News Brief

A Massachusetts SWAT team member killed an elderly Framingham man during a drug raid Wednesday morning. It was the first of 2011, but it probably won't be the last. With your help, the Chronicle will be reporting on every one.

The Illinois House has shot down a medical marijuana bill already passed by the state Senate, but there is an outside chance it could still get another shot this session.

Who could have foreseen this? Laws designed to limit illicit meth production by tracking cold pill purchased have led to a whole new black market, the AP reports.

Despite a nationwide emergency ban by the DEA, some state legislators still feel impelled to ban synthetic cannabinoids at the state level.

New year, new body count in Mexico's seemingly unending prohibition-related violence. It's up to 136 so far this year.

A campus cop, an auxiliary cop, and a sheriff's deputy all go down.

It's a Texas trifecta this week, plus a Nashville cop buying guns for the cartels, an ATF agent with sticky fingers, and an upstate New York cop with several bad habits.

Part of Argentina's boisterous cannabis nation took to the streets of Buenos Aires last Saturday to celebrate a year of activism and call for further reforms.

TV evangelist Pat Robertson wants to legalize marijuana. -- Oh, wait, no he doesn't, but he thinks the law is counterproductive.

The California Supreme Court has ruled that police don't need a search warrant to browse the text messages on an arrestee's cell phone. The Ohio Supreme Court 13 months ago ruled the other way. Look for the US Supreme Court to resolve this issue.