News Brief

The Massachusetts Bar Association has decided to form a drug policy task force with an eye toward sentencing reform in the Bay State.

Executions for drug offenses will continue in Indonesia. The country's constitutional court upheld such punishments this week.

When the Democratic presidential contenders had a chance to support marijuana decriminalization during Tuesday night's televised debate, only two out of seven did so.

The mere presence of illegal drugs in a home is not enough to justify child endangerment charges against parents, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled.

A top narc admits he was dirty, a border drug squad deputy commander goes to prison, a deputy police chief is under investigation, and yes, another prison guard gets busted.

Southeast Asian countries' tough line on drug users is exacerbating the HIV/AIDS crisis in the region, experts in Bangkok said last weekend.

Marching boldly backward, the Ohio State Senate has voted to reduce the disparity in sentencing for powder and crack cocaine offenses by raising those penalties for powder -- not reducing those for crack.

This week, we have our mandatory greedy jail guards, and another case that's a little stickier. Are the people in our first story corrupt cops or desperate pain patients or junkies or pill peddlers or some combination of the above? You be the judge.

Last week, San Francisco took the first tentative steps toward creating a safe injection site for drug users. It would be the first in the United States, but don't hold your breath -- there's a long way to go and many obstacles to overcome.

The world's drug laws continue to create new victims for the executioner. In Iran, five more are hanged, while in Indonesia, prosecutors ask for the death penalty for an Australian over a few grams of hash and weed.