News Brief

Idaho legislators want to increase funding for drug treatment and prevention, but the governor vetoed their funding line-items. Now, the state Senate has overridden one veto, and it's time for the House to step up to the plate.

As the Czech parliament moves to decriminalize small-time marijuana possession and up to three plants, medical marijuana activists are calling for the legalization of the weed for medical purposes.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether police need a search warrant to enter a residence after an informant has gone in and made a drug buy. Some federal courts have held that by allowing the informant in, the resident has consented to a police search.

The New Hampshire House Tuesday approved a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to a quarter ounce of marijuana. But Senate leaders say it is dead on arrival, and the governor is vowing to veto it if it passes.

The Czech Republic is set to decriminalize the possession of up to 20 joints and the growing of up three marijuana plants. The move comes as an adjustment to the penal code.

For the first time, Brazilian authorities have found coca plantations and a cocaine lab on national territory, and they are worried there could be more.

Although the Bush administration has tried repeatedly to zero out funding for the Justice Department grant program that funds state and local anti-drug task forces, Congress keeps trying to put it back. Last week, the Senate voted to restore more than $900 million in funds in the FY 2009 budget, but there's a long way to go yet.

The drug czar's office may be pushing the random drug testing of high school students, but it isn't going to happen in Washington state. The state Supreme Court last week ruled such testing unconstitutional.

The black community in Lima, Ohio, cried for justice after a SWAT team member killed Tarika Wilson and wounded her infant son during a raid in January. Those cries are unlikely to be quieted now as local authorities charged the police shooter with a pair of misdemeanors for the killing. He faces a maximum of eight months in jail.

A bill that would expand eligibility for diversion to drug court has passed the New Jersey legislature. Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is expected to sign it shortly.