Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
A meth dealing Texas deputy and a pill-peddling Missouri jail guard head for the big house.
News Brief
Medical Marijuana: Alabama Bill Wins House Committee Vote, But Unlikely to Pass This Year
At least some legislators in the Heart of Dixie are showing they have hearts. The Alabama House Judiciary Committee approved a medical marijuana bill this week.
Marijuana: Another Colorado Town Votes to Legalize It
Nederland now joins Denver and Breckenridge on the list of Colorado communities that have voted to remove penalties for adult marijuana possession. Durango could be next, and the whole state could vote on the issue in 2012.
Legalization: Drug Czar Avoids Answering Question on Fed Response to California Initiative
The drug czar doesn't want to talk about what the federal response to marijuana legalization in California might be. Let's hope he has to talk about it come November 3.
Feature: Philadelphia to Not Quite Decriminalize Marijuana
Facing a severely clogged criminal court system, the city of Philadelphia will no longer prosecute small-time pot possession cases as criminal misdemeanors, but as summary offenses. But the cops will still arrest you anyway.
India: Maoist Rebels Find Funding Source in Poppies, Pot Plants
What's an insurgent guerrilla movement to do when it needs funds to sustain its war? India's Naxalites are doing what so many have done before: Turning to the black market in illegal drugs and drug crops.
Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update
The prohibition-related violence in Mexico took an ominous turn this week as supposed cartel armies attacked military bases in the north. And then there's the typical toll of dead cops, dead narcos, and dead civilians.
Public Opinion: Poll Finds Support for Marijuana Legalization Still Rising, Medical Marijuana Overwhelming
Support for medical marijuana is broad and deep among the American public, and support for general pot legalization continues to trend upward, although we're not quite over the top nationally, a new poll finds.
Europe: Britain to Ban Mephedrone in Two Weeks, Imports Already Blocked
The latest legal drug craze in Britain is mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant derived from the active ingredient in khat. It probably won't stay legal for long, as the prohibitionist impulse remains strong. But that won't necessarily stop people from using it.
Salvia Divinorum: Ban Bill Moving in Minnesota, Age Restriction Bill Moving in Maryland
After years, the DEA has yet to move against the psychedelic member of the mint family, salvia divinorum. But that hasn't stopped various states from moving to regulate it or -- more often-- ban it outright. Minnesota could be the next to ban it, but Maryland has a less freaked-out idea: Just limit it to adults.