Drug Trade Funding Terrorists

It's harvest time in Afghanistan and the poppy crop is bountiful, the State Department says UN drug treaties don't require a NIDA monopoly on research marijuana, CBD bills get signed by the governor in Alabama and go to the governor in Oklahoma, South Dakota's internal possession law is obstructing sentencing reforms, and more.

An increasing majority supports marijuana legalization in Vermont, a second Wisconsin Indian tribe moves toward allowing marijuana, a major national drugstore chain makes naloxone available over the counter, and more.

Colombian President Santos is opening a new chapter in that country's struggle to come to grips with coca and cocaine production. It is happening at the same time that peace negotiations with the long-running FARC insurgency have reached a breakthrough too.

Civil society groups around the world used the occassion of the UN's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to call for an end to the global prohibition regime.

We're heavy on the marijuana news today, but there's also good news from Congress on needle exchange, and Peru's Shining Path wins a second bad-news designation from the US government.

A pair of congressmen reject the Justice Department's stance that it can still prosecute California dispensaries, an Alaska marijuana regulation bill moves, a Mississippi legalization initiative gets a boost, two Colorado harm reduction bills become law, and more.

A New Jersey coalition for marijuana reform has formed, an Alabama judge sentences a man to life in prison over 2 1/2 pounds of pot, the Hawaii legislature advances a dispensary bill, asset forfeiture reform gets slapped down in Virginia and Wyoming, the opium trade is expanding in western Afghanistan, and more.

Marijuana reform and medical marijuana bills continue to move, a broad coalition urges Congress to enact real sentencing reforms, harm reduction measures are moving in Virginia, and more.

Marijuana use among adults is up in legal marijuana states -- but some others, too -- Las Vegas could see dispensaries as early as next week, US drone strikes targeted Afghan drug traffickers, Evo Morales wags a finger at US drug policy, and more.

It's the slow season in Congress and at state houses, but it's the beginning of eradication season in the fields. Plus, the Oregon legalization initiative has raised a million bucks, the drug war racks up two more domestic deaths, and more.