News Brief

A Nevada pot legalization initiative aimed at 2012 is in serious trouble after its main backer pulled its funding.

Yet another poll suggests that California is on the cusp of accepting marijuana. Whether that will translate to a win at the ballot this November remains to be seen.

Detroit was supposed to vote on legalizing marijuana in November, but the city's election commission has blocked the vote.

Thousands of journalists marched in Mexico City to protest the killing, intimidation and harassment of journalists in the drug wars. Meanwhile the rivers of blood keep flowing, with no end in sight.

After Mexican President Calderon toyed briefly with the notion of legalization last week, his predecessor, Vicente Fox, has jumped in with a forthright call for legalization. Calderon didn't bite this week, but did show signs of recognizing he's created a disaster.

Congress has just okayed spending $600 million for more drones, more ICE, more Border Patrol, more FBI, more DEA, more BATF, and more to "secure the border."

In Tulsa, a corruption scandal keeps on giving; in Austin, a cop is paying the price for partying a little too hearty; and in West Virginia, another jail guard goes down. Oklahoma doesn't get off with just Tulsa this week -- a Bureau of Narcotics agent in Oklahoma City has been charged with shipping weapons to Mexican cartels (yikes!).

A federal appellate court in Washington, DC, has trimmed law enforcement's wings a little in an important Fourth Amendment case.

Carrying a little medicinal marijuana and hash can turn into a living nightmare if they catch you with it in Texas. Ask Chris Diaz.

While New York has long had needle exchange programs, their participants faced hassles from the cops for carrying needles and residues. That will be illegal now.