State & Local Legislatures

Efforts to legalize medical marijuana via the legislative process are underway in several states. We take a look at where those efforts stand and where they're likely headed.

A bill that would expand eligibility for diversion to drug court has passed the New Jersey legislature. Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is expected to sign it shortly.

The Michigan medical marijuana initiative has been approved by the state Board of Canvassers. Now, it heads to the voters in November -- unless the legislature approves it in the next six weeks.

The effort to pass a medical marijuana bill is dead for this year in Kansas -- killed by an obstructionist committee chair -- but organizers vow it will be back.

Maybe the third time is the charm. After going nowhere in 1999 and 2002, hemp legislation is moving at the Minnesota state capitol. A licensing bill has passed two committee votes despite law enforcement objections.

Two weeks after it voted to remove criminal penalties for marijuana possession, a Vermont Senate committee has voted to halve the quantities of heroin or cocaine necessary to trigger a trafficking charge.

A bill that would allow child protective workers to order meth-using pregnant women into drug treatment against their will was approved by a state Senate committee Monday. It now moves to the Senate floor.

A bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession in New Hampshire is hitting some bumps. Last week, a subcommittee slashed the quantity from one ounce or less to one-quarter ounce or less, and this week a committee voted not to recommend the bill. But it will still go to the House floor and a possible roll-call vote.

California's prison system is the nation's second largest, behind only the federal prison system. Now, an initiative that would dramatically expand Proposition 36-style "treatment not jail" programs, as well as other systemic reforms, is headed for the November ballot.

A bill that would allow families to petition courts for the involuntary commitment for drug treatment of their "drug dependent" family members has been filed in Pennsylvania. It is unlikely to go anywhere, but it is such a creepy example of drug war totalitarianism that it's worth noting.