Sentencing

Denver wants to put the kibosh on outdoor pot-smoking, a California appeals court okays a local ban on medical marijuana grows, Costa Rica enacts a sentencing reform, and more.

Denver's city council calls off ban on "front porch" marijuana smoking, New Jersey's governor claims medical marijuana is a ploy, Vermont rolls out a naloxone pilot project, Colombia's FARC want decriminalization, and more.

Medical marijuana gets attention in the statehouse, another drug war atrocity in New Mexico, Greece's first safe injection site is open, and a gram of opium or a few pounds of pot can get you the death penalty if you're in the wrong place. And more.

The momentum for marijuana legalization continues in the US, but Australia's New South Wales rejects medical marijuana even for the terminally ill. There's plenty more news, too.

Uruguay appears poised to legalize marijuana Friday, the Afghan opium crop is at an all-time high, and the ACLU issues a report on people doing life without parole for nonviolent offenses. And there's more.

Portland's police chief demonstrates why local initiatives are only a start, a new Urban Institute report has ideas for reducing the federal prison population, the Irish parliament rejects marijuana legalization on its first go round, and more.

Buds on the bayou? Louisiana voters support marijuana legalization, according to a new poll.

A new poll shows a broad consensus that the drug is "failing," but beyond that, a deeply split public when it comes to what to do about it.

The overall US prison population continues an achingly slow decline even as the federal prison population continues to expand, but there are still more than 330,000 drug war prisoners in America, and that's not even counting the jails.