Spending Priorities

While the nation and the world focus on Colorado's legalization of marijuana, serious work on drug and sentencing reform and harm reduction has also been getting done there. Let's take a look.

Chuck Schumer wants $100 million to fight heroin in New York, a congressional vote to stop the DEA from attacking medical marijuana in states where it is legal is coming soon, the New York Assembly is voting today on a medical marijuana bill, an Oklahoma prescription drug bill dies, and more.

The US Sentencing Commission voted yesterday to reduce most federal drug trafficking sentences. The move will cut nearly a year off the average sentence and should result in 6,500 fewer prisoners within five years, the commission said.

Medical marijuana is keeping state legislators busy, Maine's governor has a 20th Century approach to drug problems, New Mexico's governor cuts funds to a diversion program, Indonesia shifts its stance on drug users, and more.

It's not just Attorney General Holder's speech on sentencing reform Monday. The prospects for sentencing reform in the Congress are looking better than ever, with bills garnering bipartisan support.

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.

North Carolina's governor has vetoed a welfare drug testing bill passed by his Republican colleagues in the legislature. It's "not a smart way to combat drug abuse," the Republican elected earlier this year said.

Sequestration is hobbling the military's ability to catch cocaine-smugglers headed for the US, the commander of the Joint Interagency Task Force complained Wednesday.

New York City comedian Randy Credico is a very funny guy, but he's dead serious about rooting out class, race, and drug war injustice in the Big Apple, and he wants to be the next mayor.

Pressure is mounting on the Obama administration to say how it will respond to the marijuana legalization votes in Colorado and Washington. Now, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is calling for hearings on the issue.