Drug War Chronicle

"It's Time to Legalize Medical Marijuana in Professional Sports," "Cocaine Vaccine Backfires Horribly," "Former Drug Czar Invents Awesome New Drug," "Consider the Possibility That People Do Drugs Because They Enjoy It," "States Don't Need Federal Permission to Legalize Medical Marijuana," "Cop Wants His Job Back After Planning the Sting That Killed Rachel Hoffman," "Why is DEA Condemning Efforts to Prevent Heroin Deaths?," "Judge Reprimanded for Illegally Drug Testing Random Guy," "Romantic Comedy 'It's Complicated' Gets R Rating for Depicting Casual Marijuana Use."

The war in Afghanistan, the rising tide of drug reform in Latin America, and battles over drug policies in European countries are among the dominant international drug policy stories of 2009. (Reprinted from last week's issue to accompany this week's top ten domestic drug policy stories feature.)

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It's a Texas trifecta for Christmas, plus an Alabama jail guard.

The Mexican military killed a major drug lord last week, but that doesn't seem to have changed anything. The violence continues...

Bolivian President Evo Morales wants to amend his country's drug law to legalize coca farmers' small holdings and to bring allowed national cultivation limits in line with Bolivian reality. This won't go over well in Washington or with the UN anti-drug bureaucrats.

North Dakota farmers want to grow hemp. North Dakota has licensed them to grow hemp. But are they growing any hemp? No, and a new court decision means its likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Rhode Island approved adding a dispensary system to its medical marijuana program this spring, and now the state Department of Health has promulgated proposed rules to regulate it. But even if all goes well -- and non-controversially -- it could be another year before a dispensary actually starts dispensing.

What a year! A lot happened in 2009 when it comes to drug policy, much of it good. Last issue we reviewed the international developments. This last week of the year, we take a look at what we see as the ten most important domestic drug policy stories the year brought us.