Budgets/Taxes/Economics

The legalization initiatives in DC and Oregon pick up endorsements, Colorado legal marijuana sales keep on increasing, a Vermont poll has a plurality for legalization, drug use among pregnant women is in the news, Mexico busts another cartel leader, and more.

California's Prop 47 would turn simple drug possession felonies into misdemeanors, saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Six weeks out, it looks set to pass, but we're still six weeks out.

Thar's gold in them thar marijuana legalization laws, Seattle's prosecutor throws out pot possession tickets, Massachusetts medical marijuana advocates chastise the slow-moving state government, Rahm Emanuel wants to defelonize drug possession, and more.

A pair of strange political bedfellows have introduced a bill to reduce incarceration and help young offenders get past their youthful mistakes. Sens. Cory Booker and Rand Paul are sponsoring the REDEEM Act.

Randy Credico is a veteran New York activist, gadfly, and comedian, but there's nothing funny about the issues he's campaigning on in his quest to be governor of New York.

With tens of thousands of Central American children and adolescents arriving at the US border, the roots of the crisis tend to be obscured by partisan bickering over what is to be done and who is to blame. There's a good argument the war on drugs deserves some credit.

Marijuana policy researcher and analyst Beau Kilmer talks to the Chronicle about marijuana legalization, taxation, public health, and related issues. Plenty to chew on here.

This year's National Drug Control Strategy was released today. There are some steps in the right direction, but otherwise, it pretty much looks like every annual drug strategy for the past 20 years.

The marijuana industry has arrived. The National Cannabis Industry Association's Cannabis Business Summit in Denver was last week, and there were way more suits and ties than guys in tie-dyes.

We can watch the marijuana policy landscape shift before our eyes, with legalization initiatives and decrim measures popping up around the country and even Oklahoma Republicans arguing over legalization. There is also action on the opiate front, the Senate will vote on defunding the DEA's war on medical marijuana in states where it is legal, and more.