MMJ leaf and stethoscope KY ODCP_127.jpg
Medical Marijuana Update
With a stroke of the governor's pen, Maryland becomes the 21st medical marijuana state. Meanwhile, those CBD medical marijuana bills continue to move. And more.
Housing
4th Ave. & Wall St., Belltown neighborhood (Chas Redmond via wikimedia.org)
Seattle Pilot Program Offers Treatment Not Arrest [FEATURE]
Fed up with endless recycling of low-level, problematic drug offenders through the criminal justice system, Seattle and King County have embarked on a "treatment not arrest" pilot program designed to break the cycle.
Lawsuit plaintiff Robert Peery (aclu-il.org)
ACLU-Illinois Sues Chicago Over Public Housing Drug Tests
The ACLU of Illinois has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority seeking to block mandatory, suspicionless drug testing of mixed-income housing residents.
California needs to reduce prison and jail overcrowding (US Supreme Court)
Fight Is On to Make Drug Possession a Misdemeanor in California [FEATURE]
A bill pending in California would make misdemeanors out of drug possession offenses that are currently felonies. An impressive coalition is growing in support of it, but law enforcement is skeptical.
GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich (wikimedia.org)
Gingrich Would Execute Mexico Drug Cartel Leaders
Newt Gingrich laid out a hard-line approach to drug policy targeting US drug users as well as Mexican cartels in an interview Saturday.
There will be no drug testing of residents at Lake Parc Place or any other CHA properties. (Image courtesy CHA)
CHA Drops Plan to Drug Test Public Housing Residents
The Chicago Housing Authority's proposal to require suspicionless drug tests for public housing residents excited lots of opposition. Now it's dead.
Lake Parc Place residents let CHA CEO Lewis Jordan know what they thought of his bright idea. (Image courtesy CHA)
CHA Gets Angry Earful Over Drug Testing Proposal
New Chicago Housing Authority CEO Lewis Jordan has floated a plan to require drug testing of all adult residents. Thursday night, he got a taste of what residents think of his bright idea.
The CHA wants you to pass a drug test if you live in the Kenmore or any other CHA properties. (Image courtesy CHA)
Chicago Housing Authority Wants to Drug Test Residents
Drug testing mania has arrived at the Chicago Housing Authority, which is now proposing to require drug tests of all adult residents, with evictions if they fail.
HUD Says Medical Marijuana Policies Up to Local Housing Authorities
A Colorado-based non-profit has received a statement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) making it clear that local housing authorities themselves are responsible for determining policies regarding medical marijuana use by recipients of federal housing assistance. "PHAs [public housing authorities] have discretion to determine, on a case by case basis, the appropriateness of program termination for the use of medical marijuana," Milan M. Ozdinec, the deputy assistant secretary for Public Housing and Voucher Program, said in the statement.
Michigan Woman with Fibromyalgia Evicted from Federally Subsidized Apartment for Using Medical Marijuana
At 25 years old, Shannon Sterner lives with pain. The Leoni Township resident has tried medications to manage the effects of fibromyalgia and reactive arthritis brought on by an infection. For the last nine months, she has been using a new method to deal with the discomfort caused by her conditions: medical marijuana. But her use of the drug, allowed under Michiganâs medical marijuana law, resulted in eviction from her federally subsidized apartment this week.