State & Local Legislatures

Arizona voters have already approved medical marijuana twice, only to have it taken away by the legislature in 1996 and shot down by bad drafting language in 1998. Now, they have a third shot at it, and organizers say they've gotten everything right.

You know times are tough when even GOP-dominated legislatures in the Deep South are passing sentencing reform bills. It's not so much bleeding hearts as bleeding wallets.

In a bid to save money and be smarter on crime, Colorado has enacted a package of bills that, among other things, will reduce some drug use and possession sentences, allow greater judicial flexibility in sentencing, and keep some technical parole violators from being sent back to prison. But the package also increases some drug sales and manufacturing sentences.

Marching boldly backward into the last century, the Louisiana Senate this week approved a bill that toughens the state's already harsh penalties for second-time marijuana possession offenders. Don't these guys have a budget deficit and an environmental disaster to keep them busy?

It must be silly season already in Baton Rouge. A House committee there has deliberated on and passed a bill that would allow legislators and state officials to take voluntary drug tests and mental health evaluations and post the results on the Internet.

The nation's capital will soon join the ranks of jurisdictions allowing medical marijuana use after the DC City Council approved regulations this week. But according to advocates, the measure is lacking.

MS sufferer John Wilson walked out of a New Jersey prison Thursday, free on appeal for growing 17 plants last summer. A month after he was sentenced in December, New Jersey became the 14th medical marijuana state. Now, there is a renewed effort to win a pardon for him.

If you're in Florida and you're a fan of pipes or bongs, it's time to stock up. They're going to be hard to find for sale in the Sunshine State in the near future. Marijuana use is expected to decrease as a result (just kidding).

Wisconsin won't be the 15th state to approve medical marijuana, at least not this year. The session ended yesterday with no Assembly floor vote.

Medical marijuana is coming to the nation's capital. The question now is how good the DC City Council will make the program. Some advocates are happy with the progress, while others fear the restrictions could doom the program to fail.