News Brief

California battles over dispensaries and cultivation rules continue, medical marijuana bills move in Illinois, Minnesota, New York, and South Carolina, and more.

Marijuana, marijuana, marijuana. Sometimes it seems like it's sucking all of the air out of the room in drug policy. But there are a lot of other things going on, too. Plus, Michele Leonhart finds a friend, Dana Rohrabacher talks legalization, and Virginia cops are raking in the asset forfeiture cash.

Jail guards break bad in Mississippi and Delaware, a Missouri cop gets in trouble for protecting his snitch, and a Georgia cop gets ready to go to prison for protecting a pill mill.

The organized opposition in Alaska gets a donation, medical marijuana is finally moving in the New York Senate, the Fair Sentencing Act picks up another sponsor, there's more violence in Mexico, and more meth in Asia, and more.

The feds will still arrest you for pot possession on their property in DC even though the city has decriminalized, Chicago cops will still arrest you for pot possession even though they could just give you a ticket, decrim initiatives are coming to Kansas cities, Minnesota becomes the 22nd medical marijuana state, Mexico doesn't want to legalize it, and more.

It looks like Colombia and the FARC guerrillas have come to an agreement on the drug policy segment of their long-running peace talks. But it's not clear just what the agreement is yet.

The DEA is in the hot seat, it looks like Minnesota will be the next medical marijuana state (but they won't be able to smoke it), California could actually get around to regulating its dispensary system, California voters will vote on whether to drug test doctors (!), the Russians are snarking about Afghanistan, and more.

First it said Kentucky could have its hemp seed for research purposes. Then it said it couldn't. Kentucky is getting fed up with the DEA, and is now going to federal court over hemp seed imports.

Elderly senators grumble about new-fangled rules allowing legal marijuana businesses to use the financial system, there are more legalization polls, an Oklahoma US Senate candidate is talking marijuana reform, there is medical marijuana initiative news, Minnesota passes asset forfeiture reform and the governor signs it, and more.

Initiative signature-gathering campaigns are underway in Arkansas and Ohio and about to get underway in Oklahoma, the future of San Jose dispensaries remains unsettled, Minnesota lawmakers meet to search for a conference committee compromise, and more.