Legalization

Marijuana legalization seems to have entered the mainstream in the first part of 2009. Drug War Chronicle asks some reform movement players just what's going on -- and what isn't.

Drug possession has been legal in Colombia since 1994. But now, a teetotaling President Uribe wants to go back to the bad old days.

Support for marijuana legalization has gone over the 50% mark in California for the first time, according to a new poll. It comes as the California Assembly ponders a legalization bill, and the poll itself hints that a legalization/tax and regulate initiative may be coming down the pike.

The British government contends that drug legalization could not possibly have enough benefits to justify switching from prohibition, but it has never provided the evidence. Now, a new study that actually has done a comparative analysis finds the UK could be saving billions a year by legalizing.

Massachusetts has become the second state in as many months to see marijuana legalization bills come before the state legislature. This one would tax by grade for commercial sales, but also permit untaxed personal cultivation.

A US congresswoman from California suggested Thursday that it could be time for a marijuana legalization pilot program. Her home state would be an apt place to try it, she said.

For the first time since California criminalized marijuana in 1913, a bill has been introduced to regulate and tax its legal sale and production.

There is majority support for legal marijuana on the West Coast, according to a new Zogby poll. The East Coast isn't far behind.

In the face of ominous warnings from US Rep. Silvestre Reyes and the city's state legislative delegation, the El Paso City Council has backed away from last week's resolution calling for a national debate on drug legalization. But some council members aren't too pleased with the heavy-handed interference.

With Mexico's prohibition-related violence within earshot, the El Paso City Council Tuesday passed a resolution calling for a national debate on drug legalization. But then, the mayor vetoed it. An override vote is set for next week.