Informants

A Tampa man was shot and killed by a police SWAT team over marijuana sales totaling less than $200. In an unusual twist, the local newspaper actually did an in-depth investigation of the incident, and the results aren't pretty.

A Tennessee police chief gets caught misbehaving, so does a strung out Pennsylvania deputy, and a San Diego husband and wife cop team go down for dealing.

Operation Gideon, in which the ATF,and sometimes, the DEA, set up fake drug stash house robbery stings, is raising questions about entrapment and racially-targeted law enforcement. Here's part one of a series on it from Clarence Walker.

It's a veritable cornucopia of corrupt cops this week. Major corruption scandals wind down in the Chicago suburbs and the Rio Grande Valley, LA deputies get popped planting guns in a dispensary, a Philly narc sleeps with his snitch and whispers DEA secrets in her ear, and more.

Oregon's medical marijuana dispensary regulation bill has gone back to the Senate with compromise language allowing only temporary local bans, a GOP US Senate candidate there says legalize it, Chuck Schumer fights heroin, Canada's Tories look to be going soft on pot law enforcement, and more.

Two cops go down for providing info to drug dealers, a DARE officer who ripped off the program gets a slap on the wrist, a Philly narc entangled with a snitch gets entangled with lies, and another prison guard gets popped.

Another poll shows solid majority support for marijuana legalization, Florida's medical marijuana initiative appears to be within reach of qualifying for the ballot (if the state Supreme Court doesn't block it), Sweden's justice minister falls for a pot deaths hoax, and a UN official has a grim warning on Afghanistan. And more.

Marijuana continues to suck all the air out of the room when it comes to drug policy, with news on the legalization, medical, and international fronts. The only non-marijuana-related item we have today is the murder of a confidential informant.

A probation officer gets caught growing marijuana, a task force commander is accused of stealing $90,000, more cops get nailed for spilling the beans to drug suspects, and more.

An alleged New Hampshire heroin dealer who was shot dead fleeing police is the year's 25th drug war enforcement fatality. It's not clear why he was shot.