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A new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association supports the "gateway drug theory," which states that early marijuana use increases the likelihood of using other drugs or becoming dependent on drugs or alcohol. NPR's Vicky Que reports.

In space, one cannot hear sounds. But a new musical work -- commissioned by NASA -- is based on radio waves gathered from the far reaches of the solar system. For Morning Edition, Gayane Torosyan reports on Sun Rings, composed by Terry Riley and performed by the Kronos Quartet. The work includes sounds collected over 40 years by University of Iowa physicist Don Gurnett.

The New Jersey Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the state can discourage women on welfare from having another child. The lawsuit argues that a federal welfare law that allows states to deny additional payments for children born into families already on welfare is unfair. NPR's Nancy Solomon reports.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court declared that the constitutional right to privacy "is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." On the 30th anniversary of the case that came to be called Roe v. Wade, an NPR News series examines the state of abortion rights in America. For Morning Edition, NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner chronicles the recent incremental successes by abortion rights opponents.

Gregory Crouch reports from the Netherlands that Dutch voters go to the polls for the second time in eight months today. The party of slain right-wing Dutch politician Pym Fortuyn is plummeting in popularity after months of negative news reports about its members. Fortuyn, best known for his anti-immigrant stance, was assassinated a few days before last year's elections.

Recep Tayipp Erdogan is one of the most powerful politicians in Turkey. But he doesn't hold a political office. In fact, he can't: Erdogan has been banned from running for the country's parliament because some believe he's a religious extremist. But now, a government committee is deciding whether to remove the ban and allow Erdogan to run for office. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

NPR National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson reports Democratic presidential hopefuls blasted the Bush administration on its abortion rights record at an event in Washington, D.C., last night. Abortion may be a crucial campaign issue in 2004, because President Bush may have the chance to appoint Supreme Court justices who could overturn Roe v. Wade.

The U.S. Census Bureau releases new figures that show Latinos make up 13 percent of the population. But many did not check off a racial origin category on the 2000 census form, making it more difficult to create Latino voting districts or implement federal programs. NPR's Madeleine Brand talks to Ilan Stavans of Amherst University.

Theresa Schiavone reports on the public television documentary, Two Towns of Jasper, which examines the racial divide in the Texas city where the 1998 racially motivated murder of James Byrd Jr. occurred. Two New York filmmakers, one black and one white, made the movie as a way to reconcile their differing views about race relations. During the Byrd murder trials in 1999, Marco Williams, who is black, interviewed black residents of Jasper; Whitney Dow, who is white, interviewed white residents.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on Vaclav Havel's last day in office as president of the Czech Republic.