State & Local Legislatures

With violent crime on the increase in New Orleans, police are busy arresting traffic scofflaws and drug offenders, and prosecutors are spending more than half their time prosecuting drug offenders. A local watchdog commission says that's dumb.

Ten years ago this week, Wisconsin medical marijuana patient Jacki Rickert led a 210-mile "Journey for Justice" to the state capitol in Madison. This week, she was back and being honored as two representatives announced they were introducing a medical marijuana bill with her name on it.

A Republican former Kansas attorney general spoke out for medical marijuana last Friday as a push to get a bill passed there gets underway.

DEA agents raided 10 Los Angeles-area medical marijuana dispensaries Wednesday, the same day the LA City Council sent it a letter asking it to butt out. The raids were met by angry protests and civil disobedience.

Eleven years ago, no Americans had the protection of a state medical marijuana law. Now, some 50 million do, but that means some 250 million don't. While progress has been made, it has been slow, and there is plenty more to do.

A medical marijuana bill passes both houses of the Connecticut legislature, but Gov. Jodi Rell has now vetoed it.

Nevada's governor has signed an anti-meth lab bill that further restricts the purchase of over-the-counter cold and allergy remedies. Problem is, nobody is cooking meth in Nevada anymore.

Frustrated by endless drug war and associated crime and violence, a Baltimore city council member says it's time to talk about drug legalization.

The Connecticut legislature has passed a medical marijuana bill. Now it's up to Gov. Jodi Rell (R) to sign it, veto it, or just get out of the way. If she does nothing, the bill becomes law.

After final procedural votes this week, the Rhode Island legislature has sent a bill making the state's medical marijuana law permanent to Gov. Donald Carcieri. He's threatening to veto it, but the legislature has the votes to override as it did last year.