News Brief

Bureaucratic reflexes have kicked in at the European Union. Confronted by a new drug, mephedrone, the EU calls for a continent-wide ban.

There are two major party candidates for governor in New York. Guess which one opposes medical marijuana.

Another bloody week in Ciudad Juarez and another rough week for Mexican police.

A Kentucky sheriff gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, a Texas deputy gets busted for protecting a drug dealer, two Southern California cops get nailed for doing robberies disguised as drug busts, and a small-town Wisconsin cop lets her crack habit get the best of her.

The Polish government is cracking down on new synthetic drugs and wants the power to pull from the shelves any product that could be harmful to health or life. It didn't mention Polish vodka, though.

The knee-jerk prohibitionist impulse remains strong in America, especially in the South. Confronted with a synthetic cannabinoid, states are lining up to ban it.

Products like Spice and K2 that contain a synthetic cannabinoid that gets you kind of high have only appeared in the US in about the last year, but a number of states have already acted to ban them. Georgia is the latest.

Is Prop 19 winning or losing? It depends on which pollster you ask.

The battle of the Proposition 19 polls continues, with a new SurveyUSA poll showing it with a four point lead, but still under 50%. Now, every vote is going to count.

A leading scholar of the history of American drug policy has died. David Musto's "The American Disease" broke new ground when published in 1973.