Executive Branch

Two of Canadian "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery's former employees have pleaded guilty to marijuana conspiracy charges in Seattle in return for probation in Canada, but the fate of Emery himself remains up in the air.

Did an Arizona school administrator go too far in subjecting a 13-year-old girl to a strip search in a quest to track down alleged contraband Ibuprofen? The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that asks just that Tuesday.

The federal prosecutor going after Kansas physician Dr. Steven Schneider and his wife is now aiming at the couple's activist defenders as well. Siobhan Reynolds of the Pain Relief Network has been served a subpoena by a federal grand jury for obstruction of justice in the case, but vows not to cooperate.

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access argued in federal appeals court Tuesday that a federal law requires government agencies to make accurate, objective statements -- not misinformation -- when it comes to medical marijuana. But Obama administration lawyers disagree.

As Mexicos's plague of prohibition-related violence continues unabated, Washington is moving to beef up the border and the Mexican repressive apparatus. But for the first time, US officials are openly admitting that some of it is our fault, possibly opening the way for the discussion of drug legalization to move in from the margins.

The latest SAMHSA drug treatment statistics show that 288,000 people entered treatment for marijuana in 2007. Only one in six sought it; more than half were ordered there by the courts. Given continuing problems with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs, is this how we want to spend our treatment dollars?

California medical marijuana dispensary operator Charles Lynch was supposed to be sentenced to federal prison Monday. It didn't happen, and Lynch can thank Attorney General Holder for signaling a change of federal policy toward such prosecutions.

Congress wants the Obama administration to "do something" about the prohibition-related violence ravaging Mexico. But that "something" just looks like more drug war.

Those field drug test kits police use to test for the presence of illegal drugs are so unreliable they should be banned, researchers said Tuesday. A Hershey's candy bar, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, and Tylenol are just a few of the common items that generate false positives. Air was another.

Some 7,500 Mexican soldiers are flooding into Ciudad Juárez in a bid to blunt prohibition-related violence that has left about 2,000 people dead there since January 2008. Meanwhile, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff is headed to Mexico for talks on increased cooperation between the two neighbors.