State & Local Legislatures

Your correspondent was on vacation last week, but drug policy and the drug war weren't. Illinois has decriminalized marijuana possession, Republicans are shifting on marijuana prohibition, Minnesotans with chronic pain now qualify for medical marijuana, Floridians can now get naloxone without an individualized prescription, and more.

It's one of those all-weed news days, with Republicans reaching the tipping point on marijuana legalization, Canadian provincial leaders demanding quick action on legalization, and more.

That nation's most populous state will vote on marijuana legalization in November, federal legislators keep fighting for medical marijuana access for veterans, a New Jersey needle exchange bill nears passage, the ACLU goes after the Border Patrol for abuses at interior check points, and more.

Sanders supporters eye a pot plank in the Democratic Party platform, Democratic senators push the DEA on rescheduling, the UN says US heroin use is at a 20-year high, Toronto pot shops get raided, and more.

A bipartisan federal effort to open up reserarch on medical marijuana is underway, it looks likely that Arkansas will be voting on medical marijuana in November, a New Jersey PTSD bill advances, and more.

Three reports on marijuana policy are released, Microsoft gets in the marijuana business, the Times of London calls for drug decriminalization and hints at legalization, a Thai minister reiterates his call for regulating meth, and more.

Summer is here, and the initiative campaigns are heating up, DPA head Ethan Nadelmann slams drug prohibition at the Capitol, New York legislators announce agreement on a heroin and prescription opioids package, and more.

Marijuana legalization in the states isn't pushing youth use up, April sets a pot sales record for Colorado, Ohio becomes the newest medical marijuana state, Canada's NDP wants decriminalization now, and more.

Michigan's political establishment is pulling out the stops in its bid to block a marijuana legalization initiative, but the fat lady hasn't sung just yet.

The California legislature gets down to business, medical marijuana expansion bills become law in Colorado and Vermont, a "poison pill" California initiative fails to make the ballot, and more.