Decriminalization

Overdose prevention is big news today as the drug czar chimes in in favor, more than a dozen congressmen call on Obama to re- or de-schedule marijuana, the Italian Supreme Court undoes a bad drug law, and more.

The death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman has focused a media spotlight on heroin overdoses. There are better ways to deal with heroin than the current one, if there is the will.

Alaska will vote on marijuana legalization this summer, the DC council gives preliminary approval to a decriminalization bill, the farm bill with the hemp amendment intact passes Congress, advocates urge India's parliament to act on access to pain medications, and more.

The DC city council has voted to approve marijuana decriminalization. There's still one more vote to go, and some bad amendments, but marijuana reform is coming to the nation's capital.

Legalization proves profitable for Colorado's coffers, decrim moves closer in DC, more drug test bills get filed, Vermont attempts to do something about its opioid problem, a crime lab scandal brews in Florida, and more.

Short-sighted Tories slam a Welsh harm reduction drug testing program, DC could decriminalize marijuana possession tomorrow, Oregon's governor thinks the legislature should legalize it, South Dakota legislators get busy with bad bills, and a South Dakota Indian reservation is thinking about legalization, and more.

In a CNN interview Friday, President Obama elaborated on his recent remarks on marijuana policy. He declined to say whether he supported rescheduling it, but said the criminalization of users was a big concern.

Florida's medical marijuana initiative will go to the voters in November, the DEA administrator is being both jeered and cheered for her criticism of President Obama's remarks on marijuana, the Supreme Court makes it harder to punish drug dealers for deaths related to their wares, and much more.