News Brief

Ecstasy adulterated with PMMA is killing people in western Canada.

Threat letters from federal prosecutors have gone out to 23 Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries that are within 1,000 feet of schools. They have 45 days to shut down or face forfeiture and possible prosecution.

Here's the latest medical marijuana news from around the country. There's a whole lot going on.

The murders, raids, and arrests continue, without making any apparent difference in anything.

Peru's drug czar has been fired for being insufficiently enthusiastic about eradicating coca crops.

The Dutch government will ban khat, a plant favored by Somali and Yemeni immigrants for its mild stimulative properties.

Cops continue to have problems keeping their hands off the drugs they come across. And they're developing problems with prescription pills, too.

A pair of bills introduced in Florida ask the legislature to okay a referendum on marijuana in November. Activists are petitioning the governor, too.

The mania for drug testing people on welfare, unemployment, or Medicaid continues this year. A Mississippi solon wants to drug test anyone receiving public benefits, and other states are moving ahead, too.

The city of Tallahassee has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement in the killing of Rachel Hoffman, a collegiate drug scenester whom police sent to snitch on hardened criminals after a small-time drug bust. A similar case has just popped up in Detroit, too.