State & Local Executive Branches

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.

Washington state's rules for legal marijuana commerce are now set. Look for some 300+ stores to open starting around the middle of next year.

An LA dispensary crackdown gets underway, an Arizona judge throws out a restrictive dispensary ordinance, the Michigan Supreme Court hears a dispensary ban case, and much, much more.

In a move that cuts against more than a decade of sentencing reform efforts in California, Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would allow some people caught with small amounts of drugs to face misdemeanor charges instead of felonies.

A new set of synthetic cannabinoid drugs are emerging, and the knee-jerk prohibitionist reponse -- Ban them! -- is kicking in.