News Brief

The Republican platform committee rejects medical marijuana, medical marijuana research issues get a hearing in the Senate, Arkansas will vote on at least one medical marijuana initiative this fall--maybe two -- and more.

A major Detroit corruption case comes to an end, a Pennsylvania cop gets nailed for accepting pain pills to let a drug dealer walk, an Ohio cop rips off the undercover drug buy fund, and more.

Feinstein comes out against California's Prop 64, the Arkansas Health Department comes out against medical marijuana initiatives, an outbreak of synthetic cannabinoid overdoses in New York City raises alarms and more reasoned responses, and more.

Medical marijuana is getting some attention on Capitol Hill, Arizona legalization foes go to court to try to block the initiative, Maine rejects medical marijuana for opiate addiction, Colombia and the FARC rebels partner on a coca crop substitution pilot program, and more.

California felony drug arrests are down, Colombian coca production is up, the Arizona marijuanalegalization initiative is trailing in a new poll, Congress moves toward final passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, but there's a fight over funding, and more.

Last week, the Democrats shied away from mentioning rescheduling or legalization in their marijuana platform plank. Now, they've gone a bit bolder.

Arkansas will join Florida in voting on medical marijuana in November, California's Prop 64 legalization initiative just got another $1.25 million from Sean Parker, a major investigative report finds that police field drug tests are shoddy, unreliable, and are sending innocent people to jail and prison, and more.

It's all marijuana policy today, with pressure on the Democratic platform committee, the long-time NORML head stepping down, organized opposition to legalization rumbling in California and Massachusetts, and more.

The Democratic Party is on the verge of formally adopting marijuana law reform, even if its embrace is timid.

This was a quiet week on the medical marijuana front, but a couple of important changes happened on July 1.