News Feature

Will 2009 be a happy New Year for positive drug policy changes? Here, we take a look at what could -- or couldn't -- be coming down the pike, as well as some festering issues that aren't going to go away.

As we wave goodbye to 2008, it's worth taking a moment to look back at the biggest drug policy stories of the year. It's a definite mixed bag, but better than most recent years. Following this story is another that looks forward into 2009 -- also likely to be a mixed bag, but with more signs of life to bring hope to drug reformers.

The National Drug Intelligence Center is out with its National Drug Threat Assessment 2009. If the authors would read their own words, they would realize they are making a strong argument for ending drug prohibition.

A New Jersey Senate committee Monday approved a medical marijuana bill, sending it to the Senate for a floor vote.

The Kanawha, West Virginia, school board wants to randomly drug test teachers. But that's stretching the law, and neither the teachers' unions nor the ACLU are going to let it happen without a fight.

Alcohol Prohibition was repealed 75 years ago today. Are there lessons to be learned, and is it going to take another 75 years to end drug prohibition?

South Dakota has the dubious distinction of being the only state to defeat an initiative that would legalize medical marijuana, but that's not stopping advocates there. They have a bill ready for the legislature; now all they need are some sponsors.

Campus drug reform activists from around the country -- and beyond -- gathered last weekend in College Park, Maryland, for SSDP's 10th annual international conference. They lobbied, they listened, they learned, and now they're heading back home well-energized to apply the lessons they learned.

The drug war records of some key Obama picks -- Biden, Emanuel, Holder -- are prompting wailing and gnashing of teeth among some drug reformers, but others suggest it's better to keep working quietly on progress than obsess on the past.

With national elections just days behind them, some 300 Colorado marijuana reform activists wasted no time getting down to brass tacks as they met in Denver for the 2008 Colorado Marijuana Reform Seminar and Boot Camp.