Drug War Chronicle

Georgia has now followed Florida's lead in passing a bill requiring that welfare applicants undergo mandatory, suspicionless drug testing. Florida's law has been stymied by a legal challenge, and one is coming in Georgia, too.

The new national drug strategy is out and it looks very much like the old national drug strategy, retaining the seemingly eternal 60:40 split between law enforcement and interdiction on one hand and treatment and prevention on the other.

Oaksterdam University is bouncing back from the federal raid two weeks ago, but Richard Lee is stepping down to prepare for legal troubles and campaign for drug law reform.

Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

It's taken ever so long, but it now looks like dispensaries will soon be operating in New Jersey and Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the battles over medical marijuana continue across the country.

This week, we have a grab bag of crooked law enforcement types, including a big city cop, a probation officer, a prosecutor, and a TSA agent.

University of Colorado Boulder officials are pulling out all the stops in a bid to squash the school's unofficial annual 4/20 rally. The ACLU is objecting, and the performer the school hired to divert students with a concert says pot ought to be legalized.

If grand jury indictments earlier this month are any indication, there's not enough real crime in Pitt County, North Carolina, to keep cops and prosecutors busy. The most common grand jury charge: possessing marijuana with intent.

The Colorado Democratic Party has endorsed Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act.

The Cartagena summit saw an historic discussion of drug legalization this weekend, with President Obama conceding that the topic is a legitimate one even as he reiterated US opposition to legalization.