SWAT/Paramilitarization

A Denver SWAT team member shot and killed the target of an undercover drug investigation when he pulled a weapon as uniformed cops moved in for an arrest.

The Afghan poppy trade is spilling over into Central Asia, legal marijuana goes on sale in Washington state on Tuesday, Georgia holds off on welfare drug testing, a California sentencing reform bill is now one vote away from passage, and more.

It's UN anti-drug day, and protests to mark it are going on in at least 80 cities around the world, House Republicans move to block DC decrim, the Oregon legalization initiative looks set to make the ballot, the ACLU has a strong new report out on SWAT teams, and more.

Last week may have been slow on the police corruption front, but we make up for it this week. A Washington SWAT team member goes bad, an NYPD officer pays for going bad, a former Colorado sheriff also pays a price, an Arkansas cop gets nailed for protecting what he thought were dope loads, and, of course, more jail and prison guards get in trouble.

A Utah SWAT team shot and killed a drug fugitive who allegedly pulled a gun on them during a standoff, but one commenter in a local media story has a much different take on what went down.

That Georgia drug raid last week that left a toddler seriously burned and in a medically-induced coma continues to spark outrage, the DC pot possession and cultivation legalization initiative is half-way there, New York's governor signs a deal for CBD medical marijuana trials that critics say isn't nearly enough, a former Brooklyn DA is in hot water of misusing seized drug money, and more.

A 29-year-old Tampa man was shot and killed by a police SWAT team as it raided his home after undercover officers made marijuana purchases there. The cops said he pointed a gun at them.

Minnesota becomes the 22nd medical marijuana state, the California Senate passes a medical marijuana regulation bill and a bill equalizing crack and powder cocaine offenses, a new study reports on who current heroin users are, there are a series of votes set for today to rein in the DEA, a Canadian court allows heroin-assisted treatment trials to move forward, and more.

A South Florida man has died 11 days after he was shot in a pre-dawn SWAT team drug raid. His elderly dog was also shot and killed. Neighbors and family have questions. Police haven't said whether they recovered any drugs or weapons.

The DEA is in the hot seat, it looks like Minnesota will be the next medical marijuana state (but they won't be able to smoke it), California could actually get around to regulating its dispensary system, California voters will vote on whether to drug test doctors (!), the Russians are snarking about Afghanistan, and more.