Arrests

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Last week's grand jury action in one Ohio county opens a window on the impact of drug prohibition on the criminal justice system.

With state elections just 10 days away in Australia's New South Wales, the Green Party's call to decriminalize drug possession is causing a stir.

When home town police in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, busted a bunch of 20-somethings over small-time marijuana and pill sales, some local residents cheered. But in an example of grassroots activism, others took to the streets to protest.

Amidst confusion and uncertainty among police, politicians, and citizens alike, British police announced new arrest policies for marijuana possession this week. But a study just released says police are a big part of the problem.

A video camera captured the brutality of a pair of wrongful arrests in a case of mistaken identity in Pinellas County, Florida. Now the county gets to pay up.

Bryn Mawr coeds apparently liked to squeeze condoms filled with flour to fend off stress over final exams, but when one student tried to take one home for the holidays, she ended in jail for three weeks charged as a drug trafficker. Now the city of Philadelphia gets to pay for its mistake.

The arrest of a pair of registered Colorado medical marijuana patients last fall is setting off a legal battle that will help clarify the state's medical marijuana law. But if they lose, they face up to six years in prison.

Police in Wichita are no longer charging small-time hard drug possession as a felony -- less than a quarter-gram of meth or coke, and all you get is a misdemeanor paraphernalia charge, and you don't even go to jail!

As 2006 comes to a close, we look back at the year's biggest drug reform defeats, disappointments, and downers.