News Brief

South Dakota lawmakers once again refuse the opportunity to reform the state's marijuana laws.

A major police corruption bust in the Atlanta metro area, an Alabama deputy keeps the goodies he got doing drug buys, and an Ohio officer cops to helping launder money for a marijuana ring.

Marijuana decriminalization is dead in Indiana this year after a Republican committee chair blocked it. But it will be back.

Iran continues to execute drug offenders at a torrid pace. Around 500 went to the gallows in 2011, hundreds more last year, and 24 more so far this year.

A Pennsylvania state senator announced Monday that he will be introducing a marijuana legalization bill in the near future. Bills have already been filed in Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and are also expected soon in Maine and Vermont.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal in Michigan, the state's Supreme Court ruled Friday.

A positive drug screen during pregnancy does not in itself constitute evidence of child neglect, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a victory for maternal rights.

The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a key case on whether localities can ban dispensaries, and medical marijuana bills died in two Midwest states, and there's more news, too.

And then there were four. Rhode Island has become the fourth state to see a marijuana legalization bill filed this year, and it will likely be joined by three more.

A Massachusetts cop had his own informal prescription drug take-back program, but that was pretty innocuous compared to some of this week's other entries.