News Brief

It ain't decriminalization, but Arkansas is moving in the right direction when it comes to pot penalties.

Getting back in step with other Latin American countries, the Colombian Supreme Court has undone former Pres. Uribe's amendment recriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

A Minnesota women is dead after a routine traffic stop escalated into a potential drug bust and attempted escape that endangered a trooper.

A Kentucky man is this year's 33rd US drug war fatality. He was shot and killed by police after allegedly pointing a gun at them as they raided his home.

A drug-robbing Philly cop heads to prison; so does a Houston deputy who helped an Ecstasy dealer, but a lying Oklahoma cop will walk free, and a Texas prison is looking at prison for smuggling dope to prisoners.

The religious right is rising up to contest an Arkansas medical marijuana initiative, but the pot people have some ecumenical resources on their side, too.

John Ray Wilson was sent to prison Wednesday in New Jersey for the crime of growing his own medicine. Meanwhile, medical marijuana is now legal there and state-registered dispensaries are about to open. Go figure.

The Rhode Island Medical Society is calling on Gov. Chafee to quick blocking the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries, but he doesn't appear to be ready yet.

The new nationalist government of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has announced the temporary suspension of coca eradication as it evaluates its options.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott claimed he could save the state money by making welfare applicants and recipients pass drug tests. He assumed they were a bunch of addicts, but early results are proving him wrong.