State & Local Legislatures

Public hearings on an Illinois bill that would divert first-time drug possession offenders into "drug schools" instead of prison are now underway across the state, and if the crowd in Chicago is any indication, public interest is high.

New Jersey is the last state in the nation without either needle exchange programs or access to syringes without a prescription, but with bills moving in committee, that could soon change.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have allowed California farmers to grow industrial hemp.

Ten years ago, Arizona voters enacted a sentencing reform initiative that stopped judges from sending first- and second-time drug possession offenders to jail or prison. Now, the state legislature has crafted an initiative that would make an exception for methamphetamine offenders.

Each day that passes, Louisiana's Heroin Lifers languish behind bars, unjustly denied their freedom.

US of Incarceration Animation, Tony Papa Knocks DA Report, Dean Kuipers on Tommy Chong

A national scandal is brewing in the Big Easy over thousands of people imprisoned without access to lawyers or the courts.

A bill that would allow legal hemp production in California has passed both houses and now awaits the governor's signature.

Governors in two states Monday signed into law bills that would ease injection drug users' access to clean needles -- in one case overriding a veto.

A bill introduced in the Maine Senate would lay the groundwork for what could be the nation's first registry of habitual drug offenders.