News Brief

The US Sentencing Commission announced that changes in the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines would be retroactive, allowing current prisoners a chance at a sentence cut. In the month since prisoners began to be able to apply for cuts, some 3,000 have received them.

Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have been busy executing drug offenders recently, but now the Saudis are taking some heat from Syria over their treatment of Syrian drug offenders.

An Argentine federal appeals court has ruled that simple drug use or possession should not be a criminal offense and has thrown out thousands of pending possession cases. The country's high court could still overturn the ruling, but it is line with the position of the Argentine government.

A perverted Oklahoma sheriff gets indicted, an Atlanta narc goes on trial, an Indiana jail guard goes to jail, a Santa Fe narc doesn't -- and a cop who made these pages three years ago is found not guilty.

The head of the Dutch police union says it's time to just legalize cannabis, and a Dutch mayor wants to start regulating growing.

Florida is about to become the next state to ban salvia divinorum as a bill to do so passes the state Senate and heads for the governor's desk.

A Florida judge has thrown out racketeering and conspiracy charges against 23 defendants in the Tampa Latin Kings case, citing the FBI and Tampa police use of a snitch who committed crimes and basically created the conspiracy.

With the Olympics coming to Beijing in August, Chinese authorities are beginning a crackdown designed to make the city "drug-free" for the sporting event.

Contrary to some popular narratives about drug use and its consequences, the vast majority of first-time drug users are not strung out a year after they first tasted the forbidden fruit -- no matter which drug it was.

Possession of bongs will be illegal under new legislation passed by the South Australia parliament. There may be unintended consequences.