State & Local Executive Branches

Federal agencies are beginning to work on the banking problem for medical marijuana businesses, the District of Columbia is looking at why its program is so tiny, and New Mexico can't keep up with medical marijuana demand. And there's much more, too.

There's a lot going on in the world of drug policy. Here are the stories we noted in our new Chronicle AM daily survey this week.

And the beat goes on. From the West Coast to the East Coast and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, medical marijuana is on the agenda.

Remember Bernie Goetz? He made the news again over the weekend, and so did Florida's medical marijuana initiative. There's also drug policy news from around the world.

Fed up with endless recycling of low-level, problematic drug offenders through the criminal justice system, Seattle and King County have embarked on a "treatment not arrest" pilot program designed to break the cycle.

Budweiser sponsors a medical marijuana campaign event in Arkansas, California localities continue to grapple with regulating the business, and there is action afoot in Utah. And that's not all.

Here's our first try at altering our format to continue to bring you comprehensive coverage of what's going on in the war on drugs and the world of drug reform. Look for this or something similar on a daily basis from now on.

If you like to wager, Alaska, Oregon, and Rhode Island look like the best bets for legalizing marijuana next year. But the situation is fluid, and there could be others.

A Michigan couple get their child back, New Jersey gets its second dispensary, and Washington regulators get an earful over attempts to do away with patient home grows under I-502 legalization. And much, much more.

The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments in December on whether a medical marijuana initiative can move forward.