News Category
OR Drug Decriminalization Will Go to Voters, VA Pot Decriminalization Now in Effect, More… (7/1/20)
The Old Dominion decriminalizes pot possession, Oregon will vote on decriminalizing all drugs, drug overdoses are jumping during the pandemic, and more. Marijuana PolicyVirginia…
NYPD Spent Almost $100 Million on Drug Enforcement Last Year, Mexico Cartel Violence, More… (6/26/20)
Mexico City's police chief narrowly escapes a cartel assassination attempt, the NYPD spent nearly $100 million enforcing the drug laws last year, and more.[image:1 align:right…
Colombia After the Peace Accords: A Conversation with Vanda Felbab-Brown [FEATURE]
Four years ago, Colombia's decades-long civil war officially came to an end when the leftist rebels of the FARC signed a peace agreement with then-President…
DOJ Whistleblower Accuses Barr of Anti-Pot Bias, Marijuana Reform Pioneer Dr. Lester Grinspoon Dies, More… (6/25/20)
Bill Barr is accused of improperly pushing probes of legal marijuana companies, DARPA is funding research into psychedelic-inspired drugs for military purposes, Virginia's Black Legislative…
SF Supes Approve Safe Injection Site Measure, OK Pot Init Can Start Collecting Signatures, More… (6/24/20)
The Kansas City and Los Angeles city councils advance marijuana measures, San Francisco supervisors approve a measure to allow safe injection sites, marijuana legalization is…
Dem Congresswomen File COVID Decarceration Bill, Vancouver Activists Rally for Safe Drug Supply, More… (6/23/20)
Iowa's capital and largest city moves toward marijuana law reform, Vancouver activists march to demand a safe drug supply, progressive Democratic congresswomen roll out a…
US Deploys Air Force Planes to Curacao in Anti-Drug Effort, Israel Moves Closer to Pot Legalization, More… (6/22/20)
Georgia Senate Democrats have filed a police reform bill that includes marijuana decriminalization, the US is ramping up anti-drug operations near Venezuela, Israel takes a…
NJ Assembly Passes Criminal Justice Reform Package, MT Pot Legalization Campaign Hands in Signatures, More… (6/19/20)
Montana campaigners handed in what should be enough signatures to get marijuana legalization measures on the ballot, the New Jersey Assembly quickly passed a package…
NV Mass Marijuana Pardons, Colombia Cocaine Surge, NJ Pot Decrim Bill Advances, More… (6/18/20)
Fifteen thousand Nevada pot offenders just got automatic pardons, the UN says Colombian potential cocaine production was up last year, Kansas City moves toward pot…
Is the Era of the No-Knock Drug Raid Coming to an End? [FEATURE]
In the mass protests over out-of-control and racially biased law enforcement ignited by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin, Floyd's…
Senate GOP Unveils Policing Reform Bill, Seattle Moves to End Drug-Related Loitering Charges, More… (6/17/20)
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court clarifies that state officials can't order drug tests as part of child welfare investigations, Senate Republicans roll out their version of…
Legal Pot Linked to Declining Youth Drug Treatment Admissions, LA MedMJ Expansion Bill Signed, More…. (6/16/20)
Louisiana's governor signs a medical marijuana expansion bill into law, Colorado's legislature passes a bill giving the governor the ability expunge past small-time marijuana convictions,…
Biden's Criminal Justice Task Force Gets Ahead of Him, Rio Drug Gangs Address COVID in the Favelas, More… (6/15/20)
Pot decriminalization bills are popping up in New Jersey, hemp is now legal in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Rio's drug gangs get…
US Rep Calls for Drug Decriminalization, Prohibition-Related Violence in Colombia and Mexico, More… (6/11/20)
South Dakota marijuana activists launch their election campaign this week, Nevada's governor proposes mass pardons for small time pot possession charges, Michigan's governor signs a…
Amid the Tumult, Congressional Democrats Take on Policing Run Amok [FEATURE]
With mass protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin now morphing into demands to grapple with racism and to…
Marijuana concentrates spike THC levels but don't boost impairment
A study of 121 regular users of legal market cannabis found that higher potency does not necessarily mean greater intoxication. It also found that while…
Congressional Dems File Justice in Policing Act, CO Police Accountability Bill Passes Senate, More… (6/10/20)
Police accountability is the topic of the day in Congress and in Colorado, a Nebraska medical marijuana initiative campaign is in a final sprint for…
Cannabis temporarily relieves PTSD symptoms, study suggests
People suffering from post-traumatic distress disorder report that cannabis reduces the severity of their symptoms by more than half, at least in the short term,…
NBA Foregoes Recreational Drug Testing, DC Psychedelic Init Gets Signature Boost During Protests, More… (6/9/20)
As a California psilocybin initiative bites the dust, a DC natural psychedelic initative gets a boost; the NBA gives up on recreational drug testing of…
Mexico Plan to Decriminalize Drugs, House Drug War/Police Brutality Resolution Gaining Cosponsors, More… (6/8/20)
A pair of Democratic House leaders is pressing Attorney General Barr on marijuana legalization and drug rescheduling, a House resolution linking the war on drugs…
Feds Claim Presence of "Drug Traffickers" Created Need for "Escalated Force" Against George Floyd Protestors, More…(6/5/20)
Medical marijuana is moving in the Heartland, a New Jersey decriminalizaion bill gets filed, Colorado lawmakers are moving a police reform bill, and more. [image:1 align:right…
NM Primary Voters Remove Anti-Pot Lawmakers, UN Report Scorches Philippines Drug War Killings, More… (6/4/20)
A Democratic infrastructure bill includes language requiring legal marijuana states to consider impaired driving policies, Switzerland is set to move ahead with marijuana legalization pilot…
ACLU Report on Racial Bias in Pot Arrests, DEA Okayed to Spy on George Floyd Protestors, More… (6/3/20)
The ACLU issues a timely report, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International call for reforms of Cambodia's drug detention centers, and more. Marijuana PolicyNew…
AZ Poll Bodes Well for Marijuana Legalization Initiative, China Anti-Drug Crackdown, More… (6/2/20)
An Arizona poll shows strong support for a marijuana legalization initiative there, a Connecticut panel approves adding two new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, and…
Congressional Resolution Condemns Police Brutality, War on Drugs; West Coast Pot Shops Trashed, More… (6/1/20)
West Coast pot shops get trashed in the upheaval gripping the land, a dozen members of Congress file a resolution calling for an end to…
Fixing the Federal Criminal Justice System: The Establishment Weighs In [FEATURE]
In a just issued report on reforming the federal criminal justice system, a blue-ribbon task force of the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice calls for…
COVID-19 Impacts the Cocaine Trade, COVID-19 Sparks Jump in Dark Web Drug Sales Offerings, More… (5/28/20)
Coronavirus is having differential impacts on the illicit drug trade, Michigan groups push to end the state's drug felon foodstamp ban, Colombian rebels call for…
Users of high-potency cannabis four times more likely to report associated problems
Users of high-potency cannabis are four times more likely to report associated problems, and twice as likely to report anxiety disorder, than users of lower-potency…
US Army Unit Heads to Colombia to Fight Drugs, LA Senate Approves MedMJ Expansion Bill, More… (5/28/20)
One Arkansas marijuana legalization campaign calls it quits for this year, the Louisiana Senate has passed a medical marijuana expansion bill, Tyson Timbs finally gets…
Call for Independent Investigation of Fatal Louisville Drug Raid, LA MedMJ Expansion Bill Advances, More… (5/27/20)
Nearly four dozen members of Congress want an independent investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor at the hands of Louisville drug police, a high-profile…
OR Psilocybin and Decriminalization Initiatives Hand in Signatures, MA Pot Shops Re-Open, More… (5/26/20)
Massachusetts pot shops see long lines as they do a limited reopening, two Oregon initiative campaigns handed in signatures last Friday, the Harris County DA…
Federal Marijuana Prisoner Killed by COVID-19, AL Mayor Candidate Wants to Hang Drug Dealers, More… (5/22/20)
Ohio local decriminalization initiative campaigns can do electronic signature-gathering, an Alabama mayoral candidate draws attention with a call to hang drug dealers, and more.[image:1 align:left…
"Deaths of Despair" Plateaued in 2018, Study Finds; No COVID Shutdown for Colombia's Coca Eradicators, More… (5/21/20)
Virginia has now decriminalized small-time pot possession, a marijuana legalization bill is moving again in the US Virgin Islands, "deaths of despair" have leveled off,…
Legal cannabis hemp oil effectively treats chronic neuropathic pain
Researchers examine the effectiveness of consuming hemp oil extracted from the whole cannabis plant using a chronic neuropathic pain animal model. Researchers showed that legal…
State Attorneys General Press for SAFE Banking Act, Singapore Drug Death Sentence Via Zoom, More… (5/20/20)
Illinois is spending tens of millions of marijuana tax dollars to help communities impacted by the drug war, the DEA gets a new acting administrator,…
House HEROES Act COVID Relief Bill Calls for Prisoner Releases, Marijuana Banking [FEATURE]
When, in mid-May, House Democrats rolled out the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, H.R. 6800, the latest congressional response to the…
MA Pot Shops Can Begin Curbside Delivery Next Week, LA House Advances MedMJ Expansion Bills, More… (5/19/20)
The Louisiana House votes to expand the state's medical marijuana program, the Georgia Department of Revenue gets caught mishandled seized asset forfeiture funds, and more.[image:1…
ME Loses Federal Student Mental Health Aid Over Medical Marijuana, MA Safe Injection Site Bill Moves, More… (5/18/20)
Missouri lawmakers cast a baleful eye on medical marijuana gummies, a safe injection site bill is moving in Massachusetts, and more. Medical MarijuanaMaine Loses…
Minimum legal age for cannabis use should be 19, study suggests
The optimal minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use is 19 years of age, according to a new study.
Pot Industry Group Seeks Joint Action from Northeast Governors, HEROES Act Vote Looms, More… (5/15/20)
El Paso moves to reduce small-time pot possession arrests, the Drug Policy Alliance calls on the House to pass the latest coronavirus relief bill, and…