State & Local Executive Branches

California will become the 10th state to enact a Good Samaritan law designed to reduce fatal drug overdoses by providing some protections from criminal prosecution for people seeking emergency help for overdose victims.

A Massachusetts crime lab analyst whose zeal to help prosecutors win drug cases has endangered the prosecution of more than 30,000 drug cases after her misconduct in the lab was uncovered.

The battle of Los Angeles continues, Arizona prosecutors don't like their medical marijuana law, and a bill is pre-filed in Kentucky. There's also lots more going on.

Illinois police now have the right to wiretap or record "drug suspects" without a warrant under a new state law. At the same time, they want to arrest you if you do that to them. Some folks are more equal than others.

The feds strike again in California, this time in Orange County, and meanwhile, the battle over the LA dispensary ban heats up. There's plenty more news, too.

New Jersey will become the ninth state to enact a Good Samaritan drug overdose prevention law -- if Gov. Christie signs it into law.

In one of the largest medical marijuana demonstrations in years, as many as a thousand people came out in Oakland Monday to let President Obama know he needs to end the federal crackdown on dispensaries.

The end of dispensaries in LA looms, more threat letters in Colorado, and a medical marijuana initiative in North Dakota!? That's just some of the news.

What!? No DEA raids? Not this week, but the federal crackdown on dispensaries continues, and cities and localities in medical marijuana states continue to grapple with the issues around it.

Harborside fights for its life, LA bans dispensaries, and Oregon transplant hospitals are lightening up on medical marijuana patients. Those are the big stories this week, but there's plenty more, too.