit infrastructure and park infrastructure — based on each community’s Walkscore® and ParkScore®. Scores for all four active living metrics […]

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When New York Times reporter Kim Severson wrote about the past, present, and unsure future of breakfast cereal last month, the Internet lost its mind over one fact included in the story: 40 percent of millennials surveyed by the market research firm Mintel said they didn’t eat cereal for breakfast “because they had to clean up after eating it.”

It was a tidbit that fed into the kind of overwrought hand-wringing about lazy, entitled youngsters that boomers and, to a degree, Gen Xers revel in. Sales figures reported by General Mills, however, suggest that the decline in cereal sales cannot wholly be attributed to a generation unwilling to do the dishes. In a Wednesday conference call with investors, General Mills CEO Ken Powell said seven cereals that had been reformulated to remove all artificial colors and flavors saw a 6 percent uptick in sales as of January, regaining the 6 percent drop in sales they suffered last year. Consumers bought more beige Cheerios and Technicolor Lucky Charms alike.

Overall, General Mills’ cereal sales dipped by 2 percent in the third quarter, but […]

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German Budesrat Credit: Toni Almodóvar Escuder

Is the tide turning for the internal combustion engine? In Germany, things are starting to look that way. This is the country that invented the technology, but late last week, the Bundesrat (the federal council of all 16 German states) voted to ban gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2030.

It’s a strong statement in a nation where the auto industry is one of the largest sectors of the economy; Germany produces more automobiles than any other country in Europe and is the third largest in the world. The resolution passed by the Bundesrat calls on the European Commission (the executive arm of the European Union) to “evaluate the recent tax and contribution practices of Member States on their effectiveness in promoting zero-emission mobility,” which many are taking to mean an end to the lower levels of tax currently levied on diesel fuel across Europe.

Europe bet big on diesel, something that now seems increasingly misguided with continuing revelations about companies cheating their emissions tests and the growing awareness […]

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